![snowrunner xbox one snowrunner xbox one](https://www.somosxbox.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/26-04-2020_20-44-41-3m355vuh.jpg)
Progress may be slow, but inching my way up a muddy incline before cresting the hill and having a short moment of relief before starting again on the next patch was rewarding. Yet, despite the harsh nature I still found myself unable to step away once I began a run.
![snowrunner xbox one snowrunner xbox one](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31q-mvRh3DL._SL500_.jpg)
Depending on the vehicle, we can engage low gear modes, or All Wheel Drive to help, but they need using in the right circumstances – too often did I forget to disengage low gear and wonder why I was struggling to move on a nice, flat road! It takes some getting used to, with my first hour or so seeing me bouncing off of the walls as I over corrected repeatedly. Turning is slow, and the wheels take an age to re-centre forward. The handling of the trucks is very heavy by design the beginner truck barely feels like it’s moving at all to start with. There are various upgrades and kit we can equip to help, but we still need to be careful about our approach regardless. All too brief are the straights of tarmac – usually abruptly ending in a bog or frozen ice patch. Regardless of where we head, to proceed we’ll need to take things slow (not too slow, mind) and steady, feeling the path ahead and looking for signs of danger. Alaska, where snow, ice, frozen lakes and slurry come in to play, and Taymyr, a seemingly even more swamp-bogged place than Michigan. There are 3 stunning looking maps to play on each with several sub-areas to be unlocked Michigan, a wooded area with plenty of mud, rivers and swamps. Practically every dirt road or track is absolutely soaked or buried under a few feet of snow, making our wheels sink and spin at every opportunity. It seems that the entire world of Snowrunner has been hit by a thousand monsoons or blizzards at once. Other trucks big and small are able to be unlocked by levelling up (by completing objectives) or finding them in the world. The problem being that it is that much heavier, meaning we need to find very specific routes if we’re to get anywhere.
![snowrunner xbox one snowrunner xbox one](https://www.gamingcypher.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/SnowRunner-Review-Xbox-One-Gaming-Cypher.png)
Soon, we find a larger truck that is needed to ferry supplies. Our starter truck is a scout, meaning it is suited to some of the more harsh terrain. It has an oddly appealing challenge to it, yet there’s no denying it can get frustrating. The crux of Snowrunner is the incredibly difficult terrain to traverse. Actually getting to it and then moving it to the right location is another matter entirely. Even then, knowing that information is only half the battle. As you may expect, this makes planning routes and collections much easier. For some reason this requires us to navigate to a watchtower (think Far Cry 3, without the climbing), which then unlocks a large radius around it. It pays to spend time unlocking the map to start then, as not only will this make navigation easier, but we also get to see where certain items are stored (often far away from where they’re needed…). It can be hard to keep track of what tiny white symbol for the cargo means what too, and while they are labelled at times, I was convinced I had the right cargo in my truck at one point, but once it’s in there it loses the label – turns out my little white box with a line needed to be a little white box with a slightly different line. I may have missed the initial tutorial here, but considering it was the very first objective on the list I’d (foolishly) hoped the game was giving me a slight helping hand to start. It didn’t help that the first job I tried to take on after the tutorial didn’t provide any objective markers as the items I’d need were still hidden under the fog of war on the map. Simply, he says… The UI isn’t the clearest initially, with icons dotted around that confuse the objective at hand. Instead, we simply need to explore the map finding delivery jobs and tackling them. There’s no over-arching tale here, no grand adventure to follow. There’s a lot to take in, and while we can revisit tool tips in the menu, the best way to get to grips with things is to get stuck in – at times, literally.
![snowrunner xbox one snowrunner xbox one](https://dotkepek.kmak.hu/810/snowrunner-xbox-one-928726.jpg)
We start off with a fairly lengthy tutorial, but even that is an uphill climb – at times, literally. Even if you enjoy the experience, there’s no denying it at times can feel like the game purposely wants you to fail and give up. It does seem to want to put players off at every opportunity though. Stick with it though, and there’s a strangely rewarding experience to be had. It requires dedication, patience, skill and a calm approach, and it’ll likely put off as many as it appeals to. Much like the previous entry Mudrunner, Snowrunner is a game that will either really suck you in or send you running for the hills.