As so many others, on this game or otherwise, have stated - God I wish I could give it neither thumbs up nor thumbs down.
tldr: It's a game with a good base but which fails to (yet) capitalize on what it has. Its systems are complete, but shallow; the world is small and barren; it is stable and well-running game with random technical bugs, plagued with random QoL annoyances that detract from the play but only just. Ultimately, it feels like an early access game yet isn't. As it is, it's a 6/10 game (with 5 being an actual average and not 7.5). But the team behind it seems to be continuing to work on it so it has a chance to be in the future a better game. Right now it just needs more time to cook. I can see what this game could be and I hope it gets there one day. But that day isn't today.
Long review:
This is a game which has such a solid base. It could be a mixture of Gas Station Simulator and Car Mechanic all wrapped up in one with a sprinkling of Big Ambitions thrown in for good measure. Right now it just isn't that. I will at least add the caveat of 'yet' because the team seems to be actively working on it. It isn't abandoned. But 'yet' isn't a guarantee.
Finding and restoring vehicles to sell is legitimately fun. It's a decent gameplay loop. Everything works. the game is stable. They've even modeled the interiors of all the existing cars so you can drive from behind the wheel. It's cool seeing the inside of a 70s Oldsmobile with the grandma tach or that of an ultramodern Porsche. But the longer you play, the more cracks you see as the house is being renovated.
You can feel the team's dedication. The fact they made custom music for the radio, that they did very professional voice recordings, that they try to make everything work before adding it in. But then you'll look at what's there and say 'not yet.'
I had a longer review, but maybe it's better to do a list for prospective buyers and in case the team sees and (I'm assuming they already know, but still) reads it.
The good:
* The core gameplay loop is fun and engaging.
* The vehicles are cool, unique, and enjoyable to work with.
* Growing your business feels REALLY good, as does renovating the building and seeing a lot full of vehicles you restored from the ground up.
* Everything works, and I mean it. The game is stable and runs well.
* You're generally never trapped if you make a bad bet and there's always a lifeline if things get real tight, though you likely won't ever need them.
* I always appreciate custom music in-game as that's a lot of work. More of it would be welcome.
The Meh:
* Not enough vehicles in general (I realize they're making more, but I'm still putting it here for completeness sake), and the lack of models during mechanical restorations is... frustrating, but understandable. Those vehicles also just need a bit more to them. Interior lighting when you're behind the wheel would be cool and make reading the dials easier.
* I find it hilarious that instead of doing a minigame to restore parts, you just put them in a magic dryer for 6 minutes. This isn't bad, but it feels... well, you could do better. If it's a stop-gap, I get it, no problem. If not, uhh...
* The mechanical restoration feels undercooked in general, too. Complete, and understandable, but you could copy Car Mechanic's homework on that and it would make sense. I'm talking things like the rest of the suspension, carriage, and smaller things. It's hilarious the engine is just one blob instead of multiple parts. But I understand why, of course. It's not an accusation, just an observation.
* The physics can be hilariously bad at times and it's common to get your truck/trailer stuck in strange places and have to use another car to push it off. Or, worse, have to reload and hope the last save wasn't TOO long ago.
* The driving is... not great. But this isn't a racing game (at least, the base game isn't) so I'll excuse it. It definitely doesn't handle like the kind of game where driving is a core feature. Cars are floaty, don't turn well, don't break sensibly and... well, you get my point.
* The traffic is equally hilarious. Traffic will back up constantly, and they only make right turns or go straight. Apparently, like Derek Zoolander, they're not ambiturners. (I realize you can reset the traffic in the menu, but it needs listed anyways).
* The setting is very tongue-in-cheek, a pastiche of American Southwest where all the industry has vanished and died, but it depicts a very bleak interpretation of it at the same time that it can become somewhat uncomfortable. Because it's bleak. It's Pennsylvania-town-where-steel-was-traded-for-drug-trailers bleak and when you as a player are growing and succeeding and the world around you stays that way, it feels crappy. I realize this is a weird complaint, but there you go.
* It's both weird and cute to see them promote other games in this game.
* Man, I wish there was an auction house like Car Mec Sim. And I wish the junkyard worked more like they did in CMS2021.
* The car models when cleaning and doing bodywork can be frustrating when there are sharp, concealed, or hidden surfaces that you can't really reach easy. Otherwise it works well and doing a 'once you get 95% it completes' compensates well, but I felt it was worth saying.
* Dropping cars using the trailer and immediately having the game complain that you can't attach it with the ramps up is annoying. Bruh, let me at least pull away first.
* I've gotten my character model stuck on such weird things because they're fixed points. Like traffic cones or other things I feel should be easily knocked over.
* So many other little things to list. There's a lot of annoyances (besides the one below that really grinded my gears) and weirdness and screw-ups and just... it really takes it out of me.
The Bad:
* The sales of cars is very shallow. The negotiation process makes no sense and generally comes down to guessing. I just make every car 'non-negotiable' now, set prices at 98% market value, and wait a little longer to sell. It's easier and less annoying. Beyond staging, photographs, and waiting, there's not much to do. This is not me advocating for, like, financing and paperwork, god no. But I wish there was more to do on this side rather than just wait for a sale.
* The car purchasing is shallow, too, but this is more forgivable since it's private sales, not dealership-to-dealership. Since Winston Springs (the setting) is so small, it's funny buying a car from a house directly beside the dealership just to screw with the odometer, fix it up, and sell it for 2-3x what you paid for it in direct view of the previous owner.
* Once you're financially stable, you quickly realize that the world feels shallow and empty. Winston Spring isn't big, and it isn't deep. I know they just added a bar and pawnshop, so there's SOME things to do, but that's it at this point. There's so much potential here, however. I realize some of it was sectioned off behind the Up 2 U dlc, which is kinda uncool, so I'm only reviewing based on what's in the base game.
* The hitbox for screws and the timing using both the ratchet and drill are frustrating to no end. It makes me not want to do that kind of work specifically not to deal with it. I wish it were closer to Car Mech Sim. Also, it's funny and weird that an electric drill is kept behind a reputation bar and then costs $6k to purchase. By the time I bought it, that amount of money was nothing, but, man...
* The control layout when interacting with a lot of menus is very sluggish and sometimes confusing. Especially when working on the mechanical aspect of the cars. Using right mouse button to move the camera around and also back out is a bad idea for example.
* The car painting feels really shallow.
* Moving cars around the lot that aren't drivable is miserable. (Note: I realize car movers are coming in an update soon, but I'm still putting this down here.)
