Abiotic Factor Is My All-Time Favorite Game: A 27-Year Gaming Journey

[♛Knipknap♛]

I’ve created this note just to make sure my perspective on my favorite games of all time hasn’t changed! After 27 years, I can finally make a top 5 list of my favorite games, and it doesn’t include Assassin’s Creed, Grand Theft Auto, or any other triple-A game. No, it’s the game Abiotic Factor, and it’s proudly sitting at number 1.

I’ve played around 2,500 to 3,000 games in my life and owned a lot of consoles, including:

Sega Drive

Nintendo Entertainment System

Wii / Wii U

Atari 64

DOS computers

Gaming PCs

PlayStation 1 (4 slim models!)

PlayStation 2 (Slim model)

PlayStation 4

PlayStation 4 Pro

Xbox 360 Arcade

Xbox 360 Elite

Xbox One

Xbox One Scorpio Edition

I’ve also had plenty of handheld consoles, like the Nintendo DS (all versions), Nintendo Game Boy (including Color), PSP, PSP Vita, Anbernic RG351V, and many more.

For years, I couldn’t make a top 5 list because of nostalgia—games like Syphon Filter on the PS1 would’ve topped the list for sentimental reasons. But looking at things today and comparing games like Abiotic Factor and Valheim, I’d say Syphon Filter doesn’t even make my top 5.

Abiotic Factor is doing something completely new, and I don’t think any other game could do it better when it comes to game mechanics. Maybe other games are visually superior, but that’s not what sets Abiotic Factor apart. It’s the innovation and the gameplay experience that make it the best game of all time, hands down.

For the price, it’s absolutely worth playing. I love how the game allows the developers to keep creating new levels, giving players a truly exceptional experience. The fact that it offers free updates that feels like a new DLC, and every level introduces something completely fresh in terms of gameplay makes it an unforgettable experience.

[Jartym]

I don't know if it's my favourite ever (it could be when it's done), but it's definitely my game of the year for 2024, and a good few years around it as well. Haven't enjoyed a game this much in a long time.

[Crochwhisle purple]

love this game to death, even though i hate survival games generally.

[Nerevar]

its my number 1 pick for "best new early access game" of 2024.

top game of all time tough? no. thats not even close yet. there where too many great games back then. especially some games of the snes era are stupid hard to beat.

now beeing better than triple AAA that isnt made by fromsoft or is called monster hunter is not much of an accomplishment anymore nowadays. Triple AY is finally dying out for the trash companys and they deserve it. indie gems like this prove once again that gameplay matters above all else and that takeing risks and trying out new cool concepts is better than "playing it safe" and makeing the next copy and paste braindead game.

[Doctor Darling]

Hands down my favorite survival game out there. It's such a nice breath of fresh air.

[Fuhrer]

That's silly, but I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[ShadowReaper]

I'm probably not very far into the game but I'm lovin' it. I just got the Pistol and Hazmat and found the first two Powercells, playing on the hardest mode.

A few things (Although it might be because I'm still early in the game):
•No PVP (Think Tarkov with Portals)

•Enemies are sparse and feel a bit too easy for Apoc-Difficulty. I'm just now encountering Human Military

•Pistol is racked every time it's unholstered despite being loaded. No Laser

•Cannot repair Furniture

•Arcade Machines aren't playable | Decorations don't increase Homeliness

•Batteries do not have a Charge-Indicator so you can only tell their charge by picking it up; Are they providing power (and draining) while base-power is active?

•TV's do not have more channels or videos

•Shock Traps prevent doors from opening unless kicked because they are not flat to the ground

[MechWarden]

This game is absolutely not made for PvP. It is setup as a friend co-op and is not setup nor balanced for players attacking each other. If it was, we'd have to wait another year or more for the devs to implement that properly.

You can repair furniture by hitting it with the hammer. Even the UI while holding it said it will repair stuff.

