SnowRunner Year 3 Pass review: Is it worth it?

Is the SnowRunner Year 3 Pass worth buying and how does it compare with the Year 1 and Year 2 Pass? It is time to find out.

Hello and welcome to A Tribe Called Cars. As the last season of the Year 3 Pass is now available publicly, I can now give you a guide to what it includes and how it compares with the Year 1 and Year 2 Pass.

There will be no Year 4 Pass comparison as, while it has been confirmed, nothing substantial has been released at the time of making this article. Subscribe to the Tribe for more SnowRunner videos.

Year 1 vs Year 2 vs Year 3 Pass: The Trucks

Time for some numbers. Without DLC there are 42 trucks in SnowRunner or 41 if on Epic as you could only get the Navistar 5000-MV via pre-orders. The Year 1 Pass took the truck total to 58 including standalone DLCs, while the Year 2 Pass topped out at 79.

Not including standalone DLCs or the available-to-all Anniversary DLC, the Year 1 Pass has eleven trucks. This is compared with nine trucks for the Year 2 Pass and eight trucks for the Year 3 Pass. As things stand, SnowRunner offers a whopping 89 trucks if you own everything.

What about the maps?

The Year 3 Pass also includes ten maps, compared with ten for the Year 1 Pass and nine for the Year 2 Pass. Each Year Pass so far includes a four-map season finale, which takes substantially longer to complete.

Season 9: Renew & Rebuild has two 2x2km maps in Canada (Albany Forest and Burnt Forest), where you need to help put out burning forests by delivering water. Expect two trucks, the torquey and sizeable Derry Special 15C-177 and the round-eyed Zikz 566-A.

Season 10: Fix & Connect is also based in Canada. This time though, you get to visit North Peak National Park and Duncan Bay, which are summer maps 2x2km in size. The two trucks you get are the versatile Mack Defense M917A and gigantic Kenworth 963.

Meanwhile, Season 11: Lights & Cameras takes you to Scandinavia. Both maps (Mountain Ridge and By the Lake) are 2x2km in size, snowy and mountainous. Help film a movie and rebuild a ski-resort while driving the chunky Burlak 6×6 scout and svelte Neo Falcon 2000.

Ending the Year 3 Pass is Season 12: Public Energy. Not Public Enemy or Pubic Energy. Based in North Carolina of the US, you get to help rebuild a nuclear plant. With four maps, it rivals Season 8 and Season 4 for size but definitely not difficulty.

The truck roster in Season 12: Public Energy is a mixed bag. The MTB 8106 Rock Grinder is nothing special. The FEMM 37-AT, on the other hand, is possibly the best truck in SnowRunner. At least, when it comes to off-road prowess and sheer cargo capability.

The Year 3 Pass also includes the Save the Day Vinyl Wrap Pack, which adds four vehicle skins. Released first, it offered a clue as to what to expect from the Year 3 Pass but is now purely aesthetic.

So is the Year 3 Pass best?

For me, the Year 3 Pass is a more accessible and pleasant drive with some new gameplay mechanics. Variety is good, with a wide range of tasks of varying types across some of the highest, prettiest and most memorable scenery.

Season 9, for instance, may not really have you putting out fires but the damaged, embering forests and enjoyable roads make it satisfying. Though the water delivery stuff does get tedious by the end. The Derry Special 15C-177 is a powerful and versatile addition.

Season 10, meanwhile, gives you one of the best trucks in the game in the form of the Kenworth 963 though it needs to be fully upgraded. The maps are pleasant and delivering boats and using a ferry offers a nice change of pace.

Heading to Scandinavia, Season 11: Lights & Cameras adds snow to SnowRunner. With Hollywood hills vibes, Orestoke needs you to help ferry about movie trailers and get ski lifts moving again.

Route repetition is noticeable by the end and Saber Interactive’s potrayal of Scandinavia is not as distinctive as it could have been, but there are some pleasing routes to be enjoyed. Enjoyable, but nothing standout.

Lastly, we have the four-map Season 12: Public Energy. These are big maps with long drives, however there is a lot of tarmac action that is great for truck variety but not-s0-great if you wanted Amur 2.0.

What I would say is that the Year 3 Pass is good for trucks and map variety with far less back and forth than in, say, Yukon. Yet the lower difficulty does not necessarily sit well with veterans hardened by the Northern Aegis Installation.