![featured image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/gabrielatravels/23w2gjp8wd5XYUEon2K49p8e1BUi1KL2uvorn6FLKf4MTH3atAQUoZ8HQeGbnJM2UW4xh.png) ![gabriela travels divider gaming.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/gabrielatravels/Eo8L1q1q6J3nWWpu8NRh7jbJkzcHsrSTzBzVoM4DUXdS2497yfcDaSySrzHN2sFApL2.png) I usually start this kind of post with an introduction, but this time I'll do things differently. Before getting into my actual review, I strongly recommend spending just 1 minute and 17 seconds watching the trailer below. Why am I placing it at the beginning instead of the end, as I normally do? Because after waiting seven years since the game's original presentation/trailer, it seems the developers are now making an effort to remove as much evidence as possible of what the game was originally presented as. So I definitely believe it's important to see those expectations before reading the rest of my review, for as long as they last. https://youtu.be/G8H-nPalm0Q?si=XTS_Gw_CRI20atEJ Finished watching it? Good. I hope it's still available by the time you're reading this. As I mentioned earlier, this won't be one of my usual game reviews where I go through the pros and cons and discuss whether it's worth playing because in my honest opinion, this release has nothing to do with the original game presented and it is difficult to point out any real pros. Even if I would have been blind of the last few years and only discover this game now. To start from the beginning, I'll leave below a screenshot of the email I received last night. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/gabrielatravels/23x16vvinroSQscPULxoDFjNT6HSvhHt1sVH13z6MxtipwEewNgYq4eodwuk7wkWTrupT.png) I usually don't read my emails when it comes to Steam notifications because I have a little over 200 games on my wishlist, and I am used to seeing emails related to having some of them on sale, in most cases, not being able to afford getting them anyway. But last night it was different because the part with having a demo from my Steam Wishlist available to play, made me jump off my bed, turn on the computer and let the game download so I can try it out in the morning, expecting to spend lots of time playing the demo and having fun, a thing that I wasn't able to do since it was quite late at night when I got the email notification. Do I feel bad for not playing it last night? Absolutely not. It would turn into a waste of time, a change in my sleeping schedule which I have respected for over 3 years now, as well as possibly having sleep troubles due to becoming pissed off pretty quickly. Why am I saying that? Because the developers literally peed on everyone who had their game on the wishlist, which was initially presented as you already saw in the video from above, almost 7 years ago. And yes, I was one of the people they peed on, believing in their game and that the long wait is so much worth it, already saving for having enough money to purchase it, even if it would cost as an AAA title, which is around 60-70 EUR usually. But a thing that I forgot about, is that this game was never going to be GTA or any big title that is actually worth the wait and money, but rather a lie developed by some random guys no one ever heard about. And I am not the only one, there are people from that time already starting community discussions on the game's forum. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/gabrielatravels/23t72fR3oSHqPAvBZas13mGP1jD8ydWFa1gTphiiMD1SCXYywoKDByuFDjg5FFYvksq5n.png) ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/gabrielatravels/23uEwyof81wM35RaRMAw23Zth2a66sd5uNVsdynkbTHSf4XYgGbNmvE6NFzGYuP9A11AS.png) Wondering what the developers had to say? Have fun reading. ![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/gabrielatravels/48FEAfiqxFkywMLd2RN7wK4jG4rVdY2X3DfPp4R5mDjqrm9pWLhtH3AiDERh6Ycw5j.png) To me, this already gives the impression that the developers are trying to distance themselves from the opinions of the people who have had this game on their wishlists for the past seven years. The ironic part is that they continue to ask for feedback. My concern is that the attention will go mainly toward positive comments or feedback from players who have only just discovered the game in its current state, rather than from those who followed the project from the beginning and remember what was originally promised. What a joke! ![20260616073311_1.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/gabrielatravels/23u62jhZnEiZrNU4MaTWAhFayWuffQLW3cJaEigEW8AjptgXuY3kFi7Sy5odsyzcPHJyV.png) Oh, and speaking about the feedback/report section, keep in mind that there is no proper thing for that. They basically ask for bug reports, but you are not able to submit one because whenever you try to make a ticket with that purpose, the game freezes and you will need to force restart it from the task manager. Don't get me wrong, it's not my first time playing a DEMO for a game. Hence, I know that miracles don't happen. It's true that this kind of demo versions are usually full of bugs and are meant to get free help from people interested in playing the game on what things need to be fixed or improved, instead of paying a whole team to spend time looking for these bugs and reporting them further. What is