Roadcraft
Review
Playing in the mud
by Howie Howard
reviewed on PC
Driving in mud always needs to start somewhere
Saber Interactive is an American video game developer and publisher based in my home state of Florida. The company was founded in 2001 and they have developed and produced a vast number of games in a wide variety of genres over the years. The company's latest game venture goes by the name Roadcraft; but the titles that have lead up to this latest release should be mentioned first because they are the progenitors of the new Roadcraft.
• Mudrunner was released is 2017 and is an all terrain simulation game that requires the game player to drive through muddy unpaved roads in old Soviet style vehicles in order to harvest and deliver logs to entities in need of such items.
• Snowrunner released in 2020 is an off road sim where the player's task is to deliver cargo and complete construction projects and repairs at different locations while driving over rough terrain and of course snow.
• Mudrunner Expeditions came out to great fanfare in 2024 as the sequel to the original Mudrunner. Even though it isn't officially named Mudrunner 2 this title shares the same gritty game play theme of needing to make your way through various difficult terrain while also using a variety of vehicles. It differs in that the focus is on an open world exploration goal versus the delivery of goods.
Good looking mud
Roadcraft was released end of May 2025 and even though it shares the same basic and rich theme as it's forebears, it is not a Mudrunner or Snowrunner sequel. RoadCraft is an online multiplayer cooperative simulation that can be played either individually or with up to three other online friends with one of the players serving as host. The theme of the game is based on disaster-relief and the reconstruction of areas in different parts of the world that have been devastated by natural disasters. As owner of a disaster relief company you will be preparing for the storm and then handling post disaster restoration by using up to forty different heavy construction vehicles to do the work. All of this will be accomplished in a game world environment that contains a new physics game engine with detailed vehicle driving mechanics along with very detailed 4K graphics. Saber has released a separate 4K graphics DLC. Even if your machine isn't beefy enough to handle 4K, the graphics are still impressive in standard high definition.
The tutorial does make a difference
The game starts off in a rather long tutorial which familiarizes the player with the controls and mechanics. You are placed in to what appears to be a tropical location some where in the world with a big storm approaching that is expected to wreak havoc on the area. You are there in order to prepare for the storm and then to clean up and get operations going again after the disaster ends. The tutorial does that to a point by providing pop up help screens but it really doesn't help much when it comes to learning what can be some pretty complex keyboard maneuvers if using a keyboard in order to operate the machines.
The common WSAD with other letter keys taking care of other options set up is something that as an old-time gamer I'm quite used to, so the keyboard is always my choice. Playing on a game console or plugging in a game controller to your PC might be a different experience but I always like to use the keyboard as my first choice for game control because that is what I know best. With that said, the tutorial does not put much effort in to actually laying out how the various keyboard controls along with a mixture of mouse actions work, and that can be a problem. The initial vehicle which is the scout truck is easy to operate because it either goes forward, backwards or turns and there are four keys that control whether all wheel drive is active, the hubs are locked, you are in low gear and the parking break is activated or not. The tutorial does address all of that along with a pop up that informs you that activating a certain key can search the area or show how level the terrain is. Honestly activating the search and terrain option level doesn't seem to help much at all. Also, the scout truck is the only vehicle capable of the search and terrain level options.
Which vehicle should I try to drive now?
Since there are some forty plus different vehicles in the game, that means that some of the more complex machines will require a different set of key strokes and mouse movements be used. The front loader / bulldozer is easy to drive as are the dump trucks, but when it came to using the crane to lift and move objects, that's where I started having issues with the controls. The crane has a multi function boom that can be rotated left or right, up or down and extended or retracted is controlled by mouse movements according to a slider scale that appears on the screen. There is also a box on the side that lists the key strokes necessary to accomplish the various actions and there are many for the crane. Strangely enough, retracting the crane stabilizers did not have a place in the key control box listing and I had to resort to a the trial and error method to eventually be able to press R to retract and then be able to move. You can attach the cranes lifting cable to objects by using multiple attachments or a single attachment and the object being lifted can be lifted and turned 360 degrees. However trying to maneuver all of these different key strokes along with moving the mouse is not straight forward. There needs to be clearer instructions on how the crane and other complex vehicles work and it should be part of the tutorial.
Slow going
All the vehicles make their way through different terrain slowly. There is a low gear and a regular driving gear on the scout truck and no matter which gear you are in the scouts movement is still slow. Engine noise is the same for both speed options. The slowness is okay while driving in mud, water and over other rough terrain but on paved surfaces vehicles are slow, no matter what gear you are in. However, mud driving should be very slow and in Roadcraft it is and it looks and feels simply magnificent and that is due to Saber's new advanced terrain physics model. I know a bit about mud driving because back in my youth I had a four wheel drive pickup and I did some mud driving and you had to be careful, just like in game.
One problem with all of this realism is that it is very unforgiving. If you get stuck in high water or on top of an object you foolishly tried to drive over, or even if your vehicle falls off some high object - which mine did a few times - the only resort is to reset. Resetting gives you the choice of two re-spawn areas, your forward base or the original starting spot. The problem concerning the very slow speeds of vehicles is that it will take a long time to get back to the position you were originally in. If you are far away at the end of the map and all eight maps are very big, getting back in to position will take time. So be careful and try not to re-spawn too much!
It might take more of an expert to drive in this mud
The overall theme of Roadcraft isn't extremely deep, but the game is still interesting despite the learning curve and the small frustrations I have had with the controls of some of the vehicles. I will continue playing Roadcraft because of the overall experience, and it has the potential to be great - even though it might not be there just yet. I have played some of Saber Interactive's other titles over the years and they have the reputation of sticking with their games well after release, constantly updating them while taking feedback and suggestions from players. Mud Runner and Snowrunner started out with a few issues, but Saber kept improving them and I suspect they will do the same with Roadcraft. Roadcraft right now seems to be more focused on mud and rough terrain driving physics while perhaps neglecting the small things that make games great fun. Needing to drive all over creation just to move a few rocks off the road is definitely fun in the beginning but it can become a chore later on, especially if the need to re-spawn occurs. When I think about Roadcraft I see a great game in the making. It's good right now but I think Saber will keep working on it and make it greater in the future.
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8.2
fun score
Pros
A simply magnificent mud and terrain physics driving model that is extremely realistic in every way possible
Cons
Operating some of the vehicles isn't easy to learn, too many re-spawns and too much driving at very slow speeds
