Heavy Cargo – The Truck Simulator is a heavy haulage simulation by the Chemnitz-based studio tox² interactive, published by Aerosoft. The game was released on Steam for PC on 9 October 2024. Instead of driving pallets from A to B, you move huge loads such as tractors, tanks or construction parts with low-loaders and escort vehicles through a large game world. I show you what the simulation can do and where it still struggles.
Table of contents
Rating and verdict
Heavy Cargo has a really good idea: heavy transports with planning, escort vehicles and a lot of finesse. When a huge tank has to get through a tight junction, it is exciting and relaxing at the same time. Since release, tox² interactive has improved a lot with updates and the Heavy South DLC.
Still, it lacks polish. The driving behaviour often feels spongy, the traffic AI is weak and steering wheels are only partly supported. On Steam only around 53 percent of reviews are positive. Fans of heavy transports should take a look, but Heavy Cargo does not come close to Euro Truck Simulator 2.
What we liked
✅ Exciting heavy transports with escort vehicles
✅ Varied, sometimes quirky loads
✅ Many improvements through updates
What bothered us
❌ Spongy driving behaviour
❌ Weak traffic AI
❌ Limited steering wheel support
Rating: 58 %
How we rate
- 90–100Legendary
- 80–89Very good
- 70–79Good
- 60–69Okay
- 5850–59Mediocre
- < 50Weak
At PlayInsider we rate every game individually and always against the expectations of its genre. We judge the story of an action game or adventure by its narrative quality. In a simulation or management game, on the other hand, what counts is what the genre typically offers. This keeps our ratings fair and comparable within a genre.
Heavy Cargo review: gameplay
You start as a small transport company and accept heavy haulage jobs. Before every trip you plan the route, choose the right truck and trailer and secure the load. On the road an escort vehicle drives ahead, which you can also drive yourself to check the route for bottlenecks.
With the money you earn you buy new vehicles, hire staff and expand your fleet. The loads range from farm machinery to tanks and even dinosaur figures. That rarely gets boring, even though some players find the long drives in the escort vehicle annoying.
Driving feel and controls
This is the biggest weakness. Many players on Steam criticise that the trucks understeer and start sliding. Steering wheels like the Logitech G29 are only partly supported and head tracking is missing. It works better with a controller or mouse and keyboard, but driving rarely feels truly precise.
Graphics and game world
The game world is large and varied, with cities, country roads, industrial areas and ports. The trucks from manufacturers like Scania and MAN are detailed, while the environment looks empty in places. Traffic often behaves illogically, which is particularly annoying with extra-wide transports.
Technology, updates and DLCs
At release there were crashes and stutters. Updates such as version 1.30 and the Heavy South DLC have changed a lot. Next up is the Heavy Defense DLC with military transports and the free update 1.4.0. On the Steam Deck the game is rated as playable.
Price and availability
Heavy Cargo regularly costs 22.99 euros on Steam. The game is currently not listed at Instant Gaming.
- PC (Steam), Windows only
- Voice-over in German and English
- Text in nine languages
Trailer
System requirements (PC)
| Minimum | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows 10/11 (64 bit only) | Windows 10/11 (64 bit only) |
| Processor | AMD Ryzen 3 3100 / Intel Core i3-8100 | AMD Ryzen 5 5600X / Intel Core i7-11700K |
| graphics card | GeForce GTX 1050 TI / Radeon RX 570 or similar | GeForce RTX 2060 / Radeon RX 6700 XT or similar |
| Memory | 8 GB RAM | 16 GB RAM |
| storage | 40 GB available space | 40 GB available space |