not fine here is presenting a game back in 2019 and then returning with a demo on the same game, which has nothing to do with the first version announced, other than the title, which remained the same. And the first red flag on that is that developers tried to delete all their traces of what they promised to deliver, changing the whole appearance of the game on the Steam Market and replacing the original images and gameplay with what you get to play today, being a whole different game. They also tried to fool us one more time, having a red message displayed for the first time when you start the game, that this is still in development and that the graphics are not done yet. LOL! If it is so, then why don't leave the original game announced, promising to aim for those graphics? It just makes no sense. ![20260616073110_1.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/gabrielatravels/23wzzvNWzVYPeesqgetTCdUm6Nqo9bRFLabxqvyunyX7zguLvnSD71MViTdAeLB2MWR7L.png) I am not even sure if I should spend any more of my precious time showing all the things wrong with this game, since it's already crystal clear it has nothing to do with the original game the devs promised, but since I am assuming not a lot of people heard of this game before, unless you are a real fan of Simulators and especially Taxi Simulators I will keep writing a bit more, with the hope that you won't fall for purchasing this when it's being released. The first image from the top shows how the POV when driving the taxi should be, with a rebel taxi driver who listens to music, has fun while being at work, sometimes even having a drink even if it's not recommended, but hey! That was supposed to be the whole fun around this game, keeping away the classic things you usually see in Taxi Simulators. The reality? Check the 2nd picture. A very boring landscape, where you don't even have hands, lol! Nevertheless, when it rains, you are not able to wipe the windshield because there is no button command for that... and for many more things that should never be missing in simulator games. Funny thing is that there is no bug with this since some of these buttons are set if you are playing via keyboard, but are completely missing on the controller. And don't worry, even if you have them on your keyboard, it doesn't necessarily mean you can use them when not being able to press them on your controller, because in most cases, random buttons stop working during gameplay, not doing anything whether you press them from your controller or the equivalent from the keyboard. ![20260616074036_1.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/gabrielatravels/23tbLvXjYU2A63Df2irJR48ZHRJPJMH1mJCVQdosR2hmByp8D9FTg4xF4UxYEUozwtqVg.png) For example, you were supposed to be able to call Kate during your rides when you get a strange passenger in the back seat, who might speak something of interest to the police. But the surprise comes when you are not able to use your phone while driving, nor call the Police or Kate. These actions, however, are available when sitting still and not having a passenger. ![20260616074239_1.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/gabrielatravels/23yd5nTfCyP6YvxXiwqCgzBWC8T1eYQSZAGhkPW5CZ6kh4QY3574QX9CcQyh61ZCbjo6z.png) At first, I thought I was doing something wrong because I could call both the police and Kate before picking up a new client, thinking that this is how it should work. To have a call still going on way before having a client enter the car. But nope, it turns out that even if you call any of Kate or the police, they will answer, but without speaking and then, one or two seconds later, they will close the call. Even if you try to call them moments before reaching the next client, the call will still be turned off automatically by the game. So there is no chance to have them listen to your ride with a strange passenger, as they asked at the beginning of the game. ![20260616074149_1.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/gabrielatravels/241tT77wQe9tXJosdfrcsjJeoPwGQVTcVdAK8Sk1rBxR7RvK8KZGe7ASU8L5xM7ANvzsb.png) And speaking of passengers, I think you already have an idea of what the game promised to be looking if you checked the video attached at the beginning of this post. Strange situations like people having sex on the backseat of the car, driving drunk people at home, assisting a lady in giving birth during your ride, checking if any client forgot their house keys or money on the backseat, are just some of the situations they promised to deliver with their game. The reality? You can see in the picture where my logo is attached. A blank backseat which you only get to see when the passanger/s enter or exit your car. Because there is no way to get a view of that during a ride or check on your client manually while driving or looking in the rearview mirror. And speaking about passengers, do note that it doesn't matter whether you have a ride with a single passenger or more, the game will still display a single person entering or exiting your car. LOL! ![20260616074045_1.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/gabrielatravels/23tGa1WGsjtrJVg6VgVXGyNVKxJqVMsVNHMYAeCkZwTDBnqcjXDSYueKEtPPWj4he1q7A.png) ![20260616074705_1.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/gabrielatravels/23wgMWgfH356v2TfGfrW7Je3GNPLVAV7ybhPzCLB4fnnePzua4ScTrxWRx56uvchwZ8pb.png) ![20260616075610_1.