Astroneer

While Astroneer has been in early access for a long time as I write this. As far as exploration and crafting games go. It is very easy to see why this one here as really struck a chord with certain types of gamers. If you like crafting and exploring, you might want to take a closer look at this game.

Blast Off!

The story for Astroneer is pretty much nonexistent! The idea of the game is that in the future, we have gone to the skies and as an astroneer, you are looking to explore different planets and gather resources and basically do what you can to survive. There is no story that is actually driving you forward and for me, this was the hardest part of “getting into” the game as there was nothing motivating me.

However, things do click and I feel that is what is either going to make or break this game for you. The lack of a story in a sandbox style game is certainly nothing new. If you can get past this and stick with it for a couple of hours, chances are you will be hooked on what the game is offering.

Explore The Planets

There are seven (well as I write this) different planets for you to explore. That may not sound like many, but each planet feels very different. You also have many different resources to gather