Recent reviews by DLCoates1

Honestly, it was a great game while waiting for Dying Light 2. They had a great run with some crypto communities and streaming communities as promotional assets, the game was free for a lot of people myself included, it’s not pay to win by any means. Those are the good sides.

The bad sides: Cheaters became a big thing, the team did nothing to catch cheaters. Streamers still tried to hold the game steady and help ban cheaters but eventually hackers were able to ruin streams and streamers stopped showcasing the game. People complained about the hackers and cheaters but the team never ran ban waves. Eventually players stopped playing, without enough players to create lobbies the game died. If enough players on a LAN party play, it will still run fine, but if you’re solo, expect literally an eternity in an empty lobby.

Honestly, you've got no idea how long I've been waiting for a game like this. Thanks for making it. Saw BrutalMoose playing it on youtube, had to get it. Convinced my girlfriend and a few other friends to buy it as well to quell their crane machine and toreba spending addictions. Worked like a charm. They're now hooked as well. Honestly great game minus the few little quirks here and there like claws getting stuck on cranes, letters/prizes vanishing from the hockey game, the speed at which cars drive and the fact that they treat you like roadkill sending you flying into space, but other than that and a couple other things its really a fun game. Can't wait to see the carnival (not released as of this post) and the UFO location! (Coming soon hopefully?) If you guys are thinking of getting this game btw, do it. Less than $10, content still being added, bugs are mainly minor for an early access title so nothing game breaking, and the leaderboard feature will have those competitive players aiming for the top!

Graphics are good, mods are good, base game not so good. If you're going to spend $30 on this game, better be for the modded gameplay, otherwise don't bother wasting your money. Doesn't run good even on high end gaming rigs, littered with bugs which the devs don't seem to fix (They constantly add things which bugs it up more), few hackers (though not too bad). Not worth the $30 price tag for the horrendous gameplay.

Is this game worth $20? Hmm, maybe. To be honest I would consider it more along the lines of a $15 game, however when you throw in the fact that there's a good modding community, massive server wars (always fun), servers are usually always high pop, and the fact that the game has only gotten better over time, I'd say the $20 price tag may not be as steep as you think. The game definitely is fun and enjoyable, don't play with a low spec rig though, you do need some good hardware for this game.

Was worth it once upon a time, now not even worth it at all. Too many hackers. Can't even join a decent server without there being a few. Sure some are nice, but they ruin the game by giving people tons of stuff. Then there are the bad ones that kill you and destroy your bases. Sorry devs, but until you can clean up the hacking problem and make it fun again, thumbs down.

Firstly, for a bit of a back story (Feel free to skip to the actual review):
I originally noticed the game on steam greenlight back in February of last year. It seemed interesting enough, so I supported it. The next day, I logged on and noticed it had been fully supported. Ok, so now the wait. Pretty soon after, I noticed that about 3 minutes after I logged in one morning, an announcement was posted that their website just went up and preorders were now available. Keep in mind during the wait between, videos and such were posted as teasers. Within 3 seconds of the announcement going up, I was already on the purchase page clicking order (I was actually the first to preorder the game). After ordering, and checking the timeline, the wait was on. Then after almost a year later, the day finally came when keys were being sent out. I had a problem receiving my key at first, however it was quickly sorted out. Shortly after it came out I imediately started playing to learn as much as I could about it, and have used that knowledge to help develope the Wikia for it along with Nomeg.

Now for the actual review:
1:) Tutorial
After initially playing on Beta 1 (Before steam early access), I noticed the tutorials were a bit too quick. They didn't cover everything in Beta 2 (They still don't, this should be improved later on). You were able to fly though them all in about 10 minutes. The graphics are excellent, even on the lowest settings (Which I play at simply for recording purposes). It covered most of the controls in game very well, as well as a few other details which are very handy. One thing that they didn't seem to cover for the actual sandbox mode, is how to get certain objects such as fertilizer. After playing around for a bit, I was taken back to the employment tutorial, and I realized that all buildings have employment setups (This includes the residential buildings). With that in mind I was able to start production on fertilizer, however it's a slow process and the the tutorial also didn't go over how to speed the game up, and still doesn't (Again, should be updated later on). Other then the few things it doesn't show you how to do, it was an enjoyable experience.

2:) Main Game (Sandbox mode)
Upon the launch of the sandbox mode, You are taken into a blank "Atlantis" looking platform center. At this point, it's easy to become confused and make it seem like you were robbed out of about $15. However, after playing around enough, I was able to find the market place and find the objects I needed to purchase in order to start on residential housing. From there, I focused on getting a steady steam of items in work for my colony to self sustain itself. Doing this was a bit tricky, as the tutorial also doesn't go over how the production cycles work, how to maximize production cycles, or even tell you what buildings can do what. The building menu lists the name of the building, however not what it does or needs (excluding materials, it does show this, I meant as in worker types, etc.). The layout could use a bit of a change to include a description of what the building does and such in my opinion. Another thing I noticed is that sometimes the errors were a bit buggy (before the hotfix) and would show in spanish, even if the game was set to english. At points, there were also times were I was confused why there are still things in the current version that shouldn't be there (Since they aren't fully working, turns out this was to save time for the next release) and why certain things weren't working such as the shields or extra cargo storage for ships. In the current release, the risk factor tends to skyrocket at points, and will sit at 100% even though the system that's being developed for it (Can't tell you guys what it is, but you're going to like it) isn't implemented just yet. There were also a few other bugs that are there, but overall, nothing that greatly effects the gameplay itself. Now while the game does just toss you in with minimal help from the tutorial (at the time of this review), and some may give it negative reviews because of that, keep in mind there were other games that did the same thing and turned out to be highly supported. Games such as Life is Feudal and Banished do the same thing. Now, please keep in mind as an early access beta game, I am basing my review off of the gameplay itself, not anything else since this is how games at this stage should be rated.

