It All Came Tumbling Down
HIGH Immersive driving experience.
LOW Losing hours of progress after one slip-up.
WTF It crashes harder than a caffeine addict at noon.
Expeditions: A MudRunner Game is, in short, the perfect thing to play while listening to a podcast — its brand of terrestrial adventure is slow, methodical and deliberate. Meters can stretch out into kilometers when the terrain is at its trickiest, and the thrill of completing an expedition on a meager ration of petrol is exciting.
Expeditions is a game where the player drives a rugged vehicle from one part of a map to another while traversing a series of different obstacles along the way, ranging from steep climbs up mountains to crossing mighty rivers that can wash away even the most powerful SUVs. On top of navigation, fuel management must be carefully considered, especially on rough terrain or on long journeys where the vehicle might become immobilized without proper planning.
While this all might sound a bit daunting, once I adapted to MudRunner‘s pacing and mission
structure, each challenge became like a little puzzle punctuating the generally slow
movement through valleys and forests. For instance, on one mission I had to use my drone to
locate the parts of a crashed aircraft, while in another I had to photograph derelict buildings that were in need of restoring. Both required a different set of tools and methods to complete.
Besides the vehicles themselves — burly rides like the Cocto Canyon SUV or the ten-wheeled Step
310E — the player also has a few tools to aid them like binoculars, an aerial drone for
reconnaissance, a sonar scanner to judge water depth, and a winch to fasten onto trees.
Binoculars aside, I found each and every one of these tools to be vital on my journeys –
they ensured that I was well-prepared to take on whatever obstacles stood in my way
without robbing me of challenge. Simply having the correct information didn’t make the
terrain any easier to navigate.
With the exclusion of the tutorial area, the bulk of MudRunner is set in a desert biome whose
rocky terrain requires thoughtful maneuvering, along with a forest biome whose treelines and
rivers act as natural guardrails to herd the player down the right path. Both are beautiful in
their own way, and each has little nuances to keep things fresh — features like a mighty river that will
wash light vehicles, or an old shanty town that gives off budget Western film vibes . Aside from some texture pop-in, the presentation of the environments is well-executed, by not only being picturesque,
but also by giving drivers enough visual cues to successfully arrive at their destination.
Unfortunately, at the time of this review, Expeditions suffers from a bug that crashes the game when using the drone — extremely inconvenient when trying to survey an area to proceed. Unless it’s been patched by the time this review is published, prospective players should beware, as launching the drone when on the cusp of finishing an expedition could inadvertently end it in disaster.
Expeditions: A MudRunner Game is the sort of daunting, technical adventure that can be humbling at times, but for those who can pick up on its rhythm and learn its brand of skillful driving, this might just become the best podcast game of all time.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10
— Fumo Chabalala
Disclosures: This game is developed by Saber Interactive and published by Focus Entertainment. It is currently available on XBO/X/S, PS4/5, Switch and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via Publisher and reviewed on the PC. Approximately 20 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode. The game was not completed. There were no multiplayer modes at launch.
Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E with no descriptors, although I did find that it had some slightly suggestive humor — things like implied drug usage during a mission briefing, or a cheeky Breaking Bad easter egg featuring a suspicious RV.
Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.
Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game does not offer subtitles. However, it also doesn’t have any spoken text, and during the actual gameplay there are visual prompts for things like damage taken to inform the player of any collisions. Even without haptic feedback, the player can easily identify when they are stuck since the visual cues are very legible. I’d call this fully accessible.
Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls.
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