Spintires has spun into release; here’s our Spintires review.
Fire up Steam, click on the Top Sellers tab, and look at what’s in poll position. It’s Spintires: a game about mud, driving through the mud and being behind the steering wheel of a Soviet truck that is covered in mud.
It was successfully Kickstarted last year, with the developer netting almost £50,000. And it’s got a passionate following, churning out videos and forum posts.
But it wasn’t until the weekend, when it rapidly rose through the Top Sellers section on Steam, eventually reaching number one, that it became impossible to ignore. Not that it wasn’t absolutely fascinating before then.
“Take responsibility of operating large all-terrain Soviet vehicles and venture across the rugged landscapes with only a map and compass to guide you,” the Steam description goes. “Explore the levels and unlock portions of the map whilst discovering new trucks, fuelling stations, garages and lumber mills.”
Exploration, big trucks, sure, got it. There’s something innately intriguing about driving around in a Soviet-era beast on wheels through the wilderness. But it’s not really about that, it seems. It’s really about adversity. The muddy, obstacle laden wilderness is not for man or truck. Getting around requires determination, even teamwork, and a truckload of defiance. No, mud, screw you, I am driving through you.
And it says a lot about PC gaming. Maybe it’s because we’re well into the era of Early Access – Spintires is not an Early Access title, though – that we’ve become a bit more willing to try strange new things and take a chance. And maybe it says a lot about how much we adore mud. It’s great.
Spintires is on Steam right now for £19.99/$29.99. If you’re not quite sure how much you love mud, trucks and adversity, you can download one of two demos here.