The main challenge comes from the fact that most of the time you have to do this in thick mud.
What we have here is a trucking sim where you have to deliver cargo (usually timber) while conserving fuel and not getting damaged. We joked about the title, but to be honest, it's pretty accurate. Coming nearly a year after Spintires: Mudrunner landed, we now have the American Wilds Edition, a complete package including the original game, all of the extra content, along with the American Wilds expansion. However, it's at this point that we need to add that these days there's a sim to suit almost every taste. We reviewed the Switch version.When you look at the title, it conjures up images of a high-octane rally driving with spinning tyres ripping it up through mud in the heartlands of the American frontier. Spintires: MudRunner – American Wilds is available on PS4, Xbox One, Switch and PC. Sometimes you may feel like you’ve taken on an additional job while playing it, but how many games let you loose in sandbox environments with an almighty range of all-terrain vehicles? Exactly. But it’s the fact that there’s nothing else quite like it on Switch that makes Spintires: MudRunner – American Wilds so appealing. While its visuals are unspectacular due to its limited colour palette, technically it’s impressive, with a seemingly decent framerate even in handheld mode. You can chalk up Spintires: MudRunner – American Wilds as another successful Switch port. And if you have some like-minded friends, you can also play the game in co-op with them online. It’s hardcore, perhaps to a fault, but that’s what makes it so interesting. Still, there’s no denying that Spintires: MudRunner – American Wilds is a unique experience that’s strangely entertaining despite often feeling like hard work. It seems like a strange oversight given that the function is in the game – you only need to play the first challenge to see it in action. You can’t simply pick a point on the map and have the game highlight the best route for you, you either need to learn each environment like the back of your hand or arduously plot your own route with markers. Spintires: MudRunner – American Wilds‘ biggest fault is that navigating each of the game’s maps can be a real pain. I know I certainly did, even though reverse parking with a trailer initially drove me to the depths of despair.
And I dare say that many players will find them more interesting to play than the main campaign. There are 11 challenges to make your way through, offering bite-sized tasks that serve as a great tutorial to prepare you for the game’s main log-moving antics. Chances are, you’ll face a new set of challenges as a result.īefore you jump into Spintires: MudRunner – American Wilds‘ main campaign though, you’d be wise to try out some of its challenge maps.
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There’s also more than one way to skin a cat, so to speak a range of vehicles being available on each map means there’s always the possibility of you going back to try new ways to collect and deliver your goods. The first time you ham-fistedly complete the job at hand you’ll be elated, but there’s always room for improvement. Obviously, frustration can set in rather quickly if you don’t have the patience to learn from your mistakes, but persevere and you’ll find the whole experience strangely rewarding. There’s no easy reset button to quickly get you back on track, your only option is to either restart from the beginning, or “recall” your vehicle back to its original starting point. You might get stuck in some mud, for example, or roll over your vehicle. Your first few forays onto the muddy routes and dense forests that the game is filled with are likely to be filled with a string of disasters. It’ll probably drink away at your fuel quicker, too, requiring you to make trips to replenish it more often.Īs Chris stated in his review of the standard version of Spintires: MudRunner for Xbox One, “Each misstep will teach you a little more about Spintires: MudRunner’s mechanics”. Taking a huge truck is another option, but while it may cut down the number of trips you’ll need to make, navigating the harsh terrain may become a much more challenging task. You could drive a smaller but more agile vehicle if you prefer, but its log carrying capabilities may be rather limited, forcing you to make more trips. Your task is to basically transport goods from one point to another, though how you achieve your goal is ultimately up to you.