Expeditions: A MudRunner Game

65%
Game Brain Score Based on 2,208 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • graphics
Expeditions: A MudRunner Game Game Cover
Expeditions: A Mudrunner Game is a thrilling game that will test even the best drivers in gaming in large, diverse, and expansive maps with challenges all around you.
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Embark on scientific expeditions with this new off-road adventure from the creators of MudRunner and SnowRunner. Lead research missions as you drive a variety of all-terrain vehicles, using high-tech tools and managing your camp and crew to ensure your success in the wild.

  • Nintendo Switch
  • PC
  • Windows
  • Xbox One
  • Xbox Series X|S
  • Cloud
  • Xbox
  • Xbox Game Pass
  • x_box_cloud_gaming
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

65%
Audience ScoreBased on 2,208 reviews
gameplay82 positive mentions
story98 negative mentions
  • The game features beautiful graphics and immersive environments that enhance the exploration experience.
  • New mechanics like tire pressure adjustment and deployable winch anchors add depth to the gameplay.
  • The focus on scouting and exploration rather than cargo hauling provides a refreshing change for players.
  • The UI is confusing and cumbersome, making navigation and vehicle management frustrating.
  • The mission structure is linear and repetitive, often requiring players to return to the menu after each task.
  • Many vehicles and features are locked behind DLC, limiting the initial gameplay experience.
  • story966 mentions

    The story aspect of the game has been widely criticized for its lack of depth and engagement, with many players noting that missions feel disjointed and repetitive, often resembling simple fetch quests. The mission structure, which requires players to return to a menu after each task, detracts from immersion and exploration, leading to a sense of frustration rather than accomplishment. Overall, the absence of a compelling narrative or character development leaves players feeling disconnected from the game's world and objectives.

    • “The environments I've encountered so far are beautiful and although the missions don't exactly draw you in with a compelling story, they make sense in the context of the game and really it's about the challenge of getting there and exploring along the way.”
    • “As you lead research missions across diverse landscapes, you'll feel like a true explorer, navigating treacherous terrain and overcoming obstacles with skill and strategy.”
    • “Whether you prefer to tackle missions solo or team up with friends in a soon to be added coop mode, expeditions offers a rich and rewarding gameplay experience that will keep you coming back for more.”
    • “You teleport to HQ after a mission and start over something new without any explanation, backstory, or progression (other than vehicle progression).”
    • “The missions feel boring and feel like you're backtracking for little reward and maps feel small.”
    • “The missions are just drive here do bad minigame drive there do different bad minigame maybe try to have a little fun with the driving along the way, good job here's five bucks.”
  • gameplay314 mentions

    The gameplay of "Expeditions" has received mixed reviews, with many players noting that while it introduces some interesting new mechanics like tire pressure adjustments and drones, it often feels like a re-skinned version of "Snowrunner" with less content and a more confusing interface. Critics highlight the lack of freedom and depth in gameplay, with missions feeling repetitive and progress slow, leading to a sense of frustration rather than satisfaction. Overall, while some enjoy the exploration and new features, many feel it falls short of the engaging experience offered by its predecessors.

    • “The gameplay loop is very satisfying, and there are no other games like it.”
    • “The new mechanics are awesome, changing tire pressures, using the drone, hiring specialists, all of these make meaningful changes to the game that leads to interesting decision making.”
    • “Expeditions offers a unique blend of exploration, simulation, and strategy gameplay.”
    • “Then throw them into a game and take away 90% of the freedom/actual gameplay and you get this game.”
    • “Some promising aspects to it, but the interface is horrendous and the game has so many artificial, frustrating mechanics that are there to purely slow your progression down.”
    • “There's just no point in doing anything, the gameplay rewards are nothing but bad minigames and the actual rewards are so meager it's just boring and tedious to progress.”
  • graphics158 mentions

    The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the stunning visuals and improved performance compared to previous titles like Snowrunner, while others criticize the aesthetic direction and occasional graphical glitches. Some players find the graphics to be vibrant and immersive, enhancing the overall gameplay experience, while others feel they are cartoonish or not significantly better than earlier games in the series. Overall, the graphics are generally regarded as a strong point, though not without their flaws.

    • “The graphics in this game are just stunning!”
    • “With its stunning graphics, immersive gameplay mechanics, and attention to detail, Expeditions sets a new standard for exploration games.”
    • “The terrain, lighting, shading, textures, it all looks great, and while I only have a couple of hours in at this point, I'm still pretty impressed with the visuals.”
    • “Can't handle the ugly aesthetic direction, like what are they even going for here?”
    • “The graphics actually look worse than Snowrunner.”
    • “Pretty shallow and running the same kind of visuals as Snowrunner yet they are years apart.”
  • stability62 mentions

    The game is widely criticized for its instability, with numerous reports of bugs, poor optimization, and a frustrating user interface that hampers gameplay. While some players have experienced minimal issues, the overall consensus is that the game feels rushed and requires significant updates to address its many glitches and performance problems. Despite its visual appeal, the game's stability issues detract from the overall experience, making it difficult for many to recommend.

    • “Looks and runs great on Steam Deck with default settings.”
    • “I like expeditions better overall, and it runs great on Steam Deck with 45-55 fps.”
    • “Visually, the game looks amazing, and it runs great too.”
    • “Currently, the game is very buggy and badly optimized.”
    • “My main reason for not recommending this is that the UI is so buggy and poorly thought out that it's borderline unusable.”
    • “The game is very buggy and feels very rushed; I failed the same mission 3 times in a row because a wheel got stuck in the ground in different spots, not even close to each other.”
  • grinding32 mentions

    The grinding aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding the missions tedious and lacking in meaningful rewards. While some appreciate the game's core mechanics and challenges, they feel that the excessive grind and poorly designed objectives detract from the overall experience, making progression feel frustrating and unfulfilling. Overall, players suggest that the game could benefit from more engaging content and less repetitive tasks.

