► Full-game review of the SnowRunner spin-off
► Build roads, bridges and more on seven unique maps
► TLDR: 8/10
If you enjoy the methodical, slow-paced thrill of building, repairing and salvaging life from disaster-strewn lands then RoadCraft might just be the video game for you. It’s an off-road adventure title made by Saber Interactive, a developer we know well following the popular MudRunner and SnowRunner, as well as the Expeditions: A MudRunner Game spin-off.
What does RoadCraft do differently? Pretty much what it says on the tin. This time you’re not simply engaging in an off-road paradise, but you’re also helping to build roads and repair infrastructure in a way that simply wasn’t possible in previous titles. Need to get over a large river? Build a bridge. Need to get a convoy of large vehicles across a broken, rutted wasteland? Build a road.
There’s also a welcome form of automation in RoadCraft that allows players to set-up convoys to follow and keep supply chains moving. Nice. But does it all come together to make a worthy entry into the series, or does RoadCraft’s bridge into the world of construction fall short? Read on to find out.
What’s new?
As you’d imagine, lots of construction vehicles are available in RoadCraft. You can purchase them and put them in a garage, but customisation (beyond the livery) is no longer a feature. A shame, if you were thinking of putting a V12 engine in a bulldozer… You can however level up and purchase different versions of vehicles with pre-installed modules as you make your way through the game.
At launch, there’s over 40 vehicles to unlock including bulldozers, scouts, cranes and ‘roadcrafters’, as well as specials such as a cable laying truck. It’s a decent amount to be getting on with, but we expect the range to swell considerably with DLC.
As alluded to earlier, there’s also a Farming Simulator-esque AI element introduced meaning you no longer necessarily need to drive every vehicle required for a delivery. Say you need to get logs from A to B – you can now set up a supply run with a customised route. Granted, that does involve a bit of trial and error as your AI drivers sometimes have difficulty crossing tricky unpaved sections – but then that brings us onto the next new feature.
Across seven different launch maps (each 4km2), you can quite literally craft new roads and bridges in order to streamline said routes. You can lay them yourself or via the AI drivers – and we’ve no doubt you will use the latter after a while – but it certainly adds to the methodical, puzzle-solving element of SnowRunner.
Interestingly, both depleting fuel tanks and vehicle damage have been omitted from RoadCraft and given the games simulator origins, this is sure to be a controversial decision. We queried it and were told that fuel slowed down the gameplay, while damage just wasn’t technically possible for the launch of the title. However, the developers haven’t ruled out a ‘hard mode’ option later down the line with potentially both features included.
How does it play?
We reckon there’s around 80-100 hours of playtime with the new RoadCraft title so there’s little doubt that, during our time with it so far, we haven’t completed even half of that. However, from our initial impressions RoadCraft feels like a cross between SnowRunner and Expeditions: A MudRunner Game in its blending of sim and arcade elements.
There’s still a perverse sense of enjoyment to be had out of getting from one end of the map to the other, only to see your truck gradually topple over down an unseen ravine. Early impressions suggest the off-roading isn’t as simulator-esque as before and the fact you can’t change tyres between mud, snow and all-terrain does back this up.
Vehicle handling has been improved over previous titles thanks to improved tuning of the steering, but some of the control layouts leave something to be desired. Controlling the cranes in the game, we kept finding ourselves hitting the wrong button or dropping something when we didn’t mean to, plus the vehicle winching system isn’t as intuitive as it once was.
Owing to the road-building element of the game, there is a good amount of variation in how you tackle missions. Rather than doing the legwork in taking items from A to B, your mission is party to enable your AI colleagues to do this. Of course, there’s still plenty of A to B driving included, but this game is as much about facilitation of a task as it is completing it yourself.
Graphics are good if not breathtaking, with a much busier, more cluttered landscape than SnowRunner. There’s objects everywhere, many of them you can repurpose and use to complete missions, but you still won’t see any other vehicles beyond AI trucks on supply runs. There’s lots of nice details, too, like water dripping out of the exhaust on startup and we think there’s potential for moments of stopping and admiring the view as you make your way through the maps.
Any obvious flaws? Well, the AI convoys seem to have a habit of finding issues on a perfectly good route but that’s probably to be expected in the early stages of the release. Plus, the fact you can refill a truck’s load bed with sand for road-building without a source anywhere in the close vicinity does break the immersion slightly. Also, the menu system and HUD feels far more arcade-like than necessary and clashes with the title’s core gameplay.
Before we make our final verdict, it’s worth noting that cross-platform multiplayer with up to four players in co-op is available. If you’ve got mates with a shared interest it’s worth getting them onboard as, like with SnowRunner, it’s the best way to play the game.
Verdict
The key thing with RoadCraft is not to see it as a successor to SnowRunner. If you do, it might end up being a disappointment. The simulator aspect has been dumbed down and there’s far more arcade influences. However, as a game in its own right, there’s plenty going for it.
The open-world maps and long lists of tasks means there’s lots to do, plus road and bridge-building mechanisms provide more than one way to tackle each mission. We reckon this game will age far better than the Expeditions: A MudRunner Game that took away some of the sim element of off-roading without giving much in return.
Granted, there’s room for improvement, both in the vehicle roster and choice of maps (we’ve no doubt the DLC will be comprehensive) but for now the sometimes clunky UI and often difficult control scheme is in most need of attention.
Platform tested: PC. Also available on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S
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