IT’S PRONOUNCED BAR-THE-LOH-NAH
HIGH Parallel parking like a boss.
LOW Police AI is asleep at the wheel.
WTF Hitting pedestrians only costs 100 Euros!
In the hectic streets of Barcelona, My taxi driver’s journey unfolds in Taxi Life: A City Driving Simulator – a simulation that promises both realism and adventure.
Taxi Life puts the player in the shoes of a business owner starting a taxi company in Barcelona. The objective is to grow the company by completing fares, purchasing new vehicles, upgrading said vehicles, hiring drivers and sending them out to complete even more fares to eventually become the taxi king or queen of the city.
Besides driving customers to and fro in standard rides, there are other activities in Taxi Life that provide XP which can be used to invest in perks that make building a taxi Empire a little easier. “Places to discover” usually lead to graffiti paintings. “Interesting architecture” tasked me with visiting famous sites like the Triumphal Arch of Barcelona amongst others. “Challenges” are more demanding fares, mostly requiring speed, coupled with minimal collisions.
Barcelona feels alive in Taxi Life, rendered with good attention to detail, albeit artificially light traffic. From iconic landmarks to narrow alleys, the city is a joy to navigate – except for that one time when I made a wrong turn down one of the many one-way streets because I didn’t notice the sign. That wasn’t so joyful.
Also, I did get speeding tickets for driving too fast, as there are speed cams peppered throughout the city. However, the fine of 20 Euros wasn’t enough to dissuade me from from putting pedal to the metal when calculating time saved plus the earnings from a fare – speeding was often an obvious choice.
The driving mechanics (speeding or not) offer a decent experience, with some quirks like over-steer and delayed reactions to sharp turns. There are varied camera options including cockpit, dash and hood. It would have been nice to have more options for a third-person camera because the one offered is a little too close to the car.
The vehicles in this game are generic – no name-brand sedans here! – and all I saw were designs similar to vehicles I’ve seen in real life. No doubt the cost of licensing was at the forefront of this choice to skip real models, but thankfully the lack of licenses doesn’t take away from the immersion factor.
Also, the perk tree is worth taking the time to study before investing perk points. Level-up options include boosting the speed at which XP is gained, greater availability of VIP Jobs that pay more money, lower costs for maintenance services like towing, mechanics and cleaning, and so forth. My personal favorite perk provides the ability for drivers I hire to cost my company less in terms of salary while raising their efficiency. These all add a layer of strategy to what might otherwise be a straightforward taxi experience.
In terms of immersion, despite some shortcomings, the nuanced interactions with passengers are a welcome addition. These can sometimes lead to more or less satisfaction from customers, so be careful when responding to them. For example, when an occupant asked me what fun activities were available in Barcelona and I suggested the beach, and then I kept referencing the beach even after they said they weren’t interested, they became irritable and lost some of their ‘patience’ (represented by a bar) which directly influences their final rating of the ride.
While the voice acting is passable, it lacks the polish expected from a modern title. However, the well-written dialogue compensates, providing believable and sometimes humorous interactions with passengers. I once did a bad fare and the customer said “I hope your driving improves, not that I’ll ever give you another chance to show me.” Multiple language options including English, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Mandarin, Arabic, Catalan Spanish, German, and French cater to a diverse player base.
While what I’ve listed so far all contributes to a solid sim experience, there are some rough patches. For instance, there are only four radio stations offering techno, light pop with a dash of Jazz, some rock (although for the life of me I cannot see how rock music could possibly facilitate calm taxi driving) and finally some classical – the closest one will get to chill music for what can be a tense experience. I would recommend turning off the music entirely in Taxi Life and firing up one of Yo-Yo Ma’s renditions of Bach’s Cello Suite No.5 instead.
Another issue for me was that while Taxi Life strives for realism, it falls short in some aspects. Believable vehicle damage adds to the immersion, but a lack of consequences for traffic violations feels unrealistic. Hitting pedestrians netted me a 100 Euro fine, which is a pittance considering the thousands I easily stacked up in the first few taxi fares I completed. One would expect a heavier hand with such serious infractions. Running a red light right in front of the police was particularly jarring as it does not net a fine of any kind.
Vehicular accidents are the same way. Besides the damage to the vehicle, nothing else happens. No fine, no police report, and no ding to the customer patience meter. Real-life fender benders usually ruin a person’s day, yet in Taxi Life, it has the same weight as bumping into someone in line at a coffee shop and accidentally making them drop their bag. Annoying, sure, but no big deal. For a simulator (as opposed to an arcade experience) I feel the devs did not spend enough time on this.
Finally, the mispronunciation of Barcelona’s name is a detail that may irk locals and some travelled folk like myself. It’s pronounced Bar-the-LOH-nah, and not Bar-sur-Loh-nah.
Taxi Life ultimately offers a mixed bag by blending realism with a fantasy upgrade system. While the attention to detail and perk system impress, issues like the lack of expected consequences detract from the experience.
As this is my first foray into videogame taxi driving apart from Crazy Taxi, I can only guess how it might stack up against others in the same vein. However, what I can say is that I suspect it will scratch the itch of most simulation gaming enthusiasts, and I found it worth the time and effort needed to build my taxi empire – just be prepared for something clearly on the simulation side of things, with no arcade-style action here.
Rating: 6 out of 10
— Patricio do Rosario
Disclosures: This game is published by Nacon and developed by Simteract. It is available on XBO/X/S, PS5 and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PC. Approximately 12 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was not completed.
Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E. There are depictions of Mild Language. The official description reads: “This is a simulation game in which players drive a taxi in the city of Barcelona. Players can pick up passengers and drive to destinations in a timely manner while following traffic laws. The words “damn” and “hell” appear in the game.”
Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are not available.
Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: Taxi Life offers no options for audio accessibility other than subtitles. The game is playable without sound, as there are no necessary audio cues needed for play. Taxi Life is fully accessible.
Remappable Controls: All controls can be remapped, making Taxi Life fully remappable.
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