6 days ago
PETER HOSKIN: If you still pine for playing with your toy trucks, or long to be operating a crane rather than a computer, then RoadCraft is for you...
Monster Train 2 (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC, £20.99)
Verdict: All decked out
Brum brum. Chugga chugga chugga. Dig dig dig. Has there ever been a game that recreates the childhood feeling of playing with your toy trucks quite like RoadCraft does? Not that I can think of.
Which isn't to say that RoadCraft is for children. This is actually a very adult game of traversal and logistics. You have to struggle through mud and undergrowth in your 4x4 to help lead reconstruction projects in disaster-hit areas.
If you've ever played Mudrunner or Snowrunner, both previous entries in the series to which RoadCraft belongs, you'll be familiar with the core gameplay here. It's that struggle I mentioned. Your vehicle makes extremely slow progress up rocky embankments and down rain-sodden ditches. It will tip, if you're not careful, or get stuck on the scenery.
But, in the spirit of last year's Expeditions, RoadCraft has supplemented this difficult driving with, well... a lot more. There are bulldozers to operate, cranes to wrangle, numerous other brumming, chugging, digging machines to call to your service.
If you've ever played Mudrunner or Snowrunner, both previous entries in the series to which RoadCraft belongs, you'll be familiar with the core gameplay here
Clearly, a lot of care has been put into every noise and vibration; it all feels just so.
The real joy of RoadCcraft, though, is its landscapes — or, rather, its landscaping. There are eight expansive areas in the game, each shook up by a natural disaster, and it's up to you to return order. You have to lay new roads, construct bridges, reconnect the gas supply, that sort of thing.
It means more hard slog, of course, but an even greater sense of satisfaction at the end. And that, really, is the point of RoadCraft.
Sure, there's sometimes a little too much going on. Sure, there are a few bugs to contend with. But, overall, its serious work is matched by serious fun. Welcome to the playset of your dreams.
All aboard! Once again, the Monster Train is leaving the station, though this time it's on its return journey. Whereas you travelled deep into Hell in the first game, this sequel has you going in the opposite direction — from Hell into Heaven, which has been taken over by a bunch of monsters from beyond time and space.
But what actually is Monster Train 2, the game? Technically, it's a 'roguelike deck-builder'. The deck-builder part means that you're progressing through the game by playing hands of cards. The roguelike part means that, like the old-timey game Rogue, you have to start again every time you die — and hope to get further with your newfound knowledge and skills.
Really, though, all you need to know about Monster Train 2 is that — like last year's big roguelike deck-builder, Balatro — it's life-shatteringly compulsive.
The urge to play just one more turn is so irresistible that you can't help but surrender dozens of hours to this game.
All that was true of the original Monster Train, from which this sequel doesn't deviate too much. You're still defending the four levels of your train (and the all-important Pyre Heart on the top level) from demonic raids.
Really, though, all you need to know about Monster Train 2 is that — like last year's big roguelike deck-builder, Balatro — it's life-shatteringly compulsive
Monster Train 2 isn't all the same. There are new Equipment cards to deck out your warriors; there are new Room cards by which you can change the properties of your train's levels; and you can even upgrade your Pyre Heart now
You're still splitting your own forces — your own cards — between each level.
You're still trying to figure out the best positions and combinations for maximum damage.
But Monster Train 2 isn't all the same. There are new Equipment cards to deck out your warriors; there are new Room cards by which you can change the properties of your train's levels; and you can even upgrade your Pyre Heart now.
All of these additions make Monster Train 2 a more complex, more rewarding experience.
In fact, for my money, this is the best roguelike deck-builder there is. Better than Balatro, better than Slay The Spire — better, crucially, than the first Monster Train.
It just doesn't have the same surprise factor. But then what return journey ever did?
