Junkyard Simulator Review

I really, really, really wanted to enjoy Junkyard Simulator. I know the publisher PlayWay makes some janky titles, but I had hopes that this would break that trend. Unfortunately, I was wrong, very wrong. The game is buggy and lacks direction. Moreover, the early action is repetitive, and there is a lack of reward when you complete mammoth tasks. The result is a game that makes you say “meh”.

This simulation title can only be tackled alone. Furthermore, the large map is pretty annoying to traverse. However, this is only a minor issue as you’ll spend hours removing junk, reconditioning items, and generally tidying up after wasteful humans. This element appealed to me as I love to recycle. Yet, the sense of endless grind was a bit of a bind.

Junkyard Simulator is all too familiar.

Creating your fortunes from a rundown business or a failed past is a go-to for this genre. Junkyard Simulator doesn’t buck the trend as you are tasked with building a junkyard from scratch. In theory, this should be tough. However, people are generous, and you get your business up and running in no time. From here, the world is your oyster, and another man’s trash is your treasure.

This mindset flows throughout the game. Moving from wrecked location to wrecked location is key. Additionally, scrapping vehicles, picking up rubbish, and generally sprucing up the place are go-to elements.

When is a business sim not a business sim?

Running a business should be a key focus of this genre. However, this doesn’t get things quite right. Hiring staff is complicated and confusing, and the UI doesn’t help to clean things up. Furthermore, it was tough to understand the basics as the game lacks a focused tutorial to keep you on track.

If this isn’t bad enough, I had no idea what I was doing at any given time. Yes, there are goals to mark off and a highlighting tool to find missing tasks, but still, the action is hellishly confusing. When you combine this with the grind, it’s a turn-off, no matter how patient you are.

Junkyard Simulator is buggy.

Visual tears, bugs, poor textures, low details, and much more hold Junkyard Simulator back. This game lacks polish on practically every level, and this was disappointing. Whether you are driving your roster of vehicles or moving on foot, the game feels horribly sluggish and looks worse. Unfortunately, the audio isn’t much better. The sound effects lack finesse, and everything is wooden, disinteresting, and of low quality.

The controls are somewhat clunky, but oddly, alright. They work to a degree, but you are constantly lining up key working areas to complete each task. On top of this, they are badly explained, so plenty of trial and error is needed. If you can overlook the mountain of issues, there is replay value and longevity. For all of its flaws, it has plenty of replay value. Yet, I can’t see many people with the patience to tackle Junkyard Simulator repeatedly.

Junkyard Simulator is pretty junk.

Sadly, this is another promising simulator experience that is junk by name and junk by nature. Many of the core elements are either arduous, poorly executed, or clunky as hell. Additionally, the action is horribly drab, and the grind holds it back. Accordingly, Junkyard Simulator should be avoided! However, more information can be found at the Xbox store!