Graphics: As a laptop user, it's hard for me to play games at max settings sometimes. This game can be hard on my computer from time to time, especially while recording. That being said though, even on the lowest settings, the graphics are still very well done, clean, crisp, and smooth. I've tried changing the settings, and between High and Low settings, there is very minimal difference from what I could tell aside from the animations and extra particles. 10/10 for graphics.

Sound: The sound at times can be annoying, particularly when in the main menu, or when dragging objects around from one place to another (loud annoying base sound, rip headphone users). There is also a lack of ambient sounds, however this will be added later on. For now though, there is a very nice background album, very reminiscent of kerbal space program. Given the futuristic theme to the game, the music fits in well for it. 7/10 on sound.

Gameplay: The overall gameplay isn't bad. It isn't necessarily good, however it isn't bad. While it could use some improvements and will be receiving some, the current core gameplay tends to leave you feeling like it needs something more. As for what, I'm not sure, we will have to see on a future update. The gameplay is smooth, however due to the lack of what the tutorial teaches you, it's also a bit challenging. It adds a nice mix for a while, until you get the hang of the game, which then leaves you feeling empty and at times, bored. It has a nice blend of micromanagement to it, and an overall decent feel. Most of the GUI is well designed, although as I mentioned earlier, some of it could use a redesign especially when it comes to the construction menu. I will give the gameplay a 7/10 as well. As I stated, it could use some improvements and I know some are coming, however as I stated based on the current gameplay it's decent. Not bad, not good or great, but it's playable, and enjoyable for the most part.

Why I recommend this game:
Let me put it to you like I did for NoBull and a few others when they asked me what this game is like. If you like Banished, Anno 2070, SimCity, or X-COM, then you will like this, because the basis is like Banished, meets X-Com, meets Simcity in a sense with an Anno 2070 plot. Or as NoBull reworded it, it's like Banished and Anno 2070 had a baby and this is that baby. It currently has the potential to become a great game, given enough support and feedback. The devs are constantly talking to players, getting their opinions, and working with people when they have problems with bugs or other problems. It runs like a dream on low end machines unlike other city builders or survival simulators, yet that maintains clear, crisp HD look and feel. If you manage to brush aside the little bugs and issues with the current version, the gameplay is very enjoyable, and is easy to play for hours on end (So much so that you will probably lose track of time). Also some of you may wish to wait to purchase it until it becomes more stable, however I would like to remind you that playing with bugs may be worth it in the long run, since we all know after games come off early access you will be spending more money on it (Which for some may not be a problem, however I am addressing the ones that can't always afford to do so).

Overall, I give the game a 8/10 rating.

Read before you buy!

First off, this game has mixed reviews. So I would just like to remind those reading, that this game is still in very early access. With the engine the game uses, it's advancements, and everything the devs are trying to do, it will take time for full release, possibly even a year or 2. With that in mind, don't judge this game based on everything currently in it, things can and will change.

Now that that's out of the way, let me start by saying yes, this game is a grind (as of now). Why? Because this game was built for realism. Rome wasn't built in a day, nor will you build your small shack in one. This game is realistic in almost every aspect, between it's physics based combat system which doesn't require you to aim at someone, to its resource gathering, and construction system. Even its mining system requires you to use supports otherwise you risk a cave in. And while it may be a graphics hog, that's because it's still not very optimized, but as I have said it's only an alpha. However, you can't deny that the game looks really good. Can you guys imagine on the full release, with around 1000 people on one world, what the game will look like in a month? Think about it, you start in an area with nothing but trees and such, along with 999 other people. One month later, you have huge medieval cities with giant walls, lined with trebuchets and ballistas. Huge wars going on between player factions. We can literally recreate historical events in this game with how well it's been designed and planned.

So, if you're still reading, then you know this game is a very realistic game. So please, don't judge this game just because it's realistic. Judge it for it's aspects, judge it for it's gameplay. If you don't like realism, don't judge it at all. Besides, if you don't like realism, why would you be playing a game like this? What it all boils down to is if you like realism like I do, and billions of others do as well, then this game may just be for you. However that depends on what degree of realism you like. If you don't like the grind (which may or may not be fixed later on and shortened) then you may not like this.

So TL;DR, if you like realism, but don't like a grind, this isn't for you. If you like realism, it might be for you. This game is highly based on realism, so if you don't like realism at all, why are you here? It's still alpha, so don't judge based on how the game works now, base your reviews and judgements off of the actual gameplay.

I don't like this game. I love it! Highly addictive, very moving, and the way the game is made you just get sucked in instantly within minutes. It gets a bit challenging at times so if you love a challenge this game is for you. The art style is amazing, and it runs great. I can't wait for this to come out on iOS and android so I can play it on the go! Now, where's the heart button on this thing, all I see is this thumbs up...

Completely recommend this game. For an alpha, it looks extremely good, runs great, and plays fantastically. Sure, there are bugs here and there, but for an alpha, this is easily worth the $15. Not disappointed AT ALL!

Very addicting game. Highly recommended!