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/gabrielatravels/23uFMgDR7F1e7RWnzDJNMujuB4z2UZhtBg1Aq9wmhzCciFe2wEhkD3MPHE8GfQeb5mQXA.png) Cool NPCs? You can already forget about that. Nevertheless, it was supposed to be a very interactive game where people randomly ask for a taxi ride while passing by, some other people speaking with you while waiting for the green light at the traffic lights, or other things. Instead, expect lots of cars randomly accelerating and breaking in front of you, hitting you, passing over people on the sidewalk with no consequences, as well as traffic jams with no proper reason for doing so. This is actually a thing that I kind of expected since more and more games are using Artificial Intelligence to set up their NPCs in video games, but this game feels like it was never checked by the developer team before launching the demo. I do agree that it's cool to release a demo so fans can dig deeper and find possible bugs, but when you release a game that is full of bugs from the first 2 minutes of gameplay, it's crystal clear that no one really checked this. ![20260616073152_1.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/gabrielatravels/23tbF5jen1n7H1kunA8TyQbjvY7nBuRchq9j3b3rBDsmBW8JDbeiN5YkHLDNgEtdZASxN.png) The audio setting is another joke of the game. From the images on the right, which are shown from games that have nothing to do with Taxi Simulator, to the settings that are not working, it's just the beginning of another round of anger on this game. For example, images from the right are usually displayed on the video/graphics settings, where people should be able to see the difference between setting higher and lower quality on the game's graphics or if they turn on/off some other settings. So they were NOT supposed to be part of the audio settings from the start. Secondly, what's the purpose of showing images from other games? It just makes no sense. Thirdly, the bar where you are supposed to set Master/Voices/Sound Effects or Music is useless. The single thing working on this section is setting your Audio Output, but all the other things, even if you set the music volume at 50%, for example, as soon as you "save" the new settings, it will go back to 100. They are literally set to be fixed on 100 without actually allowing you to customise your audio experience while playing the game. ![20260616074851_1.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/gabrielatravels/23wX1BDF6KSJvdzeVikxVaQ3vAk4xX2qgjH8oFSBfXZVk4PqBHKGkeQZmVHSf16zw2CeF.png) Next up, the damage you get to your car is literally another joke. You get hit in the front or back of your car, and nothing happens on these sides, but you see a window crack on the sides, haha. Should I repeat again that this has nothing to do with what they showed in their trailer? I think you already figured that out by this point. Oh, and I almost forgot about my level/reputation on this game. On the top left of the image, you can see that I was already level 22. That happened in JUST 40 MINUTES of gameplay!! So after a full day of playing this game, I would have, like, what? Level 1000? ![20260616080140_1.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/gabrielatravels/23vsQXwVG8woLgeLwZXzfNYyq4DjeTZ2ekwNM6qonCj3D9GWZt73ECG4pWPeZ5XotFwm9.png) Another thing that is really funny is how they decided to create the characters where no face matches the voice or personality they used for the characters, having them constantly look at different sides than the camera. Plus, the way you look in the 'so called cinematics' doesn't match how you look while you're driving, neither have your mouth move while speaking with the passengers or on the phone in the car. So... two separate characters for the same character for a separate game than the original one... that is wild! ![20260616080214_1.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/gabrielatravels/23tH5PR87zaC55FTsH48xKMyBfgFVc1rybKm615EXTMsPHJRcjuPKrDi967r58Hdn78ij.png) They did put effort into making the thank card by the end of the demo though, lol, which is like trying to calm people down after wasting their time playing their shitty game. Don't get me wrong, if it had been a random game dropped in the store with DEMO ready to be played, it would have been totally fine, as bugs and mistakes are not missing, no matter how big a game is. The problem here is promoting a game for one full year back in 2019, asking people to wishlist it, and then returning 7 years later with a whole new game while they try to delete all the traces of what they were supposed to deliver. This is where I strongly believe this should be a jail event. Just imagine if they had the game set on pre-order with what they promised to deliver, lots of people would purchase it, and then get to play what we have with their demo version. Wouldn't that be theft? Nevertheless, this kind of things should be illegal, and Steam should do better research on what developers upload when listing a game, because a single check on what they initially listed would already show that none of these was real. ![untitled.gif](https://media.tenor.com/6sCR-rG_0IYAAAAC/ban.gif) But the developers had a really smart move, releasing only the demo