This thing has the BeamNG.drive problem for me - the core mechanics are incredibly fun to play with, but there's almost no game in here to encourage you to get the most out of the mechanics. I completed every challenge in a night, and that was a really fun night! But after that, I went looking for what else the game had to offer me, and it wasn't much. There's no real career mode, just a sandbox mode with really vague objectives that are too abstracted to give me a sense of place and progression like, I dunno, My Summer Car or Death Stranding or something. A set of longer mini-campaigns that are structured more like the challenges are, or a more complex management-heavy career mode, would do a lot to keep me playing. As it is, this is more of a toy than a game.

Still, though, I cannot stress this enough - the mud physics are ENTRANCING. I will 100% pick this back up for a couple hours every few months just to see them again.

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Some rocking music - which is only in the menus and a tiny bit at the end of tutorial?

I appreciated the tutorial

Controls definitely feel different from the two trucks I played

Trucking is HARD

Very drab color scheme

Did I mention trucking is hard?

Hard but it was enjoyable

This is like the Eastern European Forza Motorsport/Gran Turismo

The trucker version of Demon Souls - where the Mud is the boss

Very challenging

Tried challenge mode and failed…miserably

EDIT: went back and DID beat it in 12 mins so totally has that "racing feel" of trying to beat your personal best time

Tried single player and it was difficult because I only had 10 mins left

Would I play it again? I would LIKE to try and at least beat one level but maybe drop off after that

There are two keys to Mudrunner. The first is the joy of moving through the mud. I can't quite describe why it is, it's a bit of a childish taste like kids stepping in puddles just because, you just feel at ease being in constant play with and against this peculiar resistance. The main character of the physics is the terrain here, it molds and deforms with the passing of your wheels, leaving traces that not only remain as an aesthetic reminder, but also create their own physical scar for the tires that pass by later during the game. This taste of physicality is everywhere.

Every little stone can cause a catastrophe, the confidence given by the speed of the asphalt can be another tragedy, a tree is both a blockage and a hitch from which to borrow strength. My favorite interactions have to do with those between trucks. Going on a trip with two of your machines together, pushing and pulling each other when the wheels are buried, or my favorite moments of all when one truck manages to turn another partner around by pulling with all its might, a humbly heroic moment in the middle of the forest without any music or fanfare, after the rescue there is simply a route to continue.

The second key starts to appear here: the adventure. Because the game knows how to put all its physical bases in a very good context. Despite how misleading the heavy metal guitars of the main menu may be, the adventure is relaxed, with vehicles moving in first gear 99% of the travel, that is when they are moving at all, with hours passing between day and night but without any pressure, each at its own pace, whether you deliver the logs one at a time or in one trip, whether you meet all the secondary objectives or none at all. I still recommend unlocking all the watchpoints and garages, as in addition to making the main deliveries lighter they add their own adventurous layer. There is a little bit of everything here, with the journey into the unknown with smaller vehicles in order to uncover the map and some logistics to complete the various assignments by looking at the state of the map and the vehicles at hand. Of course, there can be no adventure without improvisation. If what I enjoyed most about the physicality was the rescue of an inactive vehicle, it's probably because it involved a series of adventures and misadventures. Starting with the unfortunate accident that leaves the vehicle idle for some reason, posing what rescue options there are and finally carrying out, or at least trying to, the action.