Australia is no stranger to natural disasters. The impact that bushfires, cyclones, droughts, and flooding leave behind is catastrophic, to say the least, and many of us have experienced it ourselves. RoadCraft, developed by Saber Interactive and published by Focus Entertainment, puts players in the cardinal position of reshaping the aftermath of various natural disasters, similar to what we see on home soil.
You, the player, run a disaster recovery company that specialises in restoring sites around the world impacted by natural disasters. In this hands-on preview, the map I played was a site devastated by a hurricane, leaving almost the entire region of electricity and cut off from the flow of information. I was tasked to traverse extremely rugged terrain to assist in restoring radio communication from the site to the rest of the world.
While the initial task of “restoring communications” seemed fairly simple, I was taken aback by just how much preparation and thought goes into the simplest tasks. First and foremost, plotting your route to your destination is almost vital for success. RoadCraft is an off-road vehicle and heavy-equipment operation experience, meaning there is rarely a clear path to your destination with debris and other obstacles at every turn, and larger vehicles are more likely to get bogged in the terrain.
The first vehicle I commandeered was a Land Rover-like vehicle. This vehicle felt the most natural to me and was a great first introduction to getting a grip of the landscape and driving mechanics. I took this vehicle to a Saw Mill, where I then seamlessly swapped to a tree harvester, which is where the simulation genre took shape. Clearing an area of trees was an immensely satisfying and easy task to complete. It was when I had to pilot the MTK Proseka 200, a log forwarder, where the challenging gameplay began.
As someone who has never played any game in the RoadCraft family tree, I struggled to grasp the different controls of the more complex vehicles. Once I did hone in on the controls, it felt like a small victory, being able to effortlessly stack the very logs I had harvested just moments ago. With over 40 vehicles coming to the full game, I’m keen to see just how intricate the different vehicles can get.
It’s important to note that I played this experience alone, and while that is totally fine, the game is begging to be played in a cooperative session of up to 4 players. Balancing these tasks, planning routes, and sharing the different vehicles among your friends would further simulate a disaster recovery operation and take it to a whole new level.
What I played in this hands-on preview is just a small snippet of what the RoadCraft experience will be like when it launches in May. Here’s what to expect in the full release:
- Rebuild devastated areas alone or in co-op up to 4 players in an advanced physics simulation.
- Operate over 40 vehicles, from bulldozers to construction cranes.
- Intervene in various regions around the world across 8 maps, each 4 km² in size.
- Manipulate elements like wood, sand, and asphalt powered by Saber Interactive’s new physics engine.
- Construct new roads and bridges to ease travel across rough terrain.
- Plot point-to-point routes on your map to guide your logistics convoys, and recycle every piece of debris into reconstruction material.
RoadCraft is going to appeal to a specific audience that will no doubtedly spend countless hours in this game. While construction simulators are not the type of games I usually have an appetite for, it is evident that Saber Interactive will provide a detailed and realistic experience for those looking for one.
RoadCraft is launching on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on May 21, 2025.
