Euro Truck Simulator 2 Special Transport DLC Review — Caution: Wide Load Coming Through!

When it comes to the ever-enjoyable experience that is Euro Truck Simulator 2, there’s very little on my personal wish list that isn’t already there. Sure, we all wouldn’t mind some more trucks and roads to drive on. But there has been one thing besides the obvious features I had wished for and that is wide loads. Now with the latest Special Transport DLC, players can haul just that. So move on over, literally, and get to hauling cargo wider than ever before.

In order to make such large deliveries, the road is going to need to be cleared. Queue up help from not only guide trucks but also the local police departments to make sure all turns are clear and it’s nothing but open road. Each delivery starts with a little cut scene showing preparations and a local news crew reporting at the site. It’s nice to see now and again — or even just briefly — but this is on the longer side. I was unable to find a way to skip the scene either, which would be nice, although I’m not discounting the possibility that it is able to be skipped with a button I may have forgotten to assign to my wheel.

Because the police do block traffic for you at intersections there are a few very defined routes these deliveries are available on. Right now, there about seventeen cities in which these deliveries originate, with more to be added later. That’s not too bad, but just remember where they are (Košice (SK), Linköping (S), Nantes (F), Luxembourg (L), Olsztyn (PL), Stavanger (N), Sheffield (GB), Berlin (D), Reims (F), Dresden (D), Dortmund (D), Praha (CZ), Glasgow (GB), München (D), Bratislava (SK), Köln (D) and Brussel (B)). Interestingly, or possibly due to my puzzling decision last time to start fresh and thus become a low level again, I only seemed able to find special transport jobs out of Sheffield to Birmingham. While it is a “short” route, it did present some challenges going through the country and a short highway stint.

The first delivery was all packaged up in a giant square box, which hung far and low over the sides of the trailer. This presented a few problems, as the box did not clear guard rails and the road was filled with many twists and turns. Taking up the entire lane meant some precision driving and greatly reduced speeds. Minor roads proved a harrowing time: undoubtedly to add to the drama, it seemed every single turn saw a proliferation of oncoming trucks. But the real concern was to come.

Following the guide truck, we headed to the motorway. Here there are some special circumstances that drivers need to pay attention to or risk failing the delivery. Changing lanes requires some very specific instructions, with the rear truck pulling in first, then the lead truck, with you taking up residence in the space between. Although I was certain I had done as instructed, the game was quick to point out that I had best do it right or risk failing. Perhaps I was a bit slow moving over. I was safe, however, and because there is far more that can go wrong in these instances, auto-saves are made far more frequently than in other jobs. The brief highway session went well — until the time came to take the exit slip.

The tight turn off the motorway presented a dilemma: stay to the outside and risk getting hung up on the rails or stay inside more and use the lack of guardrail there to my advantage. I went further inside and wound up regretting it. The incredibly large box got wedged on the slip road along a hill I’d failed to accurately gauge the size of. I was able to free myself briefly, but was never fully in the clear and eventually became hopelessly stuck. I sheepishly made use of one of those ample auto-saves and tried again, this time without incident. As the truck lumbered into town near its final destination, I was greeted by crowds lined along the route. Secretly I hoped that one of those goofs with a selfie stick would get clipped, but no luck there. Finally at the destination, I breathed a sigh of relief.

Subsequent jobs offered much smaller things to transport: a smaller high-tech-device box, which was also up high enough to clear guard rails; and an excavator bucket that felt like I was hauling nothing big at all. I didn’t get offered all eleven of the possible cargoes, but the ones I did were challenging yet fun. I wouldn’t have minded having a few more options available, but still was not disappointed the least bit with what was there. With the promise of more DLC cities and routes to come, this will only get better over time. Even in its current state, though, the $5 asking price feels right and will turn into more of a bargain as things are added.  Like the High Powered and Heavy Cargo packs, anyone driving ETS 2 should seriously consider this DLC.