Let’s start from an assumption: if you are ready to read this piece in the belief that you are dealing with an off-road racing game, you are rather … off the road. The title conceived by Ovee Game Studio and now taken by Saber Interactive is quite special : on board a large group of vehicles – mostly of massive size – you are involved in a matter that has absolutely nothing to do with opponents , track rides and adrenaline a thousand because of the high speed. All the contrary. Spintires: MudRunner is a slow game, created by patient people for equally patient people. Or maybe even more. A title where the mud is the absolute master,dictating the rules in his own way, between a pull of a winch, a river to wade with every possible scruple and a lot, but a lot of wood to be transported to their destination.
The previous chapter, simply called Spintires , appeared on the PC three years ago and managed to carve out a fair number of enthusiasts who knew how to appreciate the many challenges, the physics of heavy vehicles in contact with rough terrain and those rhythms so compassionate to make it seems like every mission is a real working day, rather than just a leisure. Masochism of the latest generation or simple desire to shake something out of the ordinary? Probably there is no single answer, what is certain is that MudRunner puts the same cards on the table with some small news on the content front, but this time we wanted to try to drive the shores of the console sector through the editions for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.How do you say? Have you decided to get your hands dirty like the most sailed woodcutters do? And then I pray, on this side, we’ll be there in a moment.
PURE SIMULATION
We were talking about getting our hands dirty, right? Here, Spintires: MudRunner is above all this. It is perceived on the skin, while the tutorial scans with proverbial slowness what will be the leitmotif of the entire play experience. Exactly as in the previous chapter, the most successful aspect of MudRunner is inherent in the faithful reproduction of the characteristics of the terrain and the reactions of heavy vehicles in complex conditions. Accelerating without hesitation to try to speed up time does not really lead anywhere; on the contrary, it is more likely to be a great way to dilate the time necessary to complete a single task.Proceed in all tranquility is the best thing,
trying if possible to prevent the wheels of your vehicle to slip with vehemence and sink into the rough terrain. The game re-proposes the five sandbox maps already available in the first Spintires, to which are added a new territory and thirteen other vehicles to master. Within each map there are various nerve points that must be reached to facilitate the progression towards the following objectives. For example, you have to conquer the observation points to make certain areas of the map visible that otherwise would otherwise be obscured, or to reach trucks littered on the territory to unlock them and receive a strategic advantage.
As we said, an error of assessment or excessive haste can cause critical conditions: in these cases the salvation is entrusted to the winch, which must be made to turn around trees and bushes, necessary to act as a pivot and get out of trouble as soon as possible. However, some vehicles are equipped with basic features such as the presence of the four-wheel drive or the differential lock to improve grip at the expense of control, but if necessary you can also set the view from the cockpit to improve driving accuracy during some movements. It seems strange, however, that in a title like this,
devoted to reproducing in a meticulous way the collection and transport of materials,to facilitate certain maneuvers when the first person view is activated. In other situations it is preferable to resort to off-road support, but must be adequately equipped at the garage to be useful for the purpose. The camera allows you to keep a complete view of the situation from any perspective,
but needs to be managed with particular care through the pad’s right lever, since the shots are not always fluid and well positioned as they should, especially if the vehicles are loaded with the logs to be transported to the nearest sawmill. Among the many variables to keep in mind there is also the fuel level, constantly decreasing depending on the consumption required.
