RoadCraft Takes Snowrunner In The Direction I Was Hoping It Would Go - Gamescom 2024

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I love some really accurate, deep simulators that challenge me to really take care of what I do and how I do it, and that’s why I love the Snowrunner/Mudrunner series. It challenged me to watch out for how I drive and how to overcome the multitude of challenging terrain to accomplish the missions I had. However, I could only play for some time before feeling a bit bored. I like the games, but I always wanted a bit more variety to hold my attention for longer. That’s why I feel the next game in this series was made just for me.

While there is still driving in this game, and it is as simulated as others, RoadCraft's goal isn’t to figure out how to optimally overcome the terrain. Instead, your focus is on building out the area to complete different objectives and connecting different buildings with each other to move the materials needed. To do this, you will need to take control of unique vehicles to build bridges, pave out roads, and more. I did get to see the game at Gamescom, but it was a hands-off demo. I didn't get a chance to play the game myself, but watching it all confirmed that this was the type of game I wanted to play.

In the meeting, I was shown two different missions that you had to accomplish. The first one, which took the most time, was needing to move obstacles out of the way and pave the road so convoy trucks would be able to get through. To do this, the person playing took control of a Gantry Crane to move the containers out of the way. It took some time, but since this takes on the accurate simulation that the team has used in previous games, it made some sense. Then, once that was done, we had to take control of a truck carrying sand and move it over to muddy areas to deposit it, then had to take control of a Bulldozer to flatten the sand out. Once this was done, all vehicles were moved out of the way and he drew a route on the map from the first building to the second so the convoy could move through and reach their destination without issue.

There were a couple of things that really stood out to me from this mission that I absolutely adore. The first thing is physics. I am a sucker for it, and each aspect of the mission requires taking it into account. The containers were physics-based and could sway back and forth and fall down, so you needed to set them down in spots where they wouldn't fall; the sand on the road was physics-based, and we could watch it flatten in real-time, which I found very relaxing. Physics also mattered when making the path for the convoy since they needed to have enough space to turn and drive, and if they didn't, they could hit walls or fall over, and you would have to go back and fix the path or the road.

The second mission was rebuilding a bridge, which wasn't as exciting to watch. Granted, this was probably because the concrete slabs you had to make and transport yourself were already there, so half of what you had to do was already done, but I got to watch using a machine to pick up and place the slabs down to create the bridge! I also saw a bit of using Asphalt and rollers to create actual roads, but it didn't last that long, and I didn't get to see a lot.

I was intrigued by the series' direction with Expeditions, the studio's last Mudrunner game, and it is just wonderful to see it move into what RoadCraft is becoming. It's exactly what I wanted to see from a game like this, and I am so excited to see more as we get closer to release, which will be sometime in 2025.

You can wishlist the game right now on Steam. And after seeing how Expeditions runs, I do have faith and believe that RoadCraft will follow suit and be great on the Steam Deck.

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