Bus Simulator 27 Review Summary

A gorgeous, expansive map with detailed bus models and impressive visuals, but frequent crashes, buggy behavior, and poor AI traffic ruin the experience.

Beautiful and large map: The map is praised for its beauty, detail, and large scale, offering a diverse and colorful environment. Players enjoy exploring the expansive world with many stops and variety.

Detailed bus variety and models: The game offers a wide selection of buses with highly detailed models that look visually appealing. Players appreciate the variety and the attention to detail in each vehicle.

Impressive graphics quality: Players highlight the game's excellent graphics, which are visually beautiful and run well on various settings. The visuals contribute significantly to the overall appeal of the game.

Improved over previous installments: The game is seen as a significant improvement over Bus Simulator 21 and other predecessors, with smoother driving, better line systems, and overall enhanced gameplay. This makes it a step forward for the franchise.

Enjoyable and fun gameplay: Players consistently report that the core gameplay is fun, enjoyable, and a good time waster, often with friends. The game's mechanics provide a pleasant and engaging experience.

Game is very buggy: A large number of players report widespread bugs, crashes, and technical issues that heavily impact the experience. The game is widely seen as unstable and not in a recommended state.

AI traffic is poor: The AI traffic is a major source of frustration: vehicles stop randomly, ignore rules, block intersections, and cause accidents. This behavior severely breaks immersion and makes relaxed play difficult.

Game crashes constantly: Many players experience frequent crashes, including to desktop and during missions, sometimes making the game unplayable. This is a critical stability issue, often worsened after recent updates.

Game feels unfinished: Players perceive the game as a rushed, early-access-like release with poor polish and many bugs. The overall impression is that it was released too soon and is not ready for a full launch.

Turn signals are buggy: Turn signals turn off by themselves, are not detected correctly, and lead to unfair penalties. This is a specific and recurring gameplay bug that affects driving mechanics.

Extensive bus simulation mechanics: The game is a realistic bus simulator featuring a large selection of buses, including licensed brands, electric, articulated, and specific models like the Scania Citywide. It includes routes, traffic, and interior interactions.

Company management features: Players can manage a bus company, build depots, hire drivers, and handle financial aspects. This adds a strategic layer to the simulation.

AI traffic and driving environment: The game includes AI-controlled traffic with traffic lights and intersections, which can behave erratically. Players can drive outside the city, adding variety to the driving experience.

Scoring and point systems: The game evaluates driving style with a point system, rewarding safe driving and penalizing errors. This encourages players to follow traffic rules.

Passenger interaction system: The game features passenger interactions, including boarding, alighting, and a passenger info screen. This enhances the realism of the simulation.

Frequent crashes reported: Multiple players report constant crashes including startup crashes, mid-game crashes, and crashes to desktop that sometimes crash the whole PC. Some mention crashes after updates and one notes crashes often prevent the game from restarting.

FPS drops and stuttering: Players experience random frame drops and stuttering during gameplay, with FPS occasionally dropping to 20 or even 15. These issues occur on various hardware and settings, affecting overall playability.

Optimization heavily criticized: Many reviews say the game's optimization is poor, atrocious, or needs improvement. Users note that high-end hardware still struggles to maintain acceptable performance, indicating underlying optimization issues.

Performance issues with high-end hardware: Even users with RTX 30/40 series GPUs and CPUs like 9955hx3d report poor performance, including low FPS at 4K and low graphics quality. This suggests the game is not well optimized for modern systems.

Loading screens problematic: Players encounter long loading times, endless loading screens, and occasional freezes during loading. Some report the game hangs when selecting a line to drive or after the summary screen.

Game not recommended currently: Many reviewers cannot recommend the game in its current state due to bugs and unmet expectations. They advise waiting for patches or a sale before purchasing.

Mixed recommendations overall: Feedback is split between those who recommend the game and those who do not, with several expressing cautious or conditional recommendations. Many see potential but note current flaws.

Recommended for bus enthusiasts: Fans of bus simulators and the Bus Simulator franchise are more likely to enjoy the game. It is specifically recommended for those with nostalgia or a deep interest in the genre.

Bugs affect recommendation: Bugs, especially related to traffic, AI, and scoring, are a major reason reviewers cannot recommend the game. If these issues are fixed, many would change their recommendation.

Wait for patches and sales: Reviewers suggest waiting for significant updates or a deeper discount, such as 25% or more, before buying. The game's current quality does not justify its full price.

Community fair range: $15.00 - $30.00.

Session length: 1.5h.

The game has a rough start with bugs and performance issues, but after an initial section it opens up and becomes more enjoyable, especially in singleplayer; multiplayer remains problematic.

Friction: bugs and performance issues; rough start; confusing button prompts for wheel.

Unlock drivers: game opens up after initial section.

Bug-Frustrated Early Adopter: Plays both single and multiplayer, but bugs disrupt gameplay. Motivation: Seeking a polished, immersive bus simulation experience. Stance: no buy.

Co-op Multiplayer Seeker: Focuses on multiplayer co-op, but also tries singleplayer. Motivation: Playing with friends in co-op mode. Stance: no buy.

Casual Enjoyer: Casual, relaxed, not focused on hardcore simulation. Motivation: Fun and accessible bus driving experience. Stance: buy.

Performance varies significantly by VRAM tier: lower VRAM (<8GB) reports mostly positive results, while mid-range (8-11GB) and high-end (16GB+) report negative experiences, and 12-15GB is mixed.

Windows 12-15GB VRAM: mixed. Performance is mixed: some users report smooth high-FPS play, while others experience stuttering, crashes, and optimization issues.

Windows 8-11GB VRAM: negative. Performance is poor overall, with frequent crashes, low FPS, and stuttering reported by most users.

Windows <8GB VRAM: positive. Performance is generally positive, with many users reporting smooth 60 FPS on medium/high settings, though some isolated issues exist.

Steam Deck: The game runs on Steam Deck without major compatibility issues, but suffers from unreadably small text, particularly on bus stop displays, and occasional stability issues including a crash that deleted a save. Overall, the experience requires tinkering and adjustments.

Linux and Proton: The available Linux-specific feedback is entirely positive. Users report the game launches and runs on Linux without crashes or notable issues, with only a minor performance loss. No negative Linux-specific evidence was found, and the third review about the MSI Claw is not Linux-related and was excluded.

Frequent comparisons to Bus Simulator series: Many reviews compare this game to Bus Simulator 18 and 21, with mixed opinions on which is superior. Some find it inferior, while others appreciate improvements.

Developer actively fixes issues: The developer is responsive, releasing hotfixes and updates quickly. Reviewers appreciate the commitment to improving the game based on feedback.

Predecessor considered better: Several reviewers feel that the previous game in the series is better than this one. They specifically note that the predecessor offers a more polished experience.

Great potential exists: Reviewers see significant potential in the game. They believe it can grow into a strong simulator with continued development.

Better than Bus Bound rivals: Reviews compare the game favorably to Bus Bound and The Bus, stating it is much better. It is considered a stronger alternative in the genre.