Spedition Review

The open road calls to me. The miles and miles of open highway beckon me forward, and the thrill I feel as I open up the accelerator is visceral. I am never more liberated than when I am behind the wheel of a beastly vehicle, tearing down the highways and byways for no reason other than the joy it brings me - which is why it’s such a bummer that I missed my Little Rock deadline by 1 day, meaning that these 16 pallets in my truck aren’t worth anything, making this whole trip pointless.

Spedition is a ‘pick-up-and-deliver’ style game that sees players driving trucks around stark, relatively featureless maps of either America, Japan, or Europe, bidding for delivery contracts and hoping that the dice let you get from point A to point B before the contract time limit expires. It supports pass-and-play multiplayer for up to 4 people, as well as several AI opponents.

Gameplay could not be simpler – you bid for contracts, set your destination, and roll to see how far you can move. Your truck starts out relatively small, holding a limited number of pallets, and will need to be upgraded with your hard-earned cash as you try to out-earn your opponents. Players are completely at the whim of the dice, and it is entirely possible to roll several 1s and 2s in a row - blowing what should have been an easy contract for absolutely no reason.

The visuals of Spedition are as simplistic as the gameplay. That may be a turnoff for some, but from my perspective all it represents is a missed opportunity to add some character to the game. However, the lack of any sort of soundtrack is a real issue for me – the stark silence of the game makes it very hard to get anything near excited about it.

Player interaction is minimal. The only time you have an effect on your opponents are when bidding for a contract. Once someone attempts to take a contract, the other players have the opportunity to bid to complete it more cheaply, either giving them the chance to steal it out from under you or at least drive down your profit by making you bid lower than they did. Otherwise, you’re on your own.

There is nothing particularly wrong with Spedition. The game is adequate in almost every way. Its graphics convey precisely the information needed. Its gameplay is clean and simple. And, ultimately, it's sterile, un-engaging, and uninteresting. Fully realizing that this genre of game is predicated upon tactics and strategy rather than thrills, Spedition was nevertheless a flavorless experience made occasionally quite frustrating by the random nature of its dice-driven mechanics.