It always fascinates me when menial service simulators become hits, be it titles like PowerWash Simulator or Euro Truck Simulator. The Mudrunner series is another great example. In theory, it’s a series of logistics games: pick up cargo, venture through crappy terrain, deliver said cargo, use money to upgrade your trucks, repeat. It has received a snow-themed sequel in the past, with both titles becoming unlikely commercial hits, with a pretty impressive and sizeable fanbase. But it was time to improve the formula with something even more enticing than mere logistics, all whilst keeping the core aspects which made those games so popular in the first place. Thus, Expeditions: A Mudrunner Game was born.

Expeditions: A Mudrunner Game is still a game about traversing rough terrain with gigantic, diesel-chugging hunks of junk at really low speeds, but it’s a bit more exciting than before. Instead of just being about delivering cargo, Expeditions has a bigger emphasis on, well, expeditions. Explore the world around you. Perform brand new tasks. Take on risky missions. Survey terrain. Find a freaking dinosaur fossil hidden in the middle of a canyon if you feel like it. Pilot a drone to plan your course before actually driving through said crappy terrain. Drive a faster SUV instead of an old Soviet truck if that’s what you want. This is just a fraction of what you can do in this particular iteration.

The fact it’s not just about delivering cargo makes Expeditions: A Mudrunner Game a lot more interesting, as each new mission might be completely different from the other. It also allows you to drive something other than a truck for once, as you can pick up a rally-ish car or a souped-up SUV during certain missions, when speed and maneuverability are considered more important factors than having additional space on the back of your ride to grab treasure and debris from the ground.

For the most part, the controls are basically the same as before. You need to wrestle against muddy terrain, slippery slopes, or actual rivers, by properly controlling your vehicle’s transmission, tire pressure, weight, and so on. Tow cables, which have basically become a series staple at this point, are still essential. Look for a nearby tree, attach a hook to it, pull yourself towards it, and constantly question on how the hell YOU are not the one removing the tree from its spot in the first place.

I also really liked the slight base building mechanics (you can assemble temporary outposts in order to acquire more fuel and spare parts for longer trips) and the drone controls. In essence, the drone is used to scout the terrain around you. You cannot fly that far away from your current location, nor are you given proper GPS coordinates, so it just works as a short term solution to figure out the best ramp or tree to use in order to traverse that tricky section you’re currently stuck at. I loved that implementation. It added a quality of life benefit to a “get lost and explore” game without giving me a deus ex machina tool like a minimap or GPS.

There’s also the added benefit that the game is quite good-looking, especially when compared to its predecessors. It might not set the world on fire with brand new graphical showcases or lighting effects, but it managed to provide me with some occasional eyecandy, especially when exploring the canyons in Arizona. Also, when compared to other Mudrunner games, Expeditions does feature the best soundtrack and overall sound effects in the entire series. For the most part, you will be listening to loud diesel engines roaring like beasts, but the game does feature occasional slide guitars and riffs which weren’t half-bad at all.

My biggest gripe with Expeditions: A Mudrunner Game lies whenever I’m not exploring the wilderness itself. Its menus, its UI, its interface, it’s all pretty bad. If you decide to play the game with a controller, you can’t even use an analog stick to select an option; d-pad only. Menus are poorly explained, upgrade systems make little sense. It’s way too bureaucratic, when all you really want to do is pick up a truck, add in a new engine, and literally throw it onto a pile of mud before figuring out how to get out of it.

Expeditions: A Mudrunner Game feels less like a mere logistics simulator, and more like a truck version of Death Stranding that feels more exciting to play than Death Stranding itself. It’s a very relaxing pasttime, whether you decide to partake on a mission or just explore some uneven terrain with only an old Soviet truck and a tow cable to help you out. Even if its menus are confusing, and some of its objectives can occasionally feel unfair, I had way more fun with it than I could have ever expected. Out of all Mudrunner games released so far, Expeditions is easily the best of the bunch.

Graphics: 8.0 Good lighting effects, beautiful locales, great physics on the mud and water particles. It gets the job done, even though it’s not pushing hardware boundaries.	Gameplay: 7.5 For such a simulation-heavy off-road game, it’s actually accessible when it comes to its controls. I wish its menu interface wasn’t as confusing, though.
Sound: 7.0 For the most part, you will be listening to loud diesel engines roaring like beasts, but the game does feature occasional slide guitars and riffs which weren’t half-bad at all.	Fun Factor: 8.5 It feels less like a mere logistics simulator, and more like a truck version of Death Stranding that feels more exciting to play than Death Stranding itself. Its menu interface is really confusing, and the game is, at times, unfair, but I had more fun with it than initially anticipated.
Final Verdict: 8.0

Expeditions: A Mudrunner Game is available now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PC and Switch.

Reviewed on Intel i7-12700H, 16GB RAM, RTX 3060 6GB.

A copy of Expeditions: A Mudrunner Game was provided by the publisher.