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0 Developed by Z-Software and published by Aerosoft GmbH, Autobahn Police Simulator 3 puts players behind the wheel of a German highway patrol vehicle. The game combines routine law enforcement tasks with open-world driving and car chases.
Have you ever dreamed of speeding 200 kilometers per hour on a freeway to enforce rigid German traffic laws? This game might scratch that very particular itch for you!
Polizei! Bitte anhalten!
Autobahn Police Simulator 3 puts players in the role of a German freeway police officer who gets back to work after a long period of recovery from a bad traffic accident. Eager to catch the mischievous car racers who caused the calamity, the police governor suggests taking things slow after such a long time out.
While on the chase of a bike thief, players get introduced to the basic controls, tasks, and routines of the game. Things got weird rather sooner than expected. After an initial inspection of a random citizen who happens to have a blue car like the one we are on the lookout for, I failed to gain any experience points for not ticketing the poor man. I even measured his tire pressure and checked his driver’s license. I am still clueless about what he was supposed to get ticketed for.
But things got even more bizarre when, after hearing over the police radio, they found the real suspect’s blue car. Floating red arrows were hindering my vehicle from accessing the freeway to catch the bicycle thief. Instead, I was forced to drive in circles. After a while, I was left with no choice but to cancel the tutorial and let the perpetrator escape with the stolen bicycle. I’m assuming this area of the game was still restricted. But why then lead the tutorial destination into the restricted area?
Gameplay
After a rocky tutorial, I finally leveled up by chasing down a car and bringing the speedster back to the police station. After which, more serious business, such as a herd of cows blocking the freeway. On this very first mission back in the police force, we are given the critical task of shoveling cow feces off the tax-financed Autobahn. This career is not for the faint of heart.
Autobahn Police Simulator 3 feels like blowing the dust off an old GTA San Andreas game disc and playing it on a family PC that barely meets the minimum requirements. The dated visuals, sparse open world, and constant stuttering combine to create a strange sense of nostalgia, transporting me back to my teenage years.
To my great surprise, the game pulls off a storyline that is just interesting enough to stay engaged. The missions are more varied than expected, ranging from routine traffic stops and accident investigations to high-speed pursuits and other police duties.
Graphics & Audio
Visually, the game has that special 2000s era nostalgia appeal. If you told me this game came out in 2008 instead of 2022, I would have believed it. The environment is charmingly German, with lush green trees, accompanied by an ominous giant nuclear power plant in the background. Textures are blurry, lacking any detail, whilst the highly repetitive character models feel like they were conserved in a time capsule from the Xbox 360 era.
Despite its dated visuals, Autobahn Police Simulator 3 struggles to maintain a smooth frame rate. This isn’t a case of cutting-edge graphics bringing hardware to its knees, but rather, the game appears to suffer from optimization issues that lead to frequent stutters and performance drops even on systems that should have little trouble running it.
The sound design is equally committed to authenticity, as everything sounds slightly muted, restrained, and lifeless. As someone who grew up in Germany, I can testify that the sound design of the police sirens really does sound authentically German. The voice acting was also on point, as the characters sound as dead on the inside as my middle school arts teacher.
Longevity
All jokes aside, I was pleasantly surprised that Autobahn Police Simulator 3 offers missions with a coherent storyline rather than loose tasks with random police check-ups. The characters care about their jobs, which greatly enhances immersion. That being said, I don’t know how long that spell can last before the game starts to feel repetitive.
Career mode seems to be quite lengthy, with Steam users mentioning twenty hours of gameplay and more, depending on how many side missions one unlocks.
Final Thoughts
The game managed to pique my interest and even entertain me for more hours than I thought it would. The game developers did their best to create a variety of missions with a storyline that feels intriguing. Outside of that, the game feels rather lifeless, with very few cars on the Autobahn, very few NPCs to interact with, and even fewer activities to break up the routine.
Unfortunately, due to the game randomly and abruptly crashing a couple of times, I can’t possibly give Autobahn Police Simulator 3 a positive review. Furthermore, the game lags and stutters constantly, despite the low specs requirements.
Autobahn Police Simulator 3 receives the Thumb Culture Bronze Award.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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