RoadCraft Review for Xbox Series S/X

There are three competing viewpoints I consider when I write a game review: do I like it, am I good at it, and is it objectively a well-done game. A few games hit all three, but typically they tend to hit two or even just one. There have been games that I’ve enjoyed playing but have obvious performance or graphic issues, and there have been games that I’m terrible at but are clearly well-made and easy to play for a different class of player.

RoadCraft, which released on May 20, falls into the latter category. To put it bluntly, I’m not very good at this game. However, that’s not because it isn’t well-made or difficult to play. It’s just not the kind of game I tend to excel at. I would never score a game low just because I’m not a good enough player to get the hang of it, so I’m going to be as objective as possible in my review. Let’s start with a basic overview of what I liked about it.

The gist of the game is pretty straightforward: it’s a driving and crafting simulator that puts you behind the wheel of a wide variety of heavy-duty vehicles and gives you a series of objectives related to building roads, collecting resources, reinforcing infrastructure, and completing side quests. The game starts with a brief tutorial in a world called Precipice, but finishing your objectives will unlock new worlds like Sojourn, Sandswept, Kernel, Sunken, and Deluge, many of which can be played out of order. The initial world of Precipice is set in Africa, and the environment is absolutely amazing. The graphics are sharp and realistic, with the sun glinting off the roof of your truck and your heavy-duty tires leaving imprinted tracks in thick mud flats. And the graphics don’t come at the cost of performance – everything is smooth and I didn’t notice any lag, which is quite impressive for an early-release game.

Something that I find both fascinating and challenging about RoadCraft is its commitment to realism. I went into the game expecting something similar to SimCity or Stunt Flyers, a flying sim I reviewed for the Switch a few months ago. When you build a city in SimCity, there’s not much that’s realistic about it. You drag and drop roads, houses, civic centers, and trees. Click on the screen and – poof! – there’s a stretch of road that wasn’t there before. Houses spring up out of colored squares after a few seconds. Water lines miraculously appear underground with the touch of a button.

RoadCraft is not like that. Your initial scouting vehicle comes with a parking brake, all-wheel drive, low mode, and a locking differential, which you need to mix and match to successfully make your way across the terrain. When it comes time to plot routes, lay down roads, and collect resources, you do it exactly as you would in real life. This is very cool in that it really puts you in the driver’s seat (no pun intended), but it can also be frustrating if (like me) you’re not a very good sim-driver. My first half hour or so of RoadCraft mostly consisted of me driving into telephone poles, getting stuck in the mud, running over road signs, and running my truck aground on rocks. But that’s not the game’s fault. Practice makes perfect, and the longer I was behind the wheel of the scouting truck or the bulldozer, the better I got (which still wasn’t very good, to be honest, but baby steps).

The controls are a bit sluggish when it comes to steering, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. It gives you the sense that you’re really piloting a heavy vehicle, penalizing users who (like me) tend to wildly mash the control buttons when they’re driving and forcing them to become more precise in their movements. If your sim-driving experience is mostly Crash Team Racing or Mario Kart, you’ll have a lot to learn. But it was cool to get behind the wheel of a simulated truck and actually have to think about real things like the parking brake or the drivetrain.

The mechanics may take some getting used to, but RoadCraft doesn’t throw you in the deep end with no help. As I mentioned above, the game starts with a lengthy tutorial that teaches you how to drive, how to plot routes on a road, and how to collect resources. You can access this information anytime from the game’s codex, and if you get your vehicle stuck beyond saving, you can easily respawn it at the last checkpoint. The game also urges you to think outside the box when it comes to tricky situations, with many situations offering multiple paths to success.

Ultimately, I think RoadCraft is a beautifully-made simulator with a commitment to realistic mechanics that shows a ton of hard work on behalf of the design team. The graphics are excellent, the controls are challenging but fair, and the objectives give you a great sense of accomplishment when you finish them. I may not be the best sim-driver, but I can appreciate the care that went into this game, and I’m definitely interested in playing more. 9/10

RoadCraft is available for PC via Steam, the Epic Games Store, the PlayStation Store and Microsoft Store.

Ian Robinson-Lambert

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I've loved video games ever since I started playing Mario Kart on my parents' Wii back in seventh grade. These days, you can find me playing a mix of historical RPGs and horror (shout-out to Assassin's Creed and Resident Evil). I also love a good puzzle, and of course I still have a soft spot for the Super Mario series!