Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Jun 29, 2014

  After only 2 hours or so I have fallen in love with this game. Although I'm not a 100% fan of the rover controls (only because you have to click to switch between forward and reverse instead of just pressing F/S when you want to go forwards/backwards respectively) the rest of the game is designed very well. The graphics seem a tad behind the times (maybe 2005-2008) but do not take away from the 3D aspect or the gameplay. The lack of a video on the store page initially took me to youtube to find out whether or not this was worth it. I watched a couple people play (and the audio was really distracting, since the in-game volume seems very low - I have to turn my speakers up higher than any other game to hear anything) and decided to give it a try myself. I'm so glad I did. I admittedly have not played much to give a great description of later gameplay, but the initial setup of the base has been the best simulator experience I've ever had. The lack of a "run" function actually adds to the gameplay (in my opinion) since the gravity is less and you're wearing a heavy suit. If you're having trouble with food/water, remember that there is a room in the base you can shut the door to and turn on an emergency oxygen feed so you can take off your helmet (Ctrl+T) and eat/drink. That threw me off my first play-through. If you have not played this game, I highly recommend giving it a shot. Well worth the normal $10.00, but especially worth the $4 during the Steam Summer Sale. I do hope they expand upon this in the future, but am very happy with what is available now. Very stable, no glitches so far, and the flow of resources seems very refined from what I've played so far.
• gamedeal user

  Oct 11, 2014

  This is a fun little game detailing the realistic challenges of setting up a colony on Mars. It you enjoy sim games and games about colonizing and expanding, give this a try. I'd say, think Civ from the perspective of a worker, just not on a massive empire building scale.
• gamedeal user

  Nov 7, 2014

  I enjoyed this game way more than I thought I would. The graphics are not too fancy but the way the systems all seem to interconnect is very cool and there is something very peaceful and relaxing about being out there on Mars by yourself setting everything up. The learning curve is a little steep at first but once you accidentally suffocate or over expose yourself to radiation a few times you start to get the hang of things. I would highly recommend this game if you enjoy survival sims.
• gamedeal user

  Jan 18, 2015

  It's 10 bucks. it's something different. no monsters, no shooting. no flying. no magic. this game is for the times when you want something simple with a cool idea. like being the first poor chump to land on mars and set up everything useful for the guys that come on the next bus. I like this game.
• gamedeal user

  Feb 16, 2015

  I am playing around 10 hours by now. (Mostly offline.) The game is exactly what I wished for: Slowly-paced realistic simulator of survival on a hostile planet without plasma guns, evil aliens and warp-engines. I love the system of devices, where each of them has some internal parts that have to be put together and can fail, and where every such device has its real unique function. The basic idea of the game is setting up the base, so do not be surprised there is not much objectives beyond that. The graphics is quite old-style and there are few bugs, but honestly, I am one of the guys who would play the game maybe even in text-mode if the idea was good. I definitely can recommend the game to space exploration geeks like myself, who do not look only for cool graphics and can appreciate the small well thought of details present in the game. The overall playability is very good, if you enjoy this style of games.
• gamedeal user

  Mar 9, 2015

  This is not a game that everyone will like. There is no debating that, really. It is slow and requires you to really think about what you are doing. But for people willing to put some work in, and have patience, this can be fun. Its mainly a "pick this up take it there" type game with a bit of micromanagment of health, oxygen and heat. There are little mini game type things which, once again, with attention are pretty easy. Oddly, though, this game can be really engrossing if you are not a person who craves fast paced type games, you may find that you become engrossed too. What makes this game even more fun is the fact that there are basically three challenges (three different martian bases) each one harder than the other, providing new challenges. I would also recommend this to anyone who played "Moon Base Alpha" and enjoyed it. It is along the same simulation lines as that. (With a fair bit more complexity) Advice: Play a little single player, just to get an idea of how to do things. And then get a buddy and play together.
• gamedeal user

  May 15, 2015

  I have a love / hate relationship with this game. I love the concept but it could have been so much better if HyperKat games would get some help. The assets scream "one-man-job" with the sounds that you would mistake from something from 1995. So why do I still recommend it? Well its the only option out there of its kind. People that like sims and space, you might get your 10 dollars worth. PROS: >Unique experience >Multiplayer CONS: >Poor asset quality >Repetitive Not much to say other than that.
• gamedeal user

  Aug 5, 2015

  I have spent a few days playing the game and I enjoyed. It has a number of issues that many people have already documented. See the following post: http://store.steampowered.com/recommended/recommendgame/277910 I have also found the ELS Module will sometimes have the buttons to enter it disappear in later phases of the game. While I have not needed the ELS it would be nice to have it function properly. I have not figured out how to create additional nutrients for worms and mushrooms. It would also be very nice to be able to freeze and store meals for future use - kind of like MRE's. It would also be useuful to have someplace to store algae. But it is clear since they moved on to a new Mars game that this game is now abandonded by Hyperkat. I can't in good concience recommend it. What a shame - it had real potential.
• gamedeal user

  Aug 10, 2015

  I recommend it but only if you can get it at a low enough price as there are still a few annoying bugs. It's a borderline recommendation though as the crafting mechanics and rover repairs become tedious quite quickly . Also it will probably only appeal to a certain type of person so you should play the demo first. The good: It's a slow paced survival game that does a reasonable job of capturing some of what it would be like to live and try and survive on Mars. A very unique survival experience that doesn't rely on zombies/dinos or some other form of being horribly murdered to create the survival expereience. The Bad: There are some bugs, the most annoying I encountered was when my dirt sample and drill samples stopped being recorded. The gameplay is a little dry. Most of the time it consists of waiting for a green bar to fill. Which mostly works accept for the fabrication benches and the constant rover repairs. Which push it too far and it feels like needless time wasting instead of a gameplay abstraction. The science is a little iffy in places. I'm not sure what's the point of the worms or mushrooms as you can only grow them once and I presume the worms would be part of the compost system and not kept seperately. Then there are the fish which seem to be the food eqivalent of a perpetual motion machine. I don't know if the worms, mushrooms, and fish were meant to be more fleshed out, but the gamedev ran out of time or what. Processing of minerals seems out of place to the rest of the game in that it magically happens inside a machine. When all the other machines use equipment modules and are based on reality. In fact along with crafting chemical extraction/seperation could of made for interesting gameplay if it was more fleshed out, maybe with a puzzle element.
• gamedeal user

  Oct 18, 2015

  I really, really, REALLY want to like this game. I just cannot. It's not the slow pace. That's fine. I like games that take a while to pick up steam. It's not the graphics. Yes, they're dated, but so be it, there's games from 10 years ago that I like to pick up and play. It's the lack of a GAME. There is none. You are supposed to build a Mars base. So far, so good. Interesting, one would assume. But what it comes down to is "take this bunch of containers one by one and carry them inside", that means pick one up, walk (walk. What did you expect, running?) over to the airlock, find a place to put it down, walk back out to the hangard, pick another container up ... and repeat that 20 times). Then you have to put the right container in the right slot at the machines. They are labeled, don't worry, it's not like you have to think or anything. Then watch a progress bar move like a snail. From time to time it may "fail" and you get to click a button, but in general you sit there and watch a progress bar. Thinking about it, you watch progress bars a lot in this game... it's like they made a game out of installing a game. There is no decision making, no strategy, nothing you could possibly make "better" next time you try it. There simply is no room for any kind of, you know, PLAYING the game. You work down a list of chores. And you don't even get paid for it.