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Discussing the ins and outs of extremely niche games is, in more ways than one, a true exercise in frustration, but every so often, an established franchise takes a genuinely meaningful pivot that simply needs to be explored in comparison to what came before. That's where this Expeditions vs Snowrunner piece comes into the picture! Indeed, our goal for the day is to explore the biggest differences and objectives of the older Runner title and the new offshoot, and to let you know whether Expeditions will be a good fit for you, too!
If you'd like to learn more about Expeditions: A MudRunner Game's technical details (i.e. system requirements, pre-order deals, etc.), we've already got you covered. If you already know what you're about, having rescued stranded vehicles in an older MudRunner game, then simply scroll on ahead!
READ MORE: What is Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree really about?
Comparing Expeditions, Snowrunner, and MudRunner in Practice
Starting from the original MudRunner game onwards, it's plainly obvious that the gist of the franchise has stayed the same throughout. The core concept - delightfully simple as it is - revolves around the navigation of all-terrain vehicles through extremely hostile terrain. And, historically, these games have been knee-deep in the industrial side of things: whether you need to deliver heavy equipment and resources to a god-forsaken building location or, perhaps, to simply extract an 18-wheeler out of the mud, MudRunner game titles haven't necessarily dealt much with exploration, research, and other such considerations.
That, of course, is all set to change with Expeditions, which presents the player with an entirely different objective. Though it's all wrapped up in the very same gameplay loop - for better or for worse.
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What is Expeditions about?
Expeditions: A MudRunner Game is all about scientific expeditions, which immediately presents us with an entirely different, complementary experience to, say, Snowrunner. Old, industrial gadgets are replaced with high-tech tools such as drones and electric winches, and the usual assortment of delivery tasks is now supplemented with leading research missions, scouting ahead whether it's safe for the research team to move in, and other such objectives.
Players generally have access to entirely new tools never before seen in a MudRunner game, including the jackscrew, the echo sounder, and the aforementioned drone, and this is all just scratching the surface of what else Expeditions has in tow for us.
Overlanding is a far more important feature here, from the looks of it. Much more often will you be driving through rugged forests just for the heck of it: exploration is the goal here, and whether you're doing it in arid deserts or on excessively muddy mountains makes little difference. Expeditions lets you explore to your heart's content, all in the guise of tasking you with helping out your research team in any way possible.
Is Expeditions carrying over the gameplay loop from Snowrunner?
Circling back to the matter of actual gameplay, it's a given that Expeditions is mechanically going to be precisely what you expect it to be. Heck, it's in the title: Expeditions: A MudRunner Game. While we are being slightly cheeky here, it's important to drive home the fact that even though your objectives are generally different than they were in Snowrunner, you're still doing the same thing in the moment-to-moment gameplay.
Indeed, if you're a fan of MudRunner/Snowrunner, you know what you're about. The bonuses are engine upgrades, gameplay improvements, and the novelty of three major new maps. One of the biggest new changes, for example, is that you'll now be able to hire actual people (i.e. NPCs) to do the job of researchalyzing, and each of them comes with their own active and passive bonuses. Hiring experts pays off, after all!
Is Expeditions the right choice for you?
In the end, this entire discussion really does boil down to a simple question: does the change in focus appeal enough to you to make the MudRunner game experience fresh again? For us, it does, because the shift is substantial enough that we're extremely curious to see how the developer handles it all in practice.
We're in for a more colorful, carefree version of the classic overlanding gameplay experience. Expeditions is everything that came before, and then some, and we cannot wait to see how it plays in practice.
The flip side of that coin, though, is that it's entirely possible that the game might feel a tad too similar to Snowrunner, for example. Everything suggests that the entire core gameplay loop is simply being transferred into a slightly more novel experience and if you've spent thousands of hours lugging timber through extreme mud, then doing that same thing with research equipment might not sound like such a great idea.
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