There’s at least two things you can tell from the title of Expeditions: A MudRunner Game. First, this is a game about getting out there, into the wilderness, and seeing what you can discover, while conquering an unwelcoming landscape. Secondly, this is part of the MudRunner franchise, a vehicular series that is more focused on meticulous detail, driving in tough terrains, and transportation, than it is about racing, drifting, or being particularly fast. This is a new beginning, but fans of the franchise shouldn’t worry; it’s still you and your tyres against the world.
Steer your first truck through its first furrow, and it’s clear that Expeditions hasn’t fallen far from the Runner tree. You can feel the tyres rubbing against the raised earth, and hear the engine whine as you push it onwards. Reaching a swampy, muddy patch, you engage all-wheel drive, and you can sense the rubber searching for purchase on the slimy surface beneath.
Like its forebears, Expeditions is as much puzzle game as it is a driving experience. It’s up to you to work out which of the tools at your disposal are the right ones for the job, and they’re all still here. This hasn’t been trimmed or simplified – barring a notification to remind you to take the handbrake off – and you have all-wheel drive to help you through difficult sections, but at the cost of increased fuel consumption.
If you get stuck, you can try locking out the differential, and shifting to a lower gear, or lowering the pressure of your tyres. All of this is at your command, but all of it comes with a cost on your fuel tank, increasing the risk that you’ll find yourself dry, desperate, and likely to start over again.
Holding the left bumper gives you an overview of your vehicle, from its type through to the state of each of its major components. You have a loadout in Expeditions, letting you bring certain materials with you, whether that’s extra fuel in cans, spare wheels, or components to repair your vehicle in the field. That left bumper also gives you an immediate overview of your current setup, breaking down the Power, Strength and Fuel Consumption of your vehicle as it stands at that moment.
Expeditions are the main missions in the career path, and you can earn various rewards by completing them, whether that’s new vehicles, bits of tech, or currency to buy upgrades with. Each mission will give you an overview of the terrain type, distance and difficulty, and it’ll also tell you about any required items that you have to have in your inventory to take part. Before you set out you can buy items to take with you, keeping an eye out for what you think you’ll need. You only have a limited number of slots depending on your vehicle, so as you progress chances are those choices are going to get tougher and tougher, just like the terrain.
You’re not totally alone in Expeditions, as you can also hire specialists to lend a hand. Each class has their own unique abilities, so a Mechanic might reduce the damage your truck takes, but also lets you setup anchors in a wider radius or reduce fuel consumption, while a Jaeger – a hunter or ranger – could mark shortcuts for you when you use binoculars or a drone. Their talents don’t come for free though, and you’ll be thinking about the budget for each mission from the off.
Whatever advantages your colleagues might bring, your tools will be what you turn to in your time of need. As in the previous games, your winch is indispensable, helping you out of all sorts of sticky, muddy spots, and giving you something to help pull other people out of a similar predicament. There’s also a variety of anchors to latch your winch onto, and a jack for when you’ve upended your truck. Even the map is a tool, with its multiple waypoints proving essential for finding the best route and sticking to it.
Fans may worry that Expeditions has diluted the MudRunner formula or made things easier, but I can safely say that’s not the case, having spent a good 30 minutes trying to wrestle a stricken truck out of a bog. You’ll find yourself fighting with the landscape and your vehicle, striving to make it out of a ditch, or over the next rise, and just as in its predecessors, it’s utterly engrossing. What has changed is having the more defined mission structure, rather than the more organic setup in MudRunner and SnowRunner. It’s still up to you to choose how to approach things – do you abseil your truck down a ridge or find a way around? – but that sense of structure is stronger here, and perhaps a little constraining, despite the freedom you have once you’re in your truck.
There’s a newfound vibrancy to the visuals that we’ve not had the opportunity to see before, with MudRunner largely being the colour of mud, and SnowRunner tending towards being somewhat pale. It immediately makes Expeditions feel more welcoming, but don’t be fooled, this isn’t suddenly Forza Horizon or The Crew Motorfest. Any neon here is likely to belong to a warning flare.
Each of the biomes has a distinct visual look too, alongside its own terrain and traversal challenges. You start off in Little Colorado, home to your Expeditions team, and the place where you learn the ropes/winches of the game. Arizona and the Carpathians are then where you’ll find the meat of Expeditions’ journey, with vast landscapes for you to explore and get stuck into – or just stuck in.
Expeditions: A MudRunner Game continues the franchises’ fascination with mud, mechanics and meticulous driving skills, but with an enhanced sense of approachibility it looks as though it’s going to expand the series’ reach even further than before.
