Bus Simulator 27 Review Summary

Improved over Bus Simulator 21 with fun driving, detailed graphics, and many buses, but erratic AI traffic and frequent bugs still hold it back.

Improvements over Bus Simulator 21: Players consistently highlight better driving physics, AI, graphics, and management systems compared to Bus Simulator 21. It is seen as a worthy successor and the most complete bus simulator on the market.

Fun and enjoyable gameplay: Many players find the game genuinely fun, enjoyable, and varied, with a strong core gameplay loop. The overall experience is frequently described as good and entertaining.

Beautiful and detailed graphics: Graphics are widely praised as beautiful, detailed, and a clear improvement over previous titles. Even on lower settings, the game looks visually impressive.

Wide selection of buses: A large variety of licensed bus models and brands is available, adding substantial variety. The base game offers a broad selection without requiring DLC.

Pleasant driving and bus handling: Driving the buses is often described as pleasant, smooth, and realistic, with good physics that don't feel stiff. City buses handle particularly well.

Erratic AI Traffic Behavior: AI vehicles frequently make random brakings, turns, and stops, often leading to collisions and traffic jams. This behavior is unpredictable and breaks immersion, with cars even despawning mid-drive.

Frequent Bugs and Glitches: The game is plagued by numerous bugs, ranging from minor annoyances to game-breaking issues. Many players report an overwhelming number of glitches that severely impact the experience.

Turn Signal Penalty Issues: The penalty system for turn signal usage is inconsistent and often penalizes players incorrectly. Issues include penalties when signals are used correctly, failure to detect signals, and overly strict judgment.

AI Collisions Cause Unfair Fines: AI drivers often collide with the player's vehicle, but the player receives penalties and fines for these accidents. This is a common and frustrating issue that penalizes players unfairly.

Game Crashes Frequently: The game crashes often, sometimes on startup or mid-game, and frequent updates have not resolved the issue. This makes the game unplayable for many users.

AI Traffic and Pedestrians: The game features AI-controlled traffic and pedestrians, with vehicles and pedestrians behaving imperfectly. Traffic lights and other AI elements are present.

Route Planning and Driving: Players can plan their own routes, drive them, and manage timetables. The game features a route designer and GPS navigation for guidance.

Variety of Buses: Players can drive a wide selection of officially licensed buses from various manufacturers, including different models such as articulated, double-decker, and electric buses.

Simulation Features and Penalties: The game includes driving evaluation, penalty systems for early departure and turn signal infractions, and damage systems. It also simulates events like traffic light failures and vehicle breakdowns.

Company Management and Economy: The game includes company management where players buy buses, set up routes, expand their fleet, and manage economics to build a successful bus company.

Framerate drops and stutters: Sudden FPS drops, stutters, and low frame rates are widely reported, often dropping to 20-30 FPS or lower. This affects gameplay smoothness across various settings.

Poor optimization and performance: Players consistently complain about poor optimization, low FPS, and stuttering even on high-end hardware. Many mention needing more performance improvements.

DLSS and Frame Generation issues: While some players get smooth performance with DLSS and Frame Generation, others report instability, crashes, or freezes with these features. Experiences are highly inconsistent.

High system requirements vs visuals: The game demands high hardware specifications, yet the graphics quality does not meet expectations. Players feel the resource usage is unjustified.

Smooth performance for some: A subset of players reports smooth gameplay without stutters, often on laptops or with specific settings. This contrasts with the widespread performance complaints.

Not recommended in current state: Many reviewers cannot recommend the game due to bugs, an unfinished state, and technical issues. They suggest waiting for patches and updates before purchasing.

Good for bus simulator fans: Fans of bus simulators, especially those who enjoy arcade-style relaxation, find the game enjoyable. It is recommended for enthusiasts of the genre.

Wait for patches before buying: A common recommendation is to hold off on buying until the game receives major patches or hotfixes. Some suggest waiting for a sale or a few updates.

Positive recommendations: A number of reviewers fully recommend the game, calling it great and fun. Some changed their reviews to positive after updates.

Wait for sale or updates: Many suggest waiting for a sale or further updates before purchasing. This includes waiting for a decent discount or patches.

Community fair range: $20.00 - $30.00.

Session length: 3.0h.

Endgame: 20.0h.

