Saber Interactive, known for its MudRunner and SnowRunner games, is taking the next logical step with RoadCraft. The game moves from supply delivery to rebuilding in the usual difficult conditions.
RoadCraft is in many ways similar to Saber's previous games. The player still gets behind the wheel of big vehicles to get from point A to point B. The key idea behind these games is never the destination, but the journey itself. Each year, improved physics modelling creates a believable illusion of these heavy metal behemoths weighing tons, with their sheer torque capable of feats that would make the average SUV overheat in the first few minutes.
This time, the player (or players) are at the helm of a construction company specialising in particularly challenging tasks. From the very first campaign mission, it becomes clear that driving on tarmac is a rare luxury, with everything from roads to potholes and even the weather actively fighting back. As with previous instalments, RoadCraft is not a game for the impatient, as it can take a while to cover even a short distance. Haste also often rarely pays off as your engine could be drowned in water or the vehicle could roll over onto its side.
Sometimes, a little mud is just too much and the weaker machine gets totally bogged down. As a new feature, players now have to create safe routes for their computer-controlled trucks. This usually involves first mapping the area with a jeep, and building a route as the game calls it. Once the route is created, the truck convoys will automatically set off on it. If all goes well, they will start delivering raw materials to new areas without the player having to drive them there themselves.
In many ways, it being multiplayer makes a lot of sense. Playing alone, you're left to manage the entire fleet of vehicles one by one, where mistakes are often permanent. With friends, the action speeds up, and working together on, say, tarmacking a road, with one person tipping the materials and another rolling it down smoothly behind. A winch that attaches to various objects (and a friend's vehicle) is worth its weight in gold, too. For a single-player experience, the game is much more punishing.
Despite some minor frame rate hitches, RoadCraft plays well and is even quite pretty to look at, if ruined terrain sparks your interest... The game's seven maps offer a good variety of terrain, from deserts to Scottish-inspired rainy highlands. All have some trace of devastation or decline, painting a depressing but effective background for improvement. If you've been hoping to listen to hours and hours of big diesel engines, the soundscape won't leave you disappointed. The soundtrack leans heavily on the side of the backing tracks without much of an identity.
Although RoadCraft's story is about running a company, it could easily be a game about disaster relief. Its unique idea is a logical extension of Saber's previous productions, and serves as an excellent motivation for building roads and repairing infrastructure. Games tend to encourage unmitigated destruction, so repairing that destruction is a refreshing change of pace.