There is a theme that seems to run through the Nacon Life games. They show great potential, utilising areas of life not really covered in a simulation style of gameplay. And nowhere is that more apparent than with Taxi Life: A City Driving Simulator. As the name suggests, this is a game of being a taxi driver, and not one of those who will rush through the streets like they’re chasing a high score.

No, this is a simulation. An approximation, if you’d like, of how it would be to drive the streets of Barcelona ferrying people to their destinations. And it works well at that. Sure, there’s a number of issues, but Simteract have been informative of such, saying that various bugs will be ironed out. Which is just as well, as the AI traffic can be clueless about the world around them.

To start, the game put me into training in a closed off area. This training covers the basics. It got me used to the handling of the taxi, makes sure I can do a three-point turn and reverse into a parking spot, then unleashes me onto the streets of Barcelona for the first fare. Driving around in first-person felt great, with everything within the taxi able to be interacted with. I thought this would be how I continued to play at all times.

But eventually, I swapped back to the trusty third-person camera. I’m just far too used to driving in that way. Besides, VR has affected how I see first-person cameras, so going without doesn’t feel natural any more. The third-person camera works just as well as first-person, though it can be a bit trickier to grab the collectible destinations. But, those are outside the core loop of the gameplay, so more on them in a bit.

Picking up a fare is as simple as selecting that job on the map, then driving to the destination. Where to park, for both picking up and dropping off, is marked with a box of light. With passengers inside, the drive begins. Each fare comes with a patience meter, which can decrease for breaking the rules of the road. Some might not mind a bit of rule breaking, but others can be strongly affected by it.

During the journey, the passengers will sometimes talk. These can be requests, such as turning on the radio or air conditioning. Or conversations, such as inquiring how busy a day I’ve had. Any interaction is fun, even if they’re scolding me for breaking laws. One such scolding I got had my passenger saying they’d report me to the authorities for breaking road laws. To be fair, I had been rushing on that job.

Who can blame me, though? I’d completely ignored the health of my taxi, to the point I couldn’t afford any more accidents. So many red light skips, and slightly above speed limit driving was how I dealt with that. And then just as I get close to the destination, the passenger changed it. Do y’think if I hadn’t totalled the taxi in surprise at the change I’d have ended up handing myself into the police?

For those requests that passengers have, the radial menu comes into play. With a press of a button, time is slowed to allow navigating this menu. On it are all the functions a car would have. Windows, air-con, radio, wipers. All of them are within sections of this radial menu that is easily navigated. With the option selected, the menu is closed and time resumes its normal speed.

Upon dropping a passenger off, a report is displayed showing the job details and rewards from it. That is both money and experience. The money is important for maintenance of the vehicle, such as repairs and refuelling, along with eventually buying new cars and getting a business active. Experience will unlock new vehicles to purchase, but also earning skill points to use on the skills page.

In terms of running the business, things are as you’d expect on that front. Assign a driver to a car, set their zone of operation, and the start time of their shift. From that point, they will start earning money. Each driver available to hire has a pro and a con. Both can affect the money earnt in various ways, such as spending more on refuelling or being someone who will work longer shifts. Those effects will be stronger with a higher level, but that level isn’t something that can be changed.

As mentioned, there are collectibles. The city has many interesting tourist destinations, and these are marked on the map. When driving close to one, simply look at that destination and hold a button to mark that you’ve seen it. There are also several outdoor art displays that function the same. Marking each one will award experience, which is an easy way of climbing enough levels to apply a few skills.

The act of driving, of accepting jobs and driving well to please… It’s a lot of fun for those who love such technical driving challenges. For me, the issues the game has at present are annoying. But not enough to put me off. Said issues include the aforementioned clueless traffic. Then there’s a few issues with collisions. Most of the time, the game will react normally to such things. There have been a few instances of light scrapes against scenery resulting in massive pushback, however.

And speaking of scenery, the hitboxes in some areas could use a bit of work. I’ve felt I hadn’t hit anything yet would still be scraping against something. And on tight roads, that can be a problem. The biggest issue comes from completing a job. At seemingly random, the game can refuse to let the car move after a job is complete. The wheels are spinning, but no movement happens. If being towed to a garage wasn’t a thing, it would be a much larger issue.

Simteract have acknowledged the bugs, so it seems likely they will fix them at some point. Even if not, for driving simulation lovers, there’s enough good with Taxi Life: A City Driving Simulator that I can recommend it. Fitting driving mechanics with a great core gameplay loop is all you can ask for when it comes to any game with vehicles. Which is something Taxi Life excels at. Should the various issues be fixed, then it becomes an easy recommendation.

Images Taken From:
Taxi Life: A City Driving Simulator | Xbox Series S