There is something really primevally cool about pushing through the mud with big, oversized vehicles. I think it takes a lot of us back to our childhoods when we would do the same thing out in the backyard with Matchbox, Hot Wheels or Tonka trucks. Not too many games have explored that love of muddy truck driving, although one very successful series did a few years ago. Developer Saber Interactive, which also made the RoadCraft game we are reviewing today, created a really excellent series called SpinTires which was all about driving in crazily adverse conditions. GiN gave that series generally positive reviews over the years, first with the original title in 2014 and then later with the MudRunner DLC in 2017.
With SpinTires, the goal was always about getting trucks from one point to another across a seemingly impossible landscape filled with dense forest, deep mud and other hazards. But you really could not do very much to change the landscape itself. Yes, in later DLCs you could knock down a few trees maybe, but for the most part the gameplay was all about navigating the terrain and figuring out how to get really heavy vehicles through it even though there were no good roads or other infrastructure. Now, with RoadCraft, players can finally do something about all of that impassable terrain. If a muddy swamp or other obstacle is blocking your way, simply build a road or a bridge to go over it.
In fact, in RoadCraft, the player takes on the role of the leader of a company specialized in restoring sites devastated by natural disasters. Instead of just trying to use your skill to get through devastated landscapes, you will be building up the infrastructure so that other normal people can eventually drive through there. Beyond just repairing broken roads or building up new ones, you will also need to clear debris, install specialized equipment, build or fix bridges and even run powerlines out to industries or communities that desperately need to get back on their feet following a natural disaster.
One of the key elements that RoadCraft benefits from is the years of work that went into the physics engine for the SpinTires series, which is used to great effect. There is even weather physics now, with weather events like rain changing the terrain before your eyes. In fact, everything behaves realistically, but this is especially true with vehicle performance. For example, if you go into areas of deeper mud, then you need to either activate the all-wheel drive or even the differential lock (which causes all of the wheels to spin at the same speed) if you want to move forward. It is fun to see how vehicles respond on the fly to various wheel and lock settings. Also, if you have your differential lock engaged, you can move forward pretty well over most terrain but will have trouble making tight turns. It’s great that RoadCraft knows how to handle all of that.
Because of the complex backend physics engine coupled with the above-average simulation graphics, RoadCraft is only available for next generation consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, or for (moderately powerful) PCs through the Steam platform.
There are eight large maps set in places all around the world and in different environments. And some of these places are really devastated with broken buildings, no power, washed out roads, destroyed bridges, heavy debris strewn everywhere and plenty of other challenges. It is these environments that your disaster restoration company will be charged with fixing. Thankfully, you will be able to unlock or purchase 40 different vehicles in order to accomplish that grueling task. Those include bulldozers, heavy cranes, cargo trucks, asphalt spreaders, heavy vehicle transporters, steam rollers, graders and many others. Each job is basically like a campaign, and most players will probably spend many hours working each job, meaning that there is a lot of content. And the developer is already planning for some DLCs to add even more.
Despite the fact that the missions are set all over the globe, each one generally falls into the same basic pattern in terms of what you need to do and in what order. The first thing that needs to happen in each job is that the terrain needs to be scouted out. This is done from an upgradable scout vehicle that you will spend a lot of time in while playing. There are several available and unlockable over time, but at first you will be limited to either a souped-up pickup truck or an off-road SUV. Like all vehicles in RoadCraft, the scouts are rated based on key factors like speed, handling and stability, so players can select one that matches their playstyle or the expected challenges ahead.
Once the map is scouted out, the next step is generally going to be clearing debris from what is left of the roadways in the area. That is generally done with a bulldozer and is used to get the roads clear enough for at least some of your company’s vehicles to operate. After that, you will establish a base of operations where you will store vehicles and work out of during the mission. This is also where you will have your stockpile of materials. From there, the different missions vary, but generally you will need to set up supply lines and convoys to help fix major pieces of infrastructure like destroyed bridges. In some missions, you can even collect scrap and recycle it into new components you can use to replace destroyed infrastructure. It’s all being done to try and restore operations to the local economy and community. You will earn experience and money for each objective you accomplish too, which can be invested back into the company for new vehicles or upgrades to your existing equipment.
Mission objectives in RoadCraft are clearly explained to the point where the work is almost linear in nature. I think that works fine for most players because even though the game tells you, for example, to set up a convoy of resources between your base and a worksite, how you do that is mostly up to you. You might route your trucks in a roundabout way that is inefficient but relatively safe, or you could construct a bridge or a road to fix a more direct path that would be otherwise inaccessible.
As fun as RoadCraft is to play, especially for people who enjoy building or driving simulations, there are also a few flaws. A big one is the fact that the AI pathing is laughably bad. In one mission, I had two supply lines driving into a factory from different sides of the map. At one point, two trucks approached the final turnoff at the same time, but instead of one truck smartly waiting for the other to drive through, they decided to have a head-on collision. After slamming together for a while, one truck made it through while the other was stuck on the side of the road. Then that truck could not figure out how to get through the gate and drove into the fence instead. It took it several minutes to slowly slide its way back to the gate. There was little I could do other than watch, since I had no direct control over the meandering convoys.
Another kind of weird quirk about RoadCraft is that you are supposed to be the leader of a disaster recovery company, which would imply that you have people who work for you. But in reality, you are jumping in every single vehicle and doing everything yourself. So, you will first jump in a crane and pull concrete slabs from your supply to carefully load up a cargo truck. And then you will jump over to the truck and carefully drive it to its destination. It’s the same with building roads. You have to drive every vehicle yourself at every stage from putting down sand to flattening it out, pouring the asphalt and grading the final surface. There is an option to play RoadCraft with up to four other people in multiplayer mode, and doing so would probably make things more fun and a lot less lonely out there trying to do every job by yourself.
RoadCraft is not without its quirks, but players who enjoy driving sims or construction challenges will find plenty to like. With realistic physics, varied missions and the satisfaction of rebuilding broken landscapes, it offers a rewarding experience that grows with each new project.
Developers: Saber Interactive
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Steam, Xbox Series X