RoadCraft Review – Pave the Way

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As a fan who appreciates simulation-style driving games, I can’t help but feel excited about the upcoming release from Saber Interactive and Focus Entertainment. With their past successes in games like MudRunner and SnowRunner, they are no strangers to creating immersive driving experiences. Last year saw Expeditions: A MudRunner Game, which, while enjoyable, didn’t quite meet expectations.

However, the studio is back with a vengeance! They’re taking us on an adventure through some of the world’s toughest terrains, but this time, they’ve expanded the scope significantly. It seems that the developers have tapped into the nostalgia of the RoadCraft concept, allowing us to live out our childhood dream of operating gigantic construction vehicles and rebuilding disaster-stricken areas.

Haven’t there been moments when you pictured yourself at the wheel of a big road roller or a crane as a kid, just like many others? That was definitely me too.

Haven’t we all, at some point, dreamed about operating large machinery like road rollers or cranes when we were younger? I know I did. And RoadCraft aims to make that dream a reality in an expansive way. Unlike Saber Interactive’s previous titles in this genre which leaned towards a sandbox design, allowing players to set their own goals, RoadCraft is more goal-oriented.

In RoadCraft, the gameplay mechanics appear significantly enhanced compared to previous games such as SnowRunner and Expeditions: A MudRunner Game. Numerous minor adjustments have been implemented in the driving mechanics, serving not just as refinements but also expanding each vehicle’s functional capabilities substantially. Common vehicles like scouting vans and trucks have certainly been enhanced by these refinements, but more intriguing additions have become possible due to these changes, opening up new possibilities for the game.

In RoadCraft, you’ll find an extensive collection of construction vehicles to operate. This selection spans from straightforward options like a sand-transporting flatbed truck, all the way up to intricate machines such as a trench digger for installing electrical wiring, bulldozers for clearing paths, and cranes for more engaging gameplay experiences. Each new vehicle contributes to the main concept of RoadCraft – reconstruction.

In a region where storms have left roads in disarray, it poses challenges not only for local residents but also for you, as smooth roadways are essential for transporting goods. The game RoadCraft, however, offers an engaging solution. This construction simulation allows you to spread sand, level it, and then do the same with asphalt. As you progress, you’ll encounter more intricate systems, such as planning the most efficient route for laying underground electrical wires to ensure the entire area has consistent power supply.

The gameplay design of RoadCraft is intriguing; it offers straightforward objectives such as transporting goods, mapping routes for autonomous trucks, or clearing obstructed roads filled with wreckage. However, the game provides minimal guidance on how to accomplish these tasks. This is where the sandbox aspects of its predecessors come into play, allowing you to swiftly switch between any vehicles at your disposal, whether they’re parked in your garage or out in the field. Your ability to think creatively and take initiative will then help you navigate terrain that would otherwise be impassable.

RoadCraft offers a comprehensive road-construction mechanism where you spread sand, level it, followed by the process of laying and smoothing out asphalt.

As you progress through the game, levels become more about solving navigation-style puzzles. The vehicles you have aren’t great for off-road travel, so your scouting van becomes crucial for exploring new territories once you arrive. Often, objectives are located quite a distance from where you begin, and finding a route, such as figuring out how to get a truck across a dry river with poor tire grip, can be a puzzle in itself. In my case, I had to make multiple trips to nearby sand quarries to fill the river bed, which I then flattened using a buldozer. Although it wasn’t an ideal road, it provided a way for me to get my truck across.

As a vehicle enthusiast, I find myself constantly captivated by the unique characteristics each ride possesses. Take my scouting van for instance; it’s nimble and swift, even in the harshest terrains, and its winch is an indispensable tool that comes to my aid when I find myself unintentionally stuck alongside a river by allowing me to securely attach to nearby trees and extract myself.

Conversely, the crane is a slow, cumbersome vehicle, ill-suited for off-roading adventures, requiring careful handling when lifting objects to avoid tipping over due to improper weight distribution or neglecting the anchors.

The intriguing differences between these vehicles, coupled with the swift and effortless transition process from one to another, ensures an endless array of exciting possibilities every time I hit the road.

In essence, the physics engine appears robust, with vehicles displaying a convincing sense of mass and grip. The way they react to various terrains enhances this realism, and even minor changes in height can make a heavily laden truck struggle to keep up its slow pace, introducing an authentic layer of difficulty.

RoadCraft is an enjoyable, almost relaxing activity when played alone, but it really comes alive in multiplayer mode, especially cooperative play. Up to four players can join in, and there’s lots of room for creative problem-solving among the team members. Each player can select from a range of tasks to boost rebuilding efforts. Sharing a goal with friends can make the experience even more fulfilling. In the original scenario I described, where you build roads, each player might handle one of several construction stages, resulting in a road that’s likely better if multiple people work on it rather than one person trying to do everything alone.

“Later levels turn into navigation puzzles of sorts.”

In RoadCraft, you won’t find a traditional progression system like leveling up or unlocking abilities. Instead, the game offers two main aspects of progress: unlocking new vehicles and moving on to the next devastated zone. There are no complex skill trees to navigate, but the more powerful vehicles in your collection can help you complete objectives more efficiently. However, players will always have access to a basic selection of trucks and cars for any given task.

The entire experience is wrapped up in a stunningly attractive video game. The destruction of areas due to natural disasters has been artfully portrayed, and the overall graphical quality is superbly balanced with efficient optimization. I was able to run the game’s visuals at their maximum at 1440p, along with the 4K high-resolution texture pack on my system equipped with an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D processor, 32 GB of DDR5 RAM, and an AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT graphics card. There were occasional visual glitches, primarily due to texture loading issues, but they quickly disappeared within a few seconds. These minor inconveniences didn’t significantly affect gameplay, except for making a mudslide appear as peculiar visual goop on occasion.

To put it simply, RoadCraft seems like the peak achievement Saber Interactive has been striving towards since their work on MudRunner. While Expeditions: A MudRunner Game appeared to be a slight regression when compared to SnowRunner, RoadCraft appears to expand upon the fundamentals laid by all the games that came before. This game not only retains the thrill of navigating treacherous landscapes, but also introduces intricate special-purpose vehicles that, despite their challenging learning curve, significantly enhance the overall experience. Moreover, a play session in RoadCraft often feels incredibly gratifying, making it an effortless choice for anyone who enjoys leisurely, high-stakes driving through dangerous terrains.

This game was reviewed on PC.

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2025-05-20 20:13