Another map piece has been put in place for American Truck Simulator – the Missouri map DLC.
The state of Missouri is in the middle of everything – it borders no less than eight other states – but even so it is probably one of the lesser known ones for us foreigners. I must admit I had a very sketchy knowledge of the area when I got into the truck for a tour. In my mind Missouri has mostly been a kind of in-between state. A bit of a southern state and a bit of a midwest one. Probably more the latter though. It houses the city of St. Louis over at the eastern edge at the Mississippi river and has a river with the same same as the state. That’s the brief summary of my knowledge. So let’s see if it holds up and what else we can pick up from the tour.
Just like the previous Arkansas map DLC, Missouri serves to fill in another piece of the American midwest and increasing the driveable map area up to the shore of the mighty Mississippi river. This includes twelve new cities, among them St. Louis at the Mississippi, the state capital of Jefferson City, Springfield (no, not that one), and Kansas City – the part that is not in Kansas, that is. There’s also nine smaller towns which, while not making the cut for city markers on the map, still provide that town feeling when passing through.
As usual the map includes a number of photogenic landmarks – the most well-known of course being the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. There’s also the almost obligatory State Capitol in Jefferson. (Which makes me wonder if it’s possible to get photos of all state capitols in the released states. Something to put on the to-do list to investigate.)
A visit to Jefferson City also provides a nice view of the Missouri river which cuts through the state from west to east as it roughly separates the great midwest plains in the northern half from the more hilly southern part that is made up of the Ozark plateau.
That said, Missouri mostly provides relatively flat ground for the drive. Even the Ozark plateau in the middle with the picturesque Lake of the Ozarks and a number of rivers doesn’t offer any great climbs to challenge your truck. The highest point in the whole state is 540 m over sea level. But the Ozarks still makes for a change in landscape with their hillside cuts and a greener, more forested environment. The Lake of the Ozarks area is also worth a drive for the possibility to drive across another huge dam construction – the Bagnell Dam.
The Missouri map add-on is the second one to take us to the end of the historical west. At the map’s eastern edge is the Mississippi river and I must admit that a part of me can’t help but long for the day when it will be allowed for us to cross any of the great bridges leading across. But for now we will have to be satisfied with looking at them from a distance.
There are of course also some new cargo and new types of industries available to further increase the diversity of play. Apparently Missouri is the home of the world’s largest beer manufacturer, which explains the inclusion of a historic beverage factory. Among other things I’ve already discovered on my initial criss-crossing of the state are a very large truck center complex, as well as the industry that may very well be the shining star of this map pack – the Terrastore facilities.
Terrastore is a (fictive) storage company which specializes in underground warehouses. According to SCS there should be a total of four of them spread across Missouri. This far I personally know of two.
These underground storages are big constructions which at times means you’ll have to drive quite a bit underground in order to reach your point of delivery. From the look of it, these warehouses seem to accomodate a number of different types of goods and I can only assume that there is some need for this kind of very secure bumker-like storage underground in the middle of the continent. If there is, I suppose Missouri makes sense for this type of business.
In any case it is a fun and different experience compared to most other delivery points. When you arrive to one of the Terrastore facilities you certainly get that feeling of big size and it being somewhat special. It is really nice done and it feels right when you can hear the engine sound reverberating when inside the underground tunnel system. It is probably the same effect as the one used when passing under bridges and shorter tunnels but here you get to hear it for longer. Just don’t try to use the from-above view when parking in the complex. The roof is a little too low for that view to be useful.
All in all Missouri is a nice experience even if maybe not as spectacular as some other map DLCs. As we have come to expect from the map constructors at SCS the landscape is well-designed and feels like a good compressed version of what in reality is a pretty large area the size of a medium-sized country. It has cities. It has open plains. It has large and small goods terminals and production plants. And it has all those small details to discover that makes the trucking experience extra rewarding.
It must be said that this piece of map doesn’t offer any extremely spectacular vistas. Except of course for the views of the rolling plains. It is the midwest after all. This is an expansion DLC in the most literal sense – what you get is more of the midwest to play around in. As such it is maybe not the first DLC I would choose in order to get more variety unless having some specific attachment to the area. It is however a very nicely crafted map expansion which provides a little more of everything that makes American Truck Simulator such a zen-like game at times. Simply the possibility to jump into a truck in St. Louis and start the long journey toward the Pacific coast should not be underestimated.