Players often encounter a rough, buggy opening that some find glitchy and boring for the first couple hours; after that, the game opens up and becomes more engaging through progression and management depth. Multiplayer instability is a major conditional blocker, while singleplayer players are more likely to reach the fun.

Reported time to anchor: 2h.

Friction: Tutorial softlocks and restart bugs; Rough start with bugs and performance problems; First couple hours feel glitchy and boring; Cringey tutorial dialogue; Unclear wheel/controller button prompts; Multiplayer desync, crashes, and unplayable co-op.

Unlock drivers: Game opens up after the first couple hours; Progression and management side gains more depth and charm; Rewarding progression system and deeper UI; Time and developer updates may improve multiplayer stability.

Hardcore Realism Bus Simmer: Uses strict simulation procedures and expects realistic traffic, mirrors, and steering-wheel feedback. Motivation: Achieve realistic, immersive bus driving with authentic vehicle behavior and minimal casual assists. Stance: no buy.

Casual Chill Bus Driver: Plays casually, often solo or in small co-op, and ignores bugs or mechanics for a chill driving experience. Motivation: Relax and enjoy low-stakes bus driving, story, and scenery without worrying about simulation depth. Stance: buy.

Multiplayer Co-op Socializer: Plays 1-4 player co-op, shares routes, socializes, and expects stable sync and functional multiplayer systems. Motivation: Play bus driving with friends in online co-op and hang out together. Stance: no buy.

Windows performance varies by hardware cohort: the lowest-VRAM/RAM group is largely positive, while mid-range and high-VRAM cohorts report a mix of playable frame rates and persistent optimization problems, crashes, and low FPS.

Windows 12-15GB VRAM: mixed. Reports are split: several users run the game well with DLSS/FSR at roughly 48-60 FPS, but others report Frame Generation crashes and disappointing frame rates even on high settings.

Windows 8-11GB VRAM: mixed. Some users reach smooth performance with DLSS and Frame Generation (up to 200 FPS), while a similar number report crashes, FPS drops to around 20, and overall poor optimization.

Windows <8GB VRAM / <16GB RAM: positive. Most users report the game runs smoothly after recent patches, with acceptable frame rates even on 4-8GB GPUs and low to medium settings.

Steam Deck: The audit shows that the game achieves genuine native Linux/Steam Deck compatibility, launching without Proton tweaks, launcher issues, or day-one crashes, which users praise. The dominant friction on a handheld comes from small, unreadable UI text and stop displays that require squinting, plus broader performance and stability problems such as low FPS with FSR and frequent crashes reported elsewhere. No evidence was found requiring Proton Experimental or touchscreen launcher navigation, so that scoring floor does not apply.

Linux and Proton: Linux/Proton evidence in this dataset is overwhelmingly positive. Several reviewers confirm the game launches on Linux on day one with no crashes and only a minor performance loss, indicating solid compatibility without required workarounds. Performance complaints about FSR, upscaling, and framerate are reported on Windows-style configurations and handhelds and are not framed as Linux-specific, so they are excluded from the compatibility assessment. The only negative Linux-linked item is a single report of a kernel panic on a hybrid GPU setup, which is isolated and does not represent consensus. Overall friction is minimal.

Monetization: The audit finds repeated complaints about day-one DLC, a season pass, and content fragmentation. Reviewers call the DLC strategy a cash grab and note that the season pass does not include deluxe content and must be bought alongside day-one DLC. There is no evidence of real-money gacha, loot boxes, pay-to-win, or in-game currency obfuscation. The primary monetization issue is aggressive paid DLC and season pass structuring.

Unfavorable compared to Bus Simulator 21: Numerous reviewers criticize the game as a step back from Bus Simulator 21, citing missing features, less content, and reduced immersion. They feel the predecessor had more care and attention to detail.

Favorable compared to Bus Simulator 21: Many reviewers find this game better than Bus Simulator 21 in terms of gameplay, route making, world design, and stability. They highlight improvements in management, visuals, and overall experience.

Ongoing developer support and updates: The developers are actively working on the game, releasing hotfixes and updates to address issues. Players notice continuous improvement efforts.

Feels like an unfinished beta: Many reviewers feel the game is more like an early access or beta version rather than a finished product. They cite lack of polish and premature release.

Peripheral support mixed: The game supports some steering wheels like Thrustmaster and Logitech G29, but some users report compatibility issues with the G29. Support is inconsistent across devices.