Expeditions: A MudRunner Game takes players on some really muddy adventures. From Arizona to the Carpathian Mountains, Expeditions has over 32 KM (19 miles for my fellow Americans) of map space. This is all set on offroad maps through the Grand Canyon or alongside scenic forest trails. This game must certainly appeal to offroad trucking fanatics, but for the more vehicular challenged players such as myself, it can feel like a crash course in a subject you are woefully unprepared for.
Expeditions: A MudRunner Game plays like many driving or truck simulator games on the market. As the employee or, assumably, owner of an independent truck company, you take on jobs that put your workhorse vehicles to the test, collecting that hard-earned paycheck and buying bigger and better trucks to take more jobs.
As opposed to most, if not all, truck games outside of MudRunner, Expeditions does not feature long hauling across well-paved American or European highways. Rather, Expeditions: A MudRunner Game exclusively takes you off-road into the muddy and untamed parts of the world, where you’ll take on jobs with a much dirtier and more dangerous vibe.
Setting up radio towers on desert hills, retrieving lost cargo, and conducting geographical surveys. The game is all about going places where no car has gone before, giving a literal meaning to offroading and only taking the best trucks and jeeps meant for the job.
I’ve got to say, on the visual side of things, the attention to detail in Expeditions: A MudRunner Game is phenomenal and superbly impressive. Not only are the environments absolutely beautiful, but the way the terrain shifts and deforms under your tires is impressive to look at and imagine the work that must have gone in behind the game’s technology. I was also visually stunned by how much the levels set in Arizona, where I’m currently living, looked the part.
This attention to detail carries over into what is arguably a much more important aspect of the game: how the trucks actually function.
The complexities of off-road driving in Expeditions: A MudRunner Game has been painstakingly recreated in the controls given to players to drive the various trucks and jeeps and how the environment changes how you go about it. Players control every little aspect of their vehicle, from shifting to adjusting tire pressure to take on the various obstacles ahead. Driving through deep mud or puddles or even going uphill are all fundamentally different challenges that require thought and skillful driving to overcome.
For those of us who have no reason for ever being behind the wheel of these vehicles, it can be incredibly overwhelming to try and grasp all of the complexities of driving the game throws at you. Frequently, I found navigating the maps in my expeditions to be a real challenge, slowing down or getting outright stuck. I was not sure when to switch between manual and automatic, when to change my tire pressure, adjust my shocks, or use any of the complicated tools.
I’m sure some real truck heads won’t have this same issue, but I often even forgot to take my break at the start of a mission.
The game has a bunch of additional tools to take with you on a mission, too many, if you ask me. Things like wenches and echo finders to gauge how deep water is are cool and definitely useful in a mission, but others, such as the drone, feel like unnecessary distractions. It could just be me, but I didn’t really enjoy any segment I spent using the drone to scout around my immediate surroundings, the range being too short to be very useful. It was time I could have spent driving, which sort of feels like the appeal of these games, no?
Mission planning can be just as important as the execution in Expeditions: A MudRunner Game. Important specialists, tools, and support structures for your camp can make all the difference in what, in reality, would be very dangerous jobs best only taken on by the most prepared. You’ll be spending your money on tools, modules, fuel, spare parts, and, of course, specialists to help you on expeditions, giving you way more than just more cars to spend your money on.
There are about 20 vehicles to purchase at launch in Expeditions: A MudRunner Game. If I’m being honest, I couldn’t tell the difference between many of these vehicles, with even the stats presented going a bit over my head. Again, I was probably never meant to offroad or even set foot in a truck myself, so those who know more about these things should better understand the information presented.
Expeditions: A MudRunner Game offers a thrilling offroad experience that differentiates it from traditional truck simulator games. With its expansive map space, attention to detail in both visuals and vehicle functionality, and challenging off-road tasks, the game caters to off-road trucking enthusiasts seeking a muddy adventure.
Still, the learning curve can be steep and occasionally overwhelming for those less versed in vehicular intricacies. The game’s emphasis on mission planning and a plethora of tools and support structures add depth to the gameplay. While some tools may feel like unnecessary distractions, the overall experience delivers a realistic and immersive off-road driving simulation.
The Final Word
Though it may be meant more for the serious truck enthusiast, Expeditions: A MudRunner Game provides a unique and captivating off-road journey for players seeking an adrenaline-fueled adventure.
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Try Hard Guides was provided with a PC review copy of this game. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles in the Game Reviews section of our website! Expeditions: A MudRunner Game is available on Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, and Epic Games.