Truck Driver: The Dutch Connection drives a long-running series into fresh territory, blending old-school truck-driving charm with a bold push toward a more immersive, story-focused experience. Set against a fictional take on the Netherlands, full of windmills, waterways, and those picture-perfect European highways, the game aims to evolve the franchise. With some familiar faces returning and new characters entering the life of a truck driver.

The adventure begins with Lucas, a young, ambitious newcomer who is desperate to make a name for himself, and he’s been paired with Felix, a seasoned veteran with over 30 years of long-haul wisdom. Over time, as you play the game, you learn to love their relationship as it grows and almost becomes a father-son one, even if the story is a little slow to get started.

Truck Driver: The Dutch Connection sticks closely to the classic truck simulator formula: you get the call, pick up the job, deliver the load and get paid, all with a light sprinkle of story woven into its seams. You’re required to repair your truck if you damage it, though repair stations feel few and far between. Fuel consumption is almost non-existent, which means more profit but a little less realism.

Night driving can also get sketchy, as many cars, especially emergency vehicles, don’t appear to have working headlights, leaving only the flashing lights visible in storms or low-light conditions.

While the core loop is solid, it would be great to see future updates that add more variety, such as super-wide loads that require pilot vehicles.

I was a little surprised by the controls, which turned out to be surprisingly fun, and I started calling myself drift king because driving around in the truck in the rain was sliding all over the road, and not a single countersteering move fixed the issue. The brakes felt non-existent at times, even without towing a load, but overall, I was impressed with the handling. I really appreciated the physics. Adding a heavy trailer would make the back of the truck squat, and the front suspension would lift with each gear.

It added a happy level of immersion for me. It took me a little while to get used to the D-PAD controls; it had the park brake linked into it, and the radio controls, which felt like a little waste of time. Once you understand all the controls, everything is not bad; the controller feels well optimised for the game.

The graphics in Truck Driver: The Dutch Connection are a mix of high and lows. The cutscenes are solid, almost like moving pictures with subtitles, and the watercolour-inspired artwork genuinely looks satisfying. The lighting and rain effects were super impressive, with the roads becoming wet as rain fell, and the wind blowing grass and trees during storms, adding a decent level of realism. That being said, the truck models didn’t quite match the environmental quality.

Inside the cabin, everything has a weird glow that makes it hard to see, and the side mirrors are glitchy and unreliable. Texture glitches pop up occasionally in the distance, and some parts of the environment, such as the surrounding hills, can feel low-quality compared to the rest of the world. Weather variety seems super limited, mostly cycling between rain, a little sun and lots of fog, but the attention to detail is where it’s mainly noticed.

The sound design is a mixed bag for me. The voice acting is decent and fits the vibe, but as someone who loves trucks, I was really let down by how quiet the truck engines were. It was more of a faint humming sound than a truck engine. The radio starts off fun with its funky 60s-style disco tunes, but after a while, it can become repetitive and annoying. That said, for streamers or content creators, it could be perfect with its light-hearted, retro soundtrack while you’re cruising around.

Truck Driver: The Dutch Connection is a charming, sometimes clunky, but ultimately heartfelt step forward in the franchise. It blends classic truck driving gameplay with a more narrative-driven approach, giving players a genuine reason to care about the journey. The relationship between Lucas and Felix brings a surprising warmth to the experience, even if the story takes a little bit to get moving.

Written by: Hayden Nelson