Car Service Simulator Review (Xbox Series X|S & PC)

The first thing I asked myself when I heard that Red Axe was publishing a game about repairing vehicles was, why would I want to spend time with something that I actively despise? Cars, as great as they are for getting you from point A to point B, are an absolute nightmare to maintain. Fortunately for me, I have a brother who knows his fuel injectors from his gaskets, so I have never had to spend all that long under the hood. Kicking the wheel is my forte, but that’s about as much as I’m ever willing to give when it comes to tweaking the components of a decade-old bag of bolts. And of course, this raises the question, why would I choose to sweat bullets over the engine in Car Service Simulator when it is such an alien concept to me?

As luck would have it, I never needed to pull the hairs from scalp in order to get a few vehicles back on the road, as Car Service Simulator made the process of rebuilding cars a lot easier than my local mechanic ever said it would be. It made me realize the elephant in the room, too. Why was I spending a whopping fee for what was, according to the game, a quick and easy fix? Deep down, I knew that I had been deceived, and that I was willingly throwing money away at jobs that I probably could have done myself. I’m emphasizing the word probably here, by the way.

At first, I thought Car Service Simulator would be like a lost language that I would have to learn, almost like a toddler fumbling through the ABCs, complete with the wooden building blocks, fuzzy pipe cleaners and plastic wrenches. And, to some extent, it was. Yet, unlike Car Mechanic Simulator—a game that tries to shove complex procedures down your throat—Car Service Simulator felt a lot easier to tackle. The jobs, for example, were purposely simplified, as were the mechanics and the stepping stone-like routines. A car would rumble and groan as it would clunk into the garage, and I, the idiotic “technician” who couldn’t tell their steering wheel from their air bags, would receive a list of instructions. A part would be removed, and another would fall into place. I’d earn a few bucks, and I’d simply move on to the next job.

Car Service Simulator isn’t about building perfect vehicles and giving them a five-year warranty. In fact, it’s actually a lot simpler than that. As you gradually work through contracts, you can earn cash, unlock better equipment, build your reputation, and, if you’re feeling lucky, scavenge for spare parts at a scrapyard. There is also a bit of bookkeeping to sink your greasy hands into, with a financial section that requires you to balance the budget, source higher-paying jobs, and sacrifice factory parts for back-of-the-wagon buckets of bolts and what have you. At its core, though, it frames a simple mechanic simulation experience.

Aside from its small open-world properties, scrapyard scenarios, and light bookkeeping elements, the game is exactly what you think it is: a collection of faults, some of which are purely mechanical, others that are as basic as a quick swap of specific parts. Initially, you have some easygoing assortments to fumble around with—tasks that require you to inspect parts, remove them, and replace them before kicking the wheel and filing an invoice to the customer. While it isn’t back-breaking labor, it is a meticulous craft that often asks you to think outside of the box. There’s an engine somewhere that’s desperate to roar, and it’s your job to ensure that it does.

There’s a satisfying game here that knows how to pull on your gears. Whether it’s a mechanical fault or a technical issue with the systematic design, the game itself is, for the most part, a lot of fun to put together. As the contracts increase in complexity, too, the world finds more for you to throw your wrench at, whether it’s a tougher job, a tool that’s more versatile, or a vehicular module that allows you to explore more labor-oriented routes. The point is, the campaign gives you a good deal to work with. It isn’t anything special, but it does make an effort to cram a lot into its chassis, with enough contracts, mechanical set pieces and side activities to keep you busy.

Don’t get me wrong, Car Service Simulator is a good game, but it’s also a game that appears to be missing a few crucial parts. With a worrying amount of technical issues and questionable design choices, it can be awfully difficult to enjoy the experience without accidentally bumping into areas that prevent you from making the most out of your time with it. Graphically, it leans into a relatively average field, with a mostly accurate representation of the automotive industry, but with an equal amount of open-world shoddiness that doesn’t do a lot to improve the overall quality of the canvas. But that’s to be expected with a simulation game. It isn’t pretty, but it gets the job done with the tools in its arsenal.

Minus a couple of loose nuts and bolts in its visual department, Car Service Simulator has a good deal going for it. While its open-world portions are a little lackluster and drab, the engineering side of the game is honestly quite satisfying to play through. With there being enough contracts, customization options, and avenues for players to experiment with various parts and cosmetics—paint jobs, performance enhancing, and body kits, for example—you shouldn’t struggle to find enough material to dabble with here. Is it a life-like emulation of vehicular engineering? No. Does it make monotonous jobs feel oddly rewarding and worth the blood, sweat and tears? Yes. Could it do with a little extra meat on its bones to help broaden its appeal? Absolutely.

Verdict

Car Service Simulator gives fledgling wheel-kicking mechanics an opportunity to throw the wrench at the world of automotive technology with a simple open-world simulation experience that is, while lacking in visual and mechanical complexity, a lot of fun to play around with for a while. It might not be the sturdiest of simulation games on the market, but it is a passable one that, like an annual routine service, keeps the bits and pieces in place long enough to help you exit the garage and enjoy your purchase. Like cars, in general, though, it’s bound to break at some point or another.