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Back when I reviewed Euro Truck Simulator 2, Chezni commented that people “pay money to participate in a simulated experience of a profession that others describe as living in a ‘prison on wheels.'” What better way to improve on the contemplative experience of Euro Truck Simulator than to drive enormous, ancient trucks in the middle of a Russian spring through roads which are 90% mud (and 10% river). Welcome to Spintires: Mudrunner.
To be perfectly clear: if the above didn’t sound fun to you, you will not enjoy this game. Even if it did sound like fun, you may not enjoy this game. There is no plot and there is no real motivation for you to continue playing. It’s just a sandbox filled with “bring this from point A to point B.” And yet, it’s so exquisitely detailed and challenging that it’s fun. Maybe I’m going soft now that I’ve trimmed my library so much, but this is just one of those games that’s fun to zone out to with podcasts in the background. One amusing perk of this sort of game is learning how to control a truck trailer. That doesn’t sound like it would be immediately useful, but I was helping my parents move a car the other weekend and was the only person in my family that knew how to back the trailer up to unload the car. I may have looked at this game just so I could tell that story. That being said, I don’t think I can recommend paying full price – wait for a Steam sale to get this Tier One game.
This actually looks great–even if it’s just to play for 30 minutes when you want to zone out.