    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “It feels extremely grindy for little to no reward.”
    • “There's just no point in doing anything, the gameplay rewards are nothing but bad minigames and the actual rewards are so meager it's just boring and tedious to progress.”
    • “Missions are extremely tedious and are not enjoyable or rewarding at all and often bug out.”
  • optimization31 mentions

    The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting significant bugs and performance issues, particularly at launch. While some users have noted improvements over time and commend the graphics, others still experience clunky gameplay, low frame rates, and inconsistent GPU utilization. Overall, the game appears to be a work in progress, with optimization still needing considerable attention.

    • “Graphics and overall performance of it is much better.”
    • “Seems really well optimized, I'm at 3440x1440 on a 6700xt on ultra settings and getting 100fps.”
    • “Frame limit at 30 fps, game settings on high and a TDP of 13 watts lead to steady performance and around 3 hrs of playtime.”
    • “Currently the game is very buggy and badly optimized.”
    • “It is not even close to optimized for PC, the drone feature is just crappy, the gameplay is clunky and messy.”
    • “Sadly there are performance issues as GPU usage and FPS drop, and frame time latency jumps from 6 to 20+ ms, on ultra - some textures do not load or some of them even look low res.”
  • monetization20 mentions

    The monetization strategy of the game has been widely criticized as a blatant cash grab, with many reviewers expressing disappointment over the early introduction of DLCs and a season pass at launch. Players feel that the game lacks substantial upgrades compared to its predecessor, SnowRunner, and instead appears to be a separate title designed primarily for profit. Overall, the sentiment is that the monetization approach detracts from the game's value and experience.

    • “I loved the last games, but this one really feels like a cash grab.”
    • “Honestly feels like instead of upgrading SnowRunner, they made this a separate game just as a cash grab.”
    • “Tl;dr - pointless, soulless corporate cash grab.”
  • music11 mentions

    The music in the game is described as relaxing but somewhat generic and lacking variety, with players expressing a desire for more soundtracks or a radio station feature. While the overall ambiance, including nature sounds, enhances the experience, the music can feel repetitive and uninspired, which may detract from the enjoyment during gameplay.

    • “It's always been a chilled game; it's not an FPS. It's a game you play when you come home from work and want to listen to music while driving and completing tasks.”
    • “I like the updated graphics and overall ambiance, including the music and nature sounds.”
    • “More soundtracks would be nice, perhaps a radio station.”
    • “Music feels not even generic, generated rather.”
    • “More soundtracks would be nice, a radio station perhaps.”
    • “Bland music.”
  • atmosphere6 mentions

    Overall, the atmosphere in the game is mixed; while some players appreciate the immersive environments and challenging terrains reminiscent of titles like SnowRunner, others criticize the lack of realism and the absence of a sense of danger during exploration. The visuals and gameplay mechanics, including mini-game quests, detract from the intended atmosphere, leading to a less engaging experience for some.

    • “The magic of SnowRunner and similar games remains intact here, with a gloriously atmospheric bunch of regions to explore as you push forward through swamps, across rivers, and over mountains in a game that genuinely feels like Death Stranding in a truck at points.”
    • “This is a big game, a modern, physics-heavy beast, and while there's a blurriness to the visuals which detracts from the overall atmosphere, and some frame rate bumps along the way, the core experience has arrived intact.”
    • “The landscape and vehicles feel less realistic, and the atmosphere of dangerous journeys through harsh conditions is missing.”
    • “I was hoping for more exploration and challenging terrain, finding paths to get to areas, etc. It's like SnowRunner without the log hauling, but instead, it's minigame quests that ruin the atmosphere with a Simon Says machine on top of an old truck.”
    • “There's a blurriness to the visuals which detracts from the overall atmosphere, and some frame rate bumps along the way, but the core experience has arrived intact.”
  • humor6 mentions

    Players appreciate the humor in the game, particularly the camaraderie and laughter that arises from navigating challenges together, often leading to amusing situations like getting stuck or upside down. However, some find certain elements, like the design of vehicles and tools, to be overly silly or reminiscent of children's toys, which detracts from the overall experience.

    • “Talking, plotting routes, and helping each other out of scrapes while laughing at each other when one of us ends up upside down is what is making the game fun.”
    • “The metal detector looks silly and scout cars look like those funny Hot Wheels we had as kids.”
  • replayability6 mentions

    Overall, the game's replayability is criticized due to the lack of mission replayability, leaving players with little to do once they complete the content. Some users suggest that other games, like SnowRunner, offer better replay value and more downloadable content. While a few tips can enhance playability, many feel that the game ultimately falls short in this aspect.

    • “Just buy SnowRunner, it's way more fun and there's already a ton of DLC for replayability.”
    • “Don't like that missions are not replayable (once I'm done with everything there won't be anything left to do).”
    • “A few little tips and tricks have made the game a bit more playable, but on the whole, if I had known what I was buying in the first place, then I wouldn't have bought it.”
  • emotional2 mentions

    Reviews indicate that "Expeditions" lacks emotional depth, feeling overly gamified and disconnected, while "SnowRunner" successfully evokes a sense of accomplishment and connection to the environment and its inhabitants. Players appreciate the emotional engagement in "SnowRunner," contrasting it with the more juvenile feel of "Expeditions."

    • “SnowRunner made me feel like a skilled outback trucker who slowly but surely made life better for the people in that map.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

80% average critic score

Buy Expeditions: A MudRunner Game

Play time

7hMedian play time
88hAverage play time
2-100hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 26 analyzed playthroughs

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