Astro Colony by developer and publisher Terad Games—PC (Steam) review written by Valerie with a copy provided by the publisher.
Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
Let's start off by saying Astro Colony is a game right up my alley. Astro Colony is a space base building game with three modes: survival, construction, and sandbox. From the intro cinematic right into the start of your survival the music has created that space game feel. Usually I leave the music to the end of my review, but I am putting it in here because this particular soundtrack embodies the pensiveness that is found throughout the gameplay. Planning and placing and plotting out next steps go seamlessly with the soundtrack. The music has drawn me in so much that I really have to set a timer in order to get up out of my chair!
Astro Colony was recommended to me by a fellow game reviewer right here on Chalgyr! When I went to the Steam page, the first video that plays is also the launch trailer for the 1.0 release that cemented my decision. So, I immediately put it on my wish list and now I am reviewing it here!
When you first wake in the Astro Colony, your little platform that was your home on this journey had faced some serious destruction. You are running out of oxygen and your Oxygen Refiller was damaged. Lucky for you your helper bot had enough materials to repair it. Placing it and using it are the first things on your tutorial list along with movement keys and the bot pointing out the many asteroids floating around your colony platform.
As with all builder games your controls are the same with a couple of exceptions. Some games have the TAB key for inventory (as in this one) and others it is the 'I' key (like in Space Engineers, my all time fave game). Every time I play a new game and then go back to my other fave games, that open inventory key will keep me hopping! In that inventory window is also your beginning crafting before you advance to the machines that you can automate later in the game. Meanwhile, you are stuck with the basic bars and parts until you place your first smelter.
One of my gripes is the tutorial. The problem that stems from the start of the tutorial is that there isn't enough detail to complete a couple of the quests. In my single player game I am still stuck on that 'custom floor theme' of which I only have 4 completed! I so wish for a dismiss button at this point because that quest that keeps popping up is so very distracting to the point that I have turned off the bot to continue on. I found how to turn the quest bot off accidentally and it took me a little bit to turn it back on. I shake my head at myself for not reading the keybind controls like I usually do at the start of any new game. Doing so usually reveals some stuff that the tutorial doesn't.
As you progress you are getting ready for calling in astronauts that you train into the three research positions you have at the start. The first up is the scientist (that you need 3 of) in order to advance the technology tree. When I started Astro Colony I had so much fun building the machinery and planning out where to arrange them that I kept forgetting to unlock the next steps. So, when it came time for the need of astronauts, you have already prepared an area for them to train, eat, and sleep as well as an oxygen barrier for all of us to breathe. Yes, that includes yourself too!
The top right of the techtree (which is called up with hitting 'T') are the stages of technology which is also a clue as to what astronauts are trained in what field in order to advance. The first microscope is your basic technology which you get from harvesting resources with your pickaxe of which your more advanced resource harvesting tool is a drill.
Engineering, Chemistry, Biology, and Space round out the next technologies to be unlocked. Your first technology collecting building is the laboratory for the Engineering. In this buiding you don't need an astronaut to research the first technologies. The next building however requires astronauts trained in the 'blue' field. Now for any Star Trek loving fan, they all know 'blue' is the color of science.
Note: Remember when viewing our galleries here, just click on the image and it brings up an enlarged size for you to view!
 |
 |
The graphics in Astro Colony are almost polished although I did have quite a few instances of glitching into the buildings and the asteroids. There's also (as with Eden Crafters) the fact that you can't take resources off the conveyors. I don't see whether or not they get put into my inventory after removing the conveyor they are on. However, one cool feature; when you disassemble something it goes into the Recyclables portion of your inventory so you can reuse them again as you're rearranging your base. Definitely a bonus in my humble opinion because I am constantly rearranging and plotting out the production lines to get my parts faster.
The build menu is well organized and items light up when they are researched/activated. You do get vehicles later in the game (more on this later) as well as all sorts of fun goodies and things to expand upon. There is definitely a lot you can do to build up your colony as well as explore the universe.
It's very easy to drag items to your hotbar where you have nine bars which gives me the opportunity to organize them into the sections I am building. Top left of the screen is your resource list of your inventory combined with the warehouse. A very handy feature for me so I don't have to keep opening my inventory to check.
While unlocking things I am thankful for the warehouse building. This item has 8 inputs and 4 outputs. That is very useful to set up production lines as with most of the advanced building machinery there are 2 input slots for resources/parts so far.
You get your power from carbon reactors which have a conveyor input you can use to great advantage. This is, of course, provided you can figure out those sorting and filtering blocks. I must admit I watched a youtube on it because that little guide didn't have enough information for me. For example, when using the first mining machine for carbon, you get dirt and carbon. I wanted to send the carbon to the reactors, but filter out the dirt to whatever machine will turn it into quartz. Yep, still haven't gotten there yet, but I will! In Satisfactory we use splitters and smart splitters that you can program to output (on 3 exits) three different resources. Here? I am still scratching my head.
Another part of Astro Colony is the use of robots. You unlock a robot producing machine called Robots Assembler where you make transport robots and other types later. These little spider looking robots pick up things from one machine, warehouse, or storage container and transport it to any machine or building that needs that particular resource. There's even a docking bay for them later in the game. But, if you want a fast production line, I recommend using the warehouse. One must remember to at least leave one block of space between machinery so they can travel to its destination. My beginning base was so crowded I had to redo my layout just for them to travel back and forth.
|
|
Back to the vehicles I mentioned. You unlock a hangar to get them and even though it looks cool, I lost my first 2 vehicles trying to figure this structure out. There isn't an indicator of which direction your first vehicle comes out, nor does the vehicle have brakes. I had put that hangar on a corner of my base where I was going to drive it onto the planet to do mining only to discover after I closed the build screen that the vehicle wasn't there! So, I next built up the floor around the hangar and built another vehicle (a bloody waste of resources to find this out) only to watch it roll off the edge! I thought it would 'hover' there like what happens in Space Engineers, but nope! It fell far far below with no option to retrieve it!
Needless to say the trials and tribulations in this game plus the load of thinking in single player have me constantly learning as well as plotting up my next steps. So, recently I got into a multiplayer game with my daughter and fellow reviewer here on Chalgyr and even though she went through it in early access, it was good to know some things hadn't changed (however those filter blocks were also a nightmare for her) and other things that were tweaked.
I am thanking the devs from Terad for creating a game that definitely had me thinking throughout playing both single player and multiplayer. I leave the rest of the fun for you to discover. Other than the glitching and weird building function I loved playing this game. It has given me a challenge where I've been opening it up again and again to face it. If you want a survival builder that twists your brain, then Astro Colony is the one for you.
Score: 8.25 / 10
0 comments:
Post a Comment