for this instead of putting it on early access, as most of the games do when they look for genuine feedback. That would also allow people to leave a review on the Steam Store on their overall experience playing it, and developers would pay a lot more attention to fix possible reports since their reputation could be seen by everyone in real time. Instead, they set it as a demo so people couldn't list their review in a public way, deleting lots of discussions started on the forums and making the report submission not work, even if you want to do all this from the game, where no one else would see what you would write anyway. So, since I already spent a lot more time both playing and writing about this game, I'd like to stop here, but not before suggesting everyone to do a better research on what is real and what it's not. This game was presented in a fake way a lot more before the AI became a thing, and still turned out not to exist. So what is actually real anymore? Personally, I feel disappointed and sad at the same time for falling on this one, waiting years and expecting that the wait is well worth it at the end of the day. At one point, I even thought the game was never going to be released anymore, which is also what I was hoping to actually happen now that I've checked the DEMO version. Nevertheless, I already submitted a report ticket directly at Steam, and I am waiting for their response, if there is going to be any. But I really hope this game will never get to be ever released, and it will face the consequences it deserves. **NOTE**: - *all the pictures attached are in-game screenshots taken **by me** (unless if other stated).* 📸 - *this article is **trying** to stay away from revealing spoilers.* ⚠️ - *this is a **personal** review and should not be taken as real advice on either playing the game or not, because the opinion might be subjective.* 🗯 - *this article was written exclusively for the Hive community and its members.* ❤️ ##### Here is a list of some other games I wrote reviews about and you might like: .... 20.[Forza Horizon 5](https://peakd.com/hive-140217/@gabrielatravels/forza-horizon-5-a-great-game-that-doesnt-come-with-lots-of-requirements-lets-play-games-94) 🚓 - 5/5 21.[Watch Dogs: Legion](https://peakd.com/hive-140217/@gabrielatravels/watch-dogs-legion-is-it-really-worth-it-lets-play-games-95) 💻 - 4/5 22.[Far Cry 6](https://peakd.com/hive-140217/@gabrielatravels/far-cry-6-the-best-game-of-the-series-lets-play-games-96) 💣 - 5/5 23.[inZOI](https://peakd.com/hive-140217/@gabrielatravels/inzoi-a-new-era-for-life-simulators) 👧 - 4/5 24.[Assassin's Creed Shadows](https://peakd.com/hive-140217/@gabrielatravels/assassins-creed-shadows-it-assassinated-my-expectations) 🥷 - 5/5 25.[Call of the Wild: The Angler](https://peakd.com/hive-140217/@gabrielatravels/call-of-the-wild-the-angler-the-definition-of-relaxation-when-it-comes-to-games) 🎣 - 4.5/5 26.[Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy](https://peakd.com/hive-106817/@gabrielatravels/marvels-guardians-of-the-galaxy-not-your-usual-superhero-game-review-26) 💥 - 5/5 27.[Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League](https://peakd.com/hive-140217/@gabrielatravels/suicide-squad-kill-the-justice-league-high-hopes-big-disappointment-review-27) 🔨 - 3/5 28.[Life is Strange: Reunion - A Game Series That Marked My Childhood](https://peakd.com/hive-140217/@gabrielatravels/life-is-strange-reunion-a-game-series-that-marked-my-childhood-review-28) 📸 - 5/5 29.[Taxi Simulator - DON'T EVER BUY THIS GAME!](https://peakd.com/hive-140217/@gabrielatravels/taxi-simulator-dont-ever-buy-this-game-review-29) 🚕 - 0/5 ![gabriela travels divider gaming.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/gabrielatravels/Eo8L1q1q6J3nWWpu8NRh7jbJkzcHsrSTzBzVoM4DUXdS2497yfcDaSySrzHN2sFApL2.png)

^{**Gabriela Travels** is a Curator for [Worldmappin](https://peakd.com/c/hive-163772) and [Hive Gaming](https://peakd.com/c/hive-140217/created) communities, but also the FOUNDER of "[Festival Mania](https://peakd.com/c/hive-151446/created)" who started this community from the passion of attending various festivals and with the purpose of encouraging more people to explore festivals all around the world and share their experiences.
At the same time, **Gabriela** is an independent Graphic Design Freelancer since 2019 completing over 600+ orders in this time and collaborating with various businesses and people from all over the globe.
Additionally, **Gabriela** has her own corner on the internet since 2017 where she writes various articles for her blog, the most popular being the travel ones (350+ articles written on this field), but also approaching other topics as well, like game and book reviews, lets plays, movie and series reviews, photography posts, cooking recipes and more, boosting the total number of articles written to 850+ blog posts.
**Gabriela** is also a gamer since she was 11 years old and gaming remains one of her biggest passions along with traveling, owning a YouTube channel for each of the two.} ~ @GabrielaTravels ~ ![gabriela travels divider gaming.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/gabrielatravels/Eo8L1q1q6J3nWWpu8NRh7jbJkzcHsrSTzBzVoM4DUXdS2497yfcDaSySrzHN2sFApL2.png)

Insurgency Sandstorm Multiplayer Teaser Breakdown