RoadCraft Review — On The Road Again

From the team behind MudRunner and SnowRunner comes RoadCraft. Saber Interactive have done it yet again, serving up a challenging construction experience that demands creativity, patience, and a heap of unforgiving terrain. RoadCraft will test you, to say the least.

The grunt of diesel engines roars, while their fumes fill the skies, it’s enough to make any EV lover cry. RoadCraft takes the building industry and simulates it perfectly, tasking you with restoring environments and creating interconnected routes between bases. There’s a heap to keep even the most avid construction sim lovers busy.

Before delving into how beautiful RoadCraft looks, let’s discuss vehicles. You’ve got scout vehicles, ideal for travelling from A to B. Featuring decent stability, mobility, and capability, these are brilliant all-rounders that’ll keep you moving through even the roughest of terrain.

There are road work vehicles, think bucket loaders and earthmovers. Use these to move obstacles, flatten terrain, and build roads, among other things. All factors are a must for creating easy-to-traverse routes for your fleet.

Cargo, logging, and crane vehicles are self-explanatory. Featuring the likes of dump trucks, haulers, and cranes, these are your workhorses. They’ll be collecting your resources and transporting them from A to B.

Finally, there are special vehicles; these are niche tools at your disposal, each with a specific focus. Overall, RoadCraft does a brilliant job of delivering a realistic experience through these vehicles. The best thing? Instant switching between vehicles, regardless of where they’re located. How the developers managed to avoid any load times or texture pop-ins is beyond me.

The purpose of all of these vehicles is to create traversable routes for your fleets to follow. While the meat of the game involves clearing and creating routes, the bones focus on creating interconnected bases. These are set up via the infrastructure menu, serving as the game’s management element.

All vehicle models are impressive, from the way mud and grime cover and cling onto their shells, to the trails their tracks leave in the terrain. Heck, even the mud flaps and fumes react in a near-life-like way. I’ve not even mentioned how detailed the interiors are!

There are so many details that are easy to miss, and I’m sure if the developers didn’t put in as much effort as they did, no one would notice. Yet, nothing has been rushed. The attention to detail is impressive. Most impressive, however, is the weather and scenery.

Storms, in particular, look and sound amazing. Rain, mud, wind, and debris, it’s a visual spectacle, tastefully done, and appearing lifelike. Coupled with the beautiful water animations, textures, and reflections, I’d find myself stopping many times in awe of my surroundings.

Despite the drop-dead gorgeous visuals, multiplayer is where the game shines. Not only from an efficiency perspective, but also from a gameplay perspective. From a realistic building sim to a game filled with laughs and confusion. You think your coworkers are bad? Try playing with friends.

Featuring eight maps, there’s a heap of variety for you to explore. Each needs to be approached with care, fighting against the elements (and terrain) to create traversable paths. However, there’s a heap of menu jumping, and the controls can be confusing, so if you do play in multiplayer, chances are you’ll spend a lot of time waiting on your friends to work things out.

Ultimately, RoadCraft is like a toy box for your inner child. You’ve a heap of vehicles to play with and locations to play in. If you enjoyed MudRunner or SnowRunner, you’ll feel right at home.