SnowRunner (Xbox One) Review
Release Date: 4/28/2020
Publisher/Developer: Focus Home Interactive/Saber Interactive
Platform: Xbox One (reviewed), PlayStation 4, PC
Price: $49.99, $69.99 Premium Edition
“More of the same” can be a great compliment or a detriment in a sequel depending on what the audience hopes to get out of it. MudRunner came out a year and a half ago and impressed me with it’s ability to depict a gritty, real-world variation on driving. Instead of speeding around a track or haphazardly shooting missiles at each other, MudRunner tasked players with completing a series of jobs using real-world heavy equipment and trucks and braving the rough terrain at the edge of civilization to get jobs done. SnowRunner is the official sequel to that title and definitely improves on it’s formula, but presentation is key and a few things frustrated me about this title. It’s still a worthy addition to the series and will be enjoyed by diehards but could use a little bit of tweaking under the hood.
Everything is expanded in SnowRunner. More cars, bigger maps, and more terrain. The game thrives on limiting you, forcing you to overcome obstacles as you would in a real-world situation. You have a destination, but your GPS won’t get you there. It’s up to you to review your map, as well as the road before you, to determine the best course of action to get from Point A to Point B. Borrowing a page from Assassin’s Creed tropes, you can find watchtowers to expand your map (though you stay in the vehicle; there’s no jumping into haystacks). There are over 40 vehicles, all officially licensed, and an extensive customization allowing you to do everything from add better winches for pulling out of crevasses and snorkels for keeping your engine from flooding going through deep rivers to paint jobs to make your vehicle truly yours. The in-cockpit view is unique for every car as well, adding to the realism.
I played MudRunner on Switch and was rather impressed at how well it handled. SnowRunner is being reviewed on Xbox One, and I see the standard differences in horsepower, though all the maps are better detailed as a sequel tends to have. Damage seems to be an all or nothing event: you can take out a small tree or fence with no issue whatsoever, but hitting a wall leads to damage to your vehicle (tires, engines, suspension, are all individually monitored for damage issues). Drivers must use their earnings to upgrade and repair their vehicle. You have to maintain your fuel as well: miles per gallon are greatly affected by what gear you are in, all wheel drive, et cetera. Luckily, you can fill up for free at any station (even though the signs are all pre-coronavirus and show prices over $3/gallon!) It is worth noting that current SnowRunner PR info does not show a Switch release, however the MudRunner port was delayed from main release date as well, so hopefully we will see SnowRunner make it there as well.
Drivers will see new challenges such as new loads to run, which will all come with their own weight and physics. New mountains equal a whole new challenge as well, as players of the previous game know that even a rock in a different place can change how you approach a traversal. Personally, I feel that some of the vehicle and traversal physics may have been changed to benefit the title but change it in inherent ways that feel odd. I don’t think the mud pushes around as much in SnowRunner. It keeps the track clearer for second attempts, but it also changes how weighty the vehicles feel. Also, the turning seems more sensitive, this is likely to help in dire situations, but I feel like I can’t keep a straight line on a paved road. The towns are ghost towns as well. I would have loved to see some life, maybe a little traffic, but picking up a load means running into a square and pressing a button to load. There is a multiplayer mode, allowing four to get together to traverse the wilds.
My biggest complaint booting up SnowRunner was the utter lack of snow. I understand that driving in snow with heavy loads is an expert level issue, but in a game titled “SnowRunner” with an image of giant rig pressing up a mountain in a blizzard, I didn’t think that I’d be forced to start in yet another Small Town USA situation. (The game was originally MudRunner 2, then SnowRunner: A Mudrunner Game, and now just SnowRunner.) There are new environments to traverse: three main maps in the core game (Taymyr Russia, and Michigan and Alaska with five sub areas each) and three upcoming DLC maps included in the Premium Edition. The developers have planned a bevy of content making the Premium Edition DLC worth the price of entry and are even planning on giving a few pieces of DLC to those buying standard.
Controls are a mixed bag. As I said before, sometimes they feel too tight. There are combinations of buttons to hit for everything: engaging the parking brake, turning on your lights, shifting into low gear or all-wheel-drive. All of these are essential for getting to your destination. Sometimes it feels like you aren’t making progress: on my first bootup I had to take a pickup down a muddy road. The excellent tutorial tips show you what you must do, but you really don’t make good time at all. Understandable and realistic for the mudrunning crew, but an average gamer looking to progress just sees spinning tires.
In SnowRunner’s case, “more of the same” is definitely a good thing for anyone who enjoyed the first title. Coming in blind to this one, I’d be confused why a game that seems to be centered around snow in advertising starts out nowhere near it. Controlling your vehicle can be daunting, but that’s the point. Much like the first title, SnowRunner is more enjoyable as long as you know what to expect out of it. Traversing the last fifty feet of a treacherous bog with your payload intact is just as satisfying as crossing the finish line of an epic F1 race. Everything’s bigger and better than in MudRunner, and its clear tutorials make it a fine place to join in and get your tires dirty.
Pros:
-More, more, more. More trucks, more customization, bigger maps, better physics
-No GPS: see your destination and learn how to get there yourself
-A game for people who really want to get into how a vehicle works instead of just race and go
Cons:
-Controls take some getting used to even after playing the original
-Presentation: SnowRunner starts in a noticeably non-snow environment and makes you trudge over a sloppy, difficult road from the get-go
-It is more of the same, but a similar experience with more environments is available at a cheaper price in the original MudRunner
Special thanks to Saber Interactive and Focus Home Interactive for providing a copy of SnowRunner for review!