SnowRunner Switch 2 Review

SnowRunner Switch 2 Review
Version Reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2

My first introduction to the Spintires series came with Expeditions on Nintendo Switch back in 2024, and even now, I still jump back in for a gruelling expedition in my trusty PUG whenever I have a few spare hours. SnowRunner is the bigger brother to Expeditions, offering a more mission-focused structure alongside a world that’s just as rewarding to rebuild as it is to explore. It’s also clearly the fan favourite of the series. Now, SnowRunner has made its way to Nintendo Switch 2, introducing newcomers like me to the challenge of hauling heavy equipment across the American wilderness. What’s it like? Strap on your seatbelt, fit some off-road tyres, and shift into low gear as we review SnowRunner for Nintendo Switch 2.

SnowRunner starts you off behind the wheel of a trusty ute after a significant weather event has laid waste to the sleepy town of Black River in northern Michigan. Following a brief tutorial that gets you into your first proper truck, you’re left alone in the wilderness to fend for yourself. While that sounds a little daunting, I can most certainly assure you… It is.

The core gameplay loop sees you taking on contracts, delivering goods, upgrading your vehicles, then doing it all over again. The main difference with SnowRunner is that the road itself is your greatest challenge. You’ll spend much of your time slowly crawling through thick mud, crossing rivers and carefully navigating treacherous terrain to complete your objectives. You will crash, lose a load or run out of fuel along the way, and these failures often become mini missions in themselves. One contract saw me transporting cargo across a particularly arduous route. At one stage, I rolled my truck and, while I could have simply recovered back to the garage, I was too close to the finish line to give up. Instead, I kitted out another truck, winched the overturned vehicle back onto its wheels and used a crane to reload the cargo before continuing the journey. SnowRunner is full of moments like these, creating memorable adventures that go well beyond the scripted contracts.

During your time in SnowRunner, you’ll build up an impressive resume by clearing rockslides, rebuilding oil pipelines, setting up drilling and mining equipment, recovering lost cargo, towing stranded vehicles out of the mud and much more. There’s so much to do that it can feel overwhelming at first, but I found it was best to tackle one problem at a time based on the equipment I had available. Rather than following a strict narrative, the game simply gives you the freedom to choose which contracts you want to complete and when you want to tackle them. That freedom extends to exploration as well. Early on, I spent hours uncovering every corner of the first region, eventually discovering a Scout 800 that made off-road exploration significantly easier. Before long, I stumbled across a half-submerged Hummer H2 sitting in a lake. After recovering and repairing it, I quickly promoted it to my primary scouting vehicle thanks to its extra grunt. It wasn’t long before I was using it to discover even more vehicles to add to my growing fleet. This sense of discovery is one of SnowRunner’s greatest strengths, as exploring the map often rewards you with new tools that make future contracts far more manageable.

SnowRunner rewards patience above everything else. Success often comes from carefully plotting your route with a smaller scout vehicle before sending in something much heavier. Every mistake costs you time, fuel or equipment, and every recovery teaches you something new. Sometimes the shortest route simply isn’t the smartest one, and learning that lesson is all part of the experience. There’s a huge world waiting to be explored, with interconnected maps and contracts spanning multiple regions that give the game an incredible sense of scale. It’s rare that you’ll ever find yourself wondering what to do next. Even after more than 30 hours, I was still exploring Michigan, uncovering new vehicles and discovering fresh objectives around almost every corner. While SnowRunner may intimidate newcomers at first, those willing to learn its systems and respect the terrain will be rewarded with one of the most satisfying and strategic driving games I’ve played.

Visually, SnowRunner on Nintendo Switch 2 has received a substantial upgrade in both resolution and texture quality. Gone is the blurry adaptive resolution of the original Switch release, with the game now rendering at up to 1440p while benefiting from noticeably sharper textures. The result is a much cleaner image that makes the rugged environments far more immersive to explore. That said, this appears to be an enhanced version of the original Switch engine rather than a complete overhaul. While the higher resolution and improved textures make a significant difference, many of the environmental models and 3D assets retain the same geometry as the previous release. It’s a similar approach to Hogwarts Legacy on Switch 2, where the presentation is dramatically improved without quite matching the visual fidelity of its PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X counterparts. Even so, the original port provided a solid foundation, and these enhancements help SnowRunner look better than ever on Nintendo hardware.

Performance is equally impressive. SnowRunner targets a variable frame rate with a 30fps floor, allowing it to climb above 30fps during less demanding moments while never dropping below that threshold. Combined with the sharper presentation, it makes for a noticeably smoother and more enjoyable experience than the original Switch release. If you’d like a closer look at the improvements, be sure to check out our graphics comparison video on the channel, where we compare the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 versions side by side.

For my truckers looking into accessibility, SnowRunner includes a handful of quality-of-life options that can help tailor the experience. These include changing the field of view, removing film grain and motion blur effects, adjusting individual audio sources, highlighting interactive markers, and choosing from a selection of control schemes. As always, I recommend doing a little further research to determine whether SnowRunner meets your specific accessibility needs before heading out into the wilderness.

At just under $60 AUD, there is plenty of value for money in SnowRunner on Nintendo Switch 2. If you own the Switch 1 version digitally, the upgrade is free. Unfortunately, it appears that physical owners are left stuck in the mud for the time being. I have reached out to Focus Entertainment and will add a pinned comment below if I hear back.

SnowRunner on Switch 2 is an incredible game. It is a gruelling, slow-paced challenge that almost feels like Dark Souls in a 4WD. That challenge also gives you a great sense of accomplishment, with completing a difficult contract feeling incredibly rewarding. It is a gorgeous and immersive game that is easy to lose countless hours in for methodical and patient players. I came into SnowRunner through Expeditions, but this is the game that made me understand why the series has such a loyal following. It’s tough, but it always feels fair, and that balance keeps me coming back. SnowRunner doesn’t care how fast you want to go, it only cares if you can make it through.

So, What’s it Like? Snowrunner is like Expeditions, but with even more world-building and activities.

Snowrunner is a What’s it Like Certified Exceptional Game.

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