In many ways, the MudRunner series (including SnowRunner and the related game in this preview, Expeditions: A MudRunner Game) is one of the most unique car games on the market. Because while the premise is about driving typically big and powerful cars, the actual gameplay is very similar to a rock climbing game. You have to take your time, think methodically, study the environment, and traverse it with as little stress and danger as possible to complete the task at hand.
It might sound easy when you’re in an all-wheel-drive, diesel-powered monster, but with the demanding physics engine at the heart of this game, and the highly detailed environments and levels, it’s never been like getting from point A to B So easy to click. I know this because I recently had the opportunity to play hands-on with Expeditions: A MudRunner Game, where I was able to explore a large portion of the Little Colorado map and even experience the more complex Arizona and Carpathians maps .
If you’ve ever played SnowRunner or MudRunner, you’ll immediately feel at home in this game. Sure, the idea is a little different, but the core premise of carving your way through challenging terrain and using a variety of gadgets to illustrate overcoming otherwise impossible cliffs and crevices remains. It’s essentially an environmental puzzle game where you have to adapt your vehicle and use the techniques at your disposal to wade through water, descend and climb mountains, and even escape swamps and muddy pits.
As for how Expeditions lets you do this, this comes in the form of being able to adjust your vehicle’s wheel drive, change tire pressures, shift gears, activate water depth sensors, or place anchors and use a winch to ensure you don’t venture into danger of deep water, or you can safely slide down cliffs. You can even use a drone or binoculars to scout ahead and plan the path of least resistance. This may not seem too challenging, but the physics engine Saber has implemented here means that every rock affects your vehicle, every puddle slows you down, and if you don’t approach this world carefully and methodically, you Can damage your vehicle or even write it off completely. Since damage costs money to repair, and fuel, gadgets, and other resources also come at a financial cost, Expeditions is all about successfully completing your goals in the most efficient way possible, as quickly as possible.
So, you ask, what tasks are players supposed to perform in Expeditions? These activities can include a variety of different transportation activities. Sometimes it’s transporting gear from one place to another, or maybe it’s scouting a location, or even more important tasks like towing a broken down truck back to an outpost. No matter the task at hand, you need to equip your vehicles in the right way and even upgrade them frequently so that they can overcome increasingly demanding contracts. Finally, you can also purchase and unlock new vehicles entirely, every type of car, whether it’s a large flatbed truck or even a Jeep or a small hatchback. Each vehicle falls into an overarching category, and as you might have guessed, hatchbacks serve as scouts.
The reason you choose to take the Scout type into the wild is because Expeditions supports a free-roam mode where you can explore freely, unlocking new shop locations around each map and even discover some secrets along the way, using a metal detector This task can be made easier, for example. In this mode, the world is truly your oyster. When you take all of these factors and combine them with elements of analogy, such as hiring the right experts to unlock new skills for use in the wild, and instructions for improving your camp, all to open up new opportunities for exploration, Expeditions has considerable depth.
Here is an ad:
But all those extra doodles and thingymajigs are just a bonus. The heart of the game revolves around the physics engine and environment design, which really challenge players as they explore the world. During my time with the preview, I often felt as though the game was some kind of tech demo just meant to show how complex movement in video games can be when everything is turned up to 11. When your tire gets stuck on a small branch, it may feel overdone and it may be frustrating, but anyone who has ever driven a car in real life will know how real this situation is, and for that you have to give Saber credit for using Something Expeditions creates.
Will Expeditions: A MudRunner Game provide endless hours of entertainment for all players? maybe not. You have to want this experience to appreciate what this game is, but if this kind of gameplay is your jam, judging from what I’ve played so far and the support MudRunner and SnowRunner have received over the years, Expeditions hopes to be A great addition to the vehicle exploration video game space.