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0 Ok, I’m going to lay it out straight away. Saber Interactive have done it again! They have created another absolute corker. Now if you think I’ve gone a little bit crazy, I can promise you I haven’t. Saber Interactive, the wonderful people behind Mudrunner, Snowrunner and a whole host of other great video games. Bring to the world RoadCraft.
Now, if you haven’t seen the latest trailer, I’m going to do things slightly differently in this article. So watch the trailer and then I’ll get on with the rest of this review.
Chills right? You tell me that you have never played with a construction vehicle before, wishing it were real. Wait, I’m getting ahead of myself, we really should get back to the normal flow of our articles… Now what’s next… oh yeah, the quip!
Welcome To The Danger Construction Zone
Sit back as we embark on this journey to learn more about RoadCraft. I promise you won’t be disappointed. And whilst we’re at it, add it your Steam Wishlist before it releases tomorrow!
Gameplay
In RoadCraft, you run a disaster recovery company that helps restore areas that have been devastated by natural disasters. When you first start up the game, you get to create your company, pick a name, a colour and your first truck. Once you are underway, you have a nice and comprehensive tutorial to get you up to speed. However, if you’ve played any of the other similar games from Saber Interactive, then you will be familiar with the control scheme.
The game has simple controls to get started, but they can be difficult to master. There are standard controls to drive the vehicles, but each vehicle type will have a couple of modifiers. These allow you to control the ancillary functions that your vehicle has. Whether that’s the crane controls or the front scoop controls for your digger. It’s really trial and error. The best way to play is to just get stuck in.
As you progress through the story, you unlock a number of different regions. There are 8 in total and each map is around 4km squared in size. So there is plenty of terrain to drive around, through, over, and to build stuff on.
Construction Time
RoadCraft is all about construction, one of my favourite things to do is to build roads. It’s incredibly straightforward in the game, albeit a bit time-consuming.
You start off with some sand, dump it out and then level it off. Once you’ve done that, you just need to lay down the asphalt. The final step is to use the steamroller to compact the road and make it drivable. Sounds straightforward, right? Now all you need is the right vehicles to get the job done. Keep progressing through, and you will get these vehicles to make use of as much as you wish.
One thing that you need to master is the routes. Possibly the more infuriating of mechanics if you get it wrong. Using the AI of a few trucks, you plot points along a route from one location to another. Sounds pretty easy, especially when you have 200 points to make use of per route. The problem comes in when the road is treacherous or even blocked. This is where you need to make use of your vehicles to make the road safe and accessible. Whether that’s just clearing or even creating roads. For example, if you have a deep area of water, just getting some sand will help you get through that. Alternatively, if you’ve got some big rocks, just get the digger with its large scoop on the front and push them out of the way.
Unfortunately, the drivers behind these computer-controlled vehicles, quite frankly, are useless. They will literally follow your route impeccably. This means that they will no doubt get stuck, crash into things, or even just overturn. Just make sure that you put extra effort around those corners.
Graphics & Audio
RoadCraft is stunning. There, that’s the section. Not really, but the game really is stunning. Playing it on PC on the highest possible graphics I can, and it’s gorgeous. The water effects are brilliant, the land is rendered beautifully, and the vehicle models are spot on.
The only little graphical glitch that I got was in the top right corner of my screen, where there was a strange flickering when I was going through the tree-covered areas. This can be attributed to my ultra-wide monitor, as the other couple of TC members who were playing with me didn’t experience the same.
From an audio point of view, there is plenty of well-voiced narration in the game. It also has plenty of sound effects to get you fully immersed in the world.
Longevity
If you are playing RoadCraft on your own, there is a lot of content there. You are looking at upwards of 20+ hours to get stuck into. There are side missions as well as the main missions, just for good measure. Playing through on your own can get arduous, but Saber Interactive have implemented a neat little feature.
Playing through RoadCraft on your own is fun enough, but the enjoyment increases when you let up to 3 friends join you. This also means you can complete tasks a bit quicker, as each player can man a machine. When you are playing a multiplayer game and it’s time to head to bed, you will get a prompt asking if you want to save the progress to your local game. This is awesome as it means that you are all going to be at the same point each time.
Final Thoughts
I said it at the beginning that RoadCraft was a banger. From the minute I started reviewing this one, I absolutely loved it. From the incredibly nostalgic experience that the trailer brings, to the fist bump when you get the flood wall finished. Every job you finish is a great achievement.
Saber Interactive have delivered another amazing game that is an absolute joy to play. From start to finish, I loved my entire time with RoadCraft.
RoadCraft receives a Thumb Culture Platinum Award.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
The trailer is up above, just scroll back up if you want to check it out again. It’s worth it!
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