In SnowRunner, there are moments when you are stuck on a mountainside and your wheels spin pointlessly in the muck. The more you fight, the worse the situation seems to get. He can't even winch himself out because the nearest tree is out of reach.

Yet somehow, I always manage to rescue my off-roader from the quagmire. Whether by bad luck or simply hardheadedness, I set myself free and experience a sense of triumph. At least until I get stuck again down the road. It's inevitable in this wild and unpredictable region, full of mud, snow, and pain.

This is the SnowRunner experience. When the broken-down truck you're towing gets caught in a rock or your poorly equipped Chevy pickup slides off the icy road and digs a muddy ditch, you'll feel hopeless, frustrated, and always on the verge of quitting in a rage and cursing.

But the happiness and relief you feel when you overcome these trials is what keeps you playing through all of this simulation of hardship; SnowRunner is a brutal, uncompromising off-road driving sim that wants you to fail.

A short tutorial sequence will familiarize you with the game's systems, such as switching to a lower gear to avoid getting bogged down and activating the fuel-efficient all-wheel drive. After this, however, it's a complete sandbox. The map is vast and full of missions that can be tackled in any order, from hauling lumber and steel to complete a bridge, to searching for a missing science team in a snowy wilderness, to dragging a lost oil tanker out of a swamp.

Completing missions earns you currency, which you can use to buy better cars. The longer you play, the more you can fill your garage with a complete set of trucks and take on whatever Mother Nature throws at you.

There are three locations, each with unique terrain, weather, and atmosphere. Starting in Michigan, you will travel through fall forests, winding mountain roads, and rocky plateaus. The area has recently been hit by a major flood, and you'll be part of the rescue effort, repairing critical infrastructure and delivering supplies to isolated citizens.

And in Alaska, snow comes to SnowRunner, throwing all manner of winter chaos at you, including deep powder snow avalanches and ice-covered lakes. This is nerve-wracking, harsh terrain, and the game helpfully warns you when you first arrive. Losing control on the ice is especially frightening.

And finally, there's Taimyr, a rugged peninsula in the far north of Russia. Here you can see overgrown forests, swamps, sloppy dirt roads, and a bleak, overcast sky overlooking everything. Wherever you are in the world, SnowRunner is beautiful to look at, and the contrast between this natural beauty and a rusty, greasy, smoke-filled car garage is irresistible.

The game has 11 maps, littered with hundreds of natural and man-made obstacles, including collapsed bridges, falling rocks, and fallen pylons. And even if it is a deep puddle, everything you encounter is a puzzle to be solved. Even something as simple as dragging a trailer up a muddy incline can be a 25-minute ordeal, requiring multiple vehicles.

Vehicle switching is one of SnowRunner's coolest features. If your truck gets stuck, you can switch to another vehicle, drive away, and use the winch to pull it out. The game also supports online cooperative play, so if you have a friend who plays, you can ask them to come help instead. Just don't be surprised if your rescue vehicle gets stuck in the same muck.

If you really can't help yourself, you can respawn in a fully repaired and fueled garage. But when you spend 45 minutes climbing a mountain, this is the last thing you want to do. All progress is lost and you have to start over from the beginning, which can honestly be a little discouraging because SnowRunner is not sympathetic at all.

That's what you sign up for when you play this game. You will feel frustrated and unmotivated as you wrestle with a series of grueling off-road challenges. But when you reach the other side of a swollen river, a flooded trail, or a snow-covered forest, you will feel truly incredible. Only you can decide for yourself if chasing small victories is worth the stress and gnashing of teeth.