This game is also targeted on a specific audience which loves to solve problems and puzzles, but I do encourage you to try the demo, as it is one of the best ways to understand the basic game mechanics and see if its your thing. okay so lets start. 1) The Gameplay The gameplay is just amazing, its all up to you on how you wish to layout and design your base, do you want it to be efficient? then get started by practicing perfect ratios, Do you want it to just work? then start mass production of every required resources, Do you want it to look good? then start by laying out roads, sidewalks, separate rooms, etc. your imagination is your limitation. The game also allows you to customize certain aspects of your map, do you want denser resources? larger resource spots? huge oceans? you can customize them all to your liking. It also has a thing called Circuit Networks, similar to redstone in Minecraft but more complex in a way, you could use it to balance your Light oil and turn on a pump that goes to a chemical plant that turns light oil into Petroleum if a certain tank reaches a certain amount, just keeping things efficient, I won't spoil the possibilities with circuit networks, but trust me if you like to keep things in check automatically, circuit networks is the way to go, its not really necessary for you to learn about Circuit Networks, you can complete the game without even touching them, but still, its great that such a thing exists within the game for the people who does want to fiddle around with it. Also the game features vehicles, such as a normal Jeep equipped with a machine gun just for minimal defense, a Tank for your offensive needs, and a Train for your cargo transport between the main base and your resource outposts. Combat is not really the main focus of the game, but it is there nonetheless, of course you can turn the peaceful mode option, where they will only attack you if you provoke or hurt them basically, so it depends on your playstyle, you can burn your foes with a flame thrower, or blast them with a shotgun, or just basically use tower defense to defend you base. Pollution, the more pollution you produce the faster the enemies will evolve into much more terrifying beasts, so you better watch out, if a base starts to receive pollution, it will start targeting your base, so be careful, you can destroy their bases if you have necessary equipment at hand too, to get rid of them. 2) The Sound The detail in the sound is very decent for a 2D game, there are sometimes these sounds for example with the conveyor belts, which produces such a low sound, its pretty difficult to hear, but its there, such detail is just great even if its from a 2D game. The quality is also top notch, for again a 2D game, you feel like the sprites and the audio is just in sync, which is just such a great detail. 3) The Graphics The graphics is pretty basic, pre-rendered 3D sprites turned to 2D, its a good use of 3D sprites, they also plan to release a HD option once they have the extra time to do so, the art style just compliments the gameplay, the artstyle is pretty much sci-fi steampunk, which is pretty decent. And no I don't think a game needs to be 3D to look great, it just needs to feel like the graphics is all part of the same environment, and theme. 4) The Developers Since this is an early access game, then I think its only fair that we critique them as well, just to keep things people safe, since a lot of early access games don't tend to be finished. But believe me when I tell you, the developers of this game is one of the most honest and loyal, they kept the 20$ price tag rather then a 19.99$ to avoid tricking the consumers, they interact and are very open with the communities feedback, and suggestions, they also just like to respond to the community from time to time, just to know them better, they are very passionate about the game. I saw one of the developers saying (on reddit) that they still want to optimize the game even though it already works in most low end computers, which really does say a lot about them. They are also not going to give the game any kind of sale or price reduction as of now, because they believe, putting the game on sale will only attract false consumers, those who just buy the game because its cheap, but doesn't really like the game, they are just trying to avoid that to keep things fair, its more like the developers are fair to you, we are fair to them in some sort of way. I do understand if you disagree with the no sale thing, but In my opinion it makes sense, and is a good way to avoid false consumers. 5) The End game content This is where it falls flat. As a sandbox game, and ending is just there for the sake of it, which is understandable, after all sandbox games are not meant to end, in any specific way, but sadly, after all your effort, after you launch the rocket, you get nothing but a list of kills and game time, and that's it your done. Its just very I don't know... abrupt is maybe the word, its just nothing special, though its a place holder, this has been a big reason a few people have been left disappointed, but as I said its there to be there, you can still continue playing after launching a rocket, and setup your own goals. Which I myself will be doing, the end game is still a place holder as I heard, so that good, it means the ending can literally go any direction possible that coincides with the sci-fi steampunk theme, that something to look forward to. Overall I give the game a 4.5/5 Its a great and solid game, if you like solving problems or puzzles, or basically just want to energize your brain to think, than I recommend this game, I do warn you, you may lose contact with your family, friends, and parents when you play this game, because after starting to play at 1PM just for 5 mins, once you look at the clock its, 11PM, its really that good, and I recommend it, the developers are very trust worthy as of writing this review, and I see good things for this game in the future. Thank you for reading my review. ^_^
