By Jatin Gundara

In gaming, the line between fun and frustration can be paper thin. At one moment a player could be enthralled by the atmosphere, intrigued with its prospects, and the next completely turned off due to one mistake. The atmosphere of Expeditions: A Mudrunner Game, and the time a player will remain within its world, boil down to the player’s willingness to partake in one thing: Preparation. Without it, the game’s realism (harkening back to the other games in the runners series, i.e. 2020’s Snowrunners), will constantly serve as a reminder that at any moment, one’s expectations could be flipped. And a grand expedition could devolve into a struggle between the desire to stop playing and the will to keep going. 

The concept of Expeditions: A Mudrunners Game is on paper, quite simple. Take a new approach to the notoriously difficult off-roading approach its predecessors embodied, and applied it to an even more rugged and untamed setting. Unlike the previous games in the series, which focused on traversing what felt like rural areas isolated after a storm or other incident, the Expeditions approach sees players traversing territory that is completely uncharted.

Aside from the basecamps that the player will end up building throughout the progression, there is no human infrastructure within the game’s world, which places you at the forefront of a team exploring it for the first time. In this sense, the premise alongside the execution of its world is truly captivating. The player has access to three maps: Colorado, Arizona, and the Carpathian Mountains in Europe. Each has its own expansive map containing everything from natural wonders and dinosaur fossils to remnants of lost human civilization. The urge to explore the world of Expeditions is one that grew on me as I realized the scope of the world, and that every corner of it was created to explore.

 The realism of the game can, at first, bog down the player’s expectations. Even in the tutorial stage, which sees the player taking a truck across a small pond, it is incredibly easy to mess up to the point where the mission had to be restarted (I flipped my truck and wasn’t given the proper tool to fix it, so I had to restart the entire mission). In the first few hours, players unfamiliar with the conventions of the series will likely experience a multitude of the following: getting stuck on small and large rocks, turning over a vehicle and being unable to flip it back up, getting stuck in mud, or stuck in large bodies of water, being caught between a cliff and a tree, having a tree stuck between the wheels of a truck.

For me, the first couple missions became a real slog, largely due to my vehicles getting stuck multiple times in places which they shouldn’t have (I wasn’t familiar with the game’s systems). This resulted in many times where I would spend upwards of five minutes frustratingly attempting to maneuver my vehicle optimally, constantly fearing that I would get myself into a worse position (which also happened when the vehicle would turn over or get stuck further. I thought, if I had not been reviewing the game, I likely would’ve quit or at least have taken a break to reassess how I’m spending my time.

While this negative first impression was the majority of my early experience with the game, I digress that the importance of preparation was one I initially overlooked, and paid dearly for. This is an aspect of Expeditions that the game makers do not try to hide whatsoever. Its reveal trailer showed multiple vehicles going through frustrating situations, and how they used tools to better prepare for their troubles.

You get used to it. Some missions require that you prepare with a minimum of certain types of tools, and you’re what you will need to do to complete the mission. The game also allows players to bring up to 4 vehicles on expeditions, a fact which I overlooked until I realized that some journey’s could be completed quicker than with one vehicle. Customization can be used to fit the needs of a current expedition, and there is no shortage of options to practically and visually customize one’s vehicle. Once the hurdle of preparation is cleared, the game truly becomes a novel approach to open world exploration (see our Tchia review for more on the modern conventions of this genre), which can live up to the initial vision of the game many players have. 

One important distinction to consider however is that at its core, Expeditions is a vehicle simulation game, with an overlay of open world elements. As such, the most engaging part of its design is the vehicles. There are over 20 to explore in game, which would not be substantial if not for the intuitive pacing of the player experience. From the start, four different vehicles are available, each fitting one of the archetypes the game has. Ranging from scout vehicles which zip around the map for reconnaissance, to heavy trucks which can undergo long voyages, the ability for players to dictate their own play-style is a nice touch to a game with such an unforgiving world.

While the selection of vehicles is fairly large, the tools which they come equipped with are uniform. Some of these tools include the echo sounder for determining the depth of bodies of water, the drone used to get a lay of the land and spot possible routes of travel, and the binoculars which allow the player to scout distant structures and checkpoints. However, the most useful addition to the players arsenal (and the savior of much frustration) is the winch. I found the winch especially useful when stuck in mud and water. However, in the endgame, it can be used to scale and hang off of cliff faces, and even to pull other vehicles behind your own. 

In regards to gameplay, the player must manage a gear shift system which will dictate how a vehicle performs. In addition, a system is in place where tire pressure can be adjusted on the fly to adjust to the severity of the terrain, but lowering the pressure will consume more fuel. The player must also manage the amount of damage on numerous parts of a vehicle (which is rarely an issue so long as spare parts are bought before an expedition), as well as a fuel meter. The consummation of the game’s different systems, as expected of a driving simulator, makes Expeditions more involved, yet just as rewarding as the average driving or racing game. This involvement is heightened by the superb attention to detail on vehicles and their systems. The sound design itself is being nothing short of excellent. The sounds of different vehicles, rushing water, animal ambiance, as well as the use of tools (the realism of the winch’s sound effects truly caught me off guard), all serve to only heighten the player’s experience.

When viewed as a whole, Saber Interactive’s Expeditions: A Mudrunners Game is truly greater than the sum of its parts. While initial difficulty, and slow progress, may detract from the game’s appeal on paper, it has the potential to captivate its player base with its different gameplay elements. And to those familiar with the runners series, there is no doubt that this game will scratch the familiar itch for challenging, yet satisfying gameplay. The future of Expeditions also shows promise, with multiplayer compatibility coming shortly, as well as the possibility of DLC expansions and season passes. So to those looking for a game which will provide a challenge, the ability to explore, create, prepare, and adapt, Expeditions: A Mudrunners Game may be what you are looking for.

Jatin Gundara, who’s based outside Los Angeles, was our Fair Game Writing Challenge winner and is NYVGCC’s West Coast intern.

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