REVIEW – It is a bizarre, surreal experience when I try to reverse with my truck so much to connect to the trailer that I managed to efficiently dig my vehicle right into the mud so far that it got stuck there. Add the not-so-good camera management, and you get a game that is already one of those „you hate it, or you love it” titles.

Spintires: Mudrunner, which is Spintires’ re-release/spinoff on PC, as well as a debut of the series on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, isn’t for those people who want to sit down and just race fast cars. No – it’s something different, like Euro Truck Simulator: big vehicles for the big boys who expect physics and simulation in remote Eastern European regions (all I have to say is Cyrillic license plate letters), which you can drive around cooperatively as well, while the time of day and the weather can also change, making both points a positive.

Log delivery

Delivering logs from point A to point B with mud, ground, asphalt, and heavy terrain in between, making you and your package delivery difficult – this sentence explains what Spintires: Mudrunner is about. A poorly taken turn, underrating a river, or just merely pushing the gas pedal too much can all cause failure, giving the game a bit of piquant touch, despite it bleeding from a few aspects. I don’t say the sound is terrible (the music choice can be a little weird, though), and I also don’t believe the physics suck either. Three other aspects: the camera angles, the somewhat sub-par graphics, and the cockpit camera view need to be mentioned.

The third-person perspective camera angle is extremely sensitive, which will likely make you turn it around several times to see what you wanted to see all along. The graphics can be quickly shifted to a PlayStation 3 in my opinion, even if that’s not that important – it, however, still has good ideas, such as the fog. With the cockpit camera view, I seriously do not understand the lack of mirrors – what’s the point of this angle if you can’t even see what’s behind? This mistake will likely make you switch camera angles over and over, which could be an annoyance for even those who are patient. Your vehicle can get damaged in no time, your fuel might run out, and you can also use your horn and the front lights, but no matter what you do, you won’t get around the area in just mere seconds.

Log delivery, for the lack of a better lead

You might be saying I’m just heartlessly bashing the game – I’m not: Spintires: Mudrunner has good ideas. Somehow, it has a little charm how you get your tires dug under the mud for abusing the accelerator, and while you’re capable of utilizing an always useful winch to get yourself out of trouble with a nearby tree, you might be too far from one to do so. The physics felt good as well for a simulator, and by a simulator, I don’t mean those German games that tend to „simulate” efficiently every single vehicle under a different title.

On top of these things, I also like how you compete against nature and not versus the clock. If you get together with a friend to complete challenges (and there are a few!), you might end up laughing at each other for getting stuck or just gently kissing that stupid rock in the corner. (Do I defend the game? Nah – I just believe some of its points would have needed to be built upon more than the final product did.)

Truck

This game will not offer you 220 km/h speed, or the experience of beating someone’s lap record. You’ll need a slow, well thought out plan to drive around, or you will get severely punished. If the camera weren’t this terrible, I’d have given Spintires: Mudrunner a 7/10, but unfortunately, I’ll have to stick with a 6.5/10. It’s an interesting premise which should have received a month or two of extra development. If you play Truck Simulator and want a bit of off-road experience, Spintires: Mudrunner could be a good choice for you. It’s a silent, peaceful game with decent sounds, weird music, and a bit of brutally realistic Eastern European socialist realism. It’s better than the original, but that game did not get released on the PS4.

-V-

Publisher: Focus Home Interactive

Developer: Saber Interactive

Genre: Truck simulator

Release date: October 31, 2017