‘Spintires: MudRunner’ Review (PC)

When looking for a game to play, driving around in a truck isn’t really something that would seem appealing. If you try one of the truck simulator games though, you’ll know that hours can be spent on the road just driving to each destination. Now imagine a game like that, and add lots of mud, and you have Spintires: MudRunner.

Spintires: Mudrunner

Mudrunner is actually an upgrade to the original Spintires, coming with a new Sandbox Map (along with the original games five) for players to have fun with. This is of course, as long as your sense of fun is driving through mud, and getting your truck from destination to destination.

With the complicated nature of working your way through mud, there is often the risk of getting stuck, breaking down, or running out of fuel. This is why other vehicles come into play. They can help to bring fuel, fix a broken-down truck, or take over the job that the other truck can’t deal with. This makes Spintires: MudRunner a game of strategy.

There is something strangely engrossing about getting a big truck through mud, making sure you stay away from areas you can’t get through, or winching your way through it. You can’t get too complacent though, because there is a danger of loss of traction. The more you drive through the mud and on the roads, the more you destroy the tracks, leading to less traction. It’s a constant fight to get the job done, and again is strangely fun.

What does hinder the fun though at times is game engine itself. One of the biggest problems is the camera, which adds to the challenge. When you need to know your environment, sometimes it feels like the camera does fight against you, and if you play in first-person view you are very limited on what you can see. It is something you learn to deal with though, as is the mud itself.

What is impressive is the physics at work in the environment. The maps are designed to test your skills, and those of your friends (in multiplayer), and Spintires: MudRunner definitely does that. What is important though is that the trucks feel like the drive realistically, at no point do you feel like you are just going through the motions to get through to the next level in the game. What you are doing is working with the way the truck handles, learning the feel of nineteen vehicles, and using them to try and tame the environment that is working against you.

Spintires: MudRunner is one of those games that you can lose hours in, by working through the challenges that are designed to teach you the system, then heading into the main solo or multiplayer modes you can just get lost in the wilderness and learn the game’s intricacies. There are plenty of mistakes to be made, but when you get the grip of it, it is a strangely fun game that becomes surprisingly engrossing.

It is fair to say that Spintires: MudRunner may not be for everybody, but if it catches your interest, it is well worth checking out. You may find that playing in mud with big trucks is something that can be a lot of fun.

Spintires: MudRunner is available on PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 now.

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