The wilderness only looks vast and empty because we’re used to seeing human activity everywhere. The rivers, trees, hills and mountains are filled with opportunity for those who know how to look, and while the ground may be surprisingly treacherous, it’s approachable with the right tools. As nimble as people can be on foot, carting in supplies and lodging that way would be a little excessive, so powerful, rugged trucks are needed to get the job done. A good road may be a vehicle’s natural home, but when that’s not available, strong tires and a beast of an engine can make up the difference. TheMudRunnerseries has been slogging through the wilderness for over a decade at this point, with the last game,SnowRunner, being a major hit. Now it’s time to get back to warmer environments again in the upcomingExpeditions: A MudRunner Game, with a whole host of modern new toys to explore the great outdoors with.
While the earlierMud/SnowRunnergames have been focused on industrial jobs,Expeditionsbrings a more scientific approach to the series. Granted, it’s frequently in service to industry, but seeing as they’re the ones paying the bills, they get to reap the benefits of the research. The other big change is that previous games have been timeless, with the models of truck being the only real indication of the year the work might take place in, and if you don’t know when these vehicles were manufactured, it could be any time between the late ’60s to the mid-2000s or later. Moving logs or equipment and towing vehicles isn’t a technology that needs to change much, so long as you’ve got a truck with the muscle to lug things around, butExpeditionsis instantly recognizable as taking place today thanks to the many new toys at the outback adventurer’s disposal.
The preview build I was able to play is the starting Colorado area plus a pair of missions from two other areas, one of which is an environmentally-similar Arizona while the other is in a much more forested area of the European Carpathians. The basics are similar to the other games in the series, sending you all over the map to complete missions and find bonus pickups, but doing it slowly because mud, rocks, trees and uneven ground rarely let you push the needle on the speedometer. It’s a deliberate form of transportation, whether carting items across the landscape or hauling a truck back to base, but also satisfying in a way that’s difficult to explain. There are as many areas where each foot attained is a victory as those you can blow on by with only a little care to avoid the bigger rocks or pits, but those fights against muddy river fords or steep, rocky slopes are the heart of the game.
Making the journey more approachable this time are all the new tools available. The winch makes its return, as vital as ever to yank trucks out of a poorly-planned route or simply to help speed up a slog through bad terrain, but standard equipment also includes items like an echo sounder to get a reading on the watery depths and a drone for aerial surveillance. While the drone’s range from the truck isn’t particularly far, the ability to scout a decent path before tackling it is a huge help to navigation, and it’s great for picking up on distant objects as well. The other major new standard tool is a deployable anchor, available in both permanent and retrievable models. The winch only has a set range and there’s never a guarantee of a sturdy tree when you need one, so while the anchors cost money, they’re worth their weight in gold.
The other major new addition is that, instead of going it alone, inExpeditionsyou can hire a support team to provide vital perks. Mechanics can add extra equipment, lower gas usage or increase armor, while Hyrdrologists provide bonuses for the more watery missions. Jaegers provide scouting bonuses, Managers help with the finances, Operators give drone perks, and Logisticians increase supplies. Each one has a cost per mission and those shiny new trucks aren’t cheap, so you’ll need to consider personnel needs depending on the level requirements, but with proper use, the support staff promises to be a huge help.
There’s a few things to consider in running a new expedition, but once behind the wheel of a truck or off-road car the mission gets simplified down to vehicle vs terrain. There aren’t a lot of games where “a rock on the side of the hill” or “inconvenient mud pit” can be considered major boss encounters, but the trail wasn’t made for people or their vehicles. For that matter, in most places the trail wasn’t made at all, but rather just kind of formed as the least-intraversable part of the landscape. There are supplies to retrieve or deliver, landscapes to survey, all kinds of equipment to deploy, and bonus objectives for those feeling ambitious, but the great outdoors isn’t designed to care about the things you need to do. It’s a rough but not insurmountable out in the landscapes ofExpeditions, and a big truck with the right tools will be able to muscle its way past any obstacle the wilderness puts in its way.