Also the Batteries do have a charge indicator, it's the yellow poll that fills up. The blue bar is how much of a 'load' (number of devices) there is down the line. And no, they do not provide power while it is getting power and charging. Power is either on or off; no in between. You don't not have to worry about wattage or amphours, or whatever.

[ShadowReaper]

Originally posted by MechWarden:

This game is absolutely not made for PvP. It is setup as a friend co-op and is not setup nor balanced for players attacking each other. If it was, we'd have to wait another year or more for the devs to implement that properly.

You can repair furniture by hitting it with the hammer. Even the UI while holding it said it will repair stuff.

Also the Batteries do have a charge indicator, it's the yellow poll that fills up. The blue bar is how much of a 'load' (number of devices) there is down the line. And no, they do not provide power while it is getting power and charging. Power is either on or off; no in between. You don't not have to worry about wattage or amphours, or whatever.

Half-Life wasn't exactly made for PVP either, but it spawned CS:GO and TF2. Tweaking can be done, modes or zones could be made for allowances. I think it could be interesting if there were Soulslike-Portals that temporarily allowed for PVP-Conflicts/looting/trading.

I didn't know you could repair with the Hammer. Guess I was too blind to notice the tooltip

I just noticed this on the Batteries last night after I had to stay home due to Radiation

[MechWarden]

Originally posted by ShadowReaper:

Originally posted by MechWarden:

This game is absolutely not made for PvP. It is setup as a friend co-op and is not setup nor balanced for players attacking each other. If it was, we'd have to wait another year or more for the devs to implement that properly.

You can repair furniture by hitting it with the hammer. Even the UI while holding it said it will repair stuff.

Also the Batteries do have a charge indicator, it's the yellow poll that fills up. The blue bar is how much of a 'load' (number of devices) there is down the line. And no, they do not provide power while it is getting power and charging. Power is either on or off; no in between. You don't not have to worry about wattage or amphours, or whatever.

Half-Life wasn't exactly made for PVP either, but it spawned CS:GO and TF2. Tweaking can be done, modes or zones could be made for allowances. I think it could be interesting if there were Soulslike-Portals that temporarily allowed for PVP-Conflicts/looting/trading.

I didn't know you could repair with the Hammer. Guess I was too blind to notice the tooltip

I just noticed this on the Batteries last night after I had to stay home due to Radiation

Half-Life is noticeably different game than Abiotic Factor. HL moves way faster and is heavily gun focused, making it easier to modify into a PvP FPS deathmatch setting. Abiotic Factor plays more like a slower paced immersive sim, akin to System Shock and Deus Ex than a typical 90's Boomer Shooters like Doom, Quake, Unreal and the like. Even then stats had to be adjusted in HL for for the PvP play when compared to the single player campaigns, but since the template was already there, it didn't take much work.

As for the mods that'll become famous, like Counter Strike (before Global Offence) and Team Fortress Classic back when "Team Fortress 2 will never be released" was a meme, modders mainly took the already built Quake-like engine, which was already good for deathmatches, and ran with it. Heck, Team Fortress was inspired by, if not just coping, a Quake mod called Team Fortress; so it was basically a relatively easy iteration.

For Abiotic Factor to have a good PvP mechanic practically all of the current mechanics would need to be stripped out or redone. Abiotic Factor is too slow and too cumbersome to be a good deathmatch style game, and don't even think about survival crafting PvP stuff akin to Rust or Conan Exiles, since the maps themselves are nowhere near ready for that kind of gameplay; let alone several other key aspects.

That's not to say that a modder can't come in and do something great; heck that's basically how Counter Strike got started before being bought out. Just don't expect the devs to change gears and put in any PvP stuff in the core game. It takes a lot of work to make a good PvP mechanic, and the devs have their hands full with the current game as it is.

The soonest you'd expect PvP is when the devs officially release mod support, since unlike the Quake and Half-Life engines, Unreal Engine kinda sucks in terms of modding, unless the devs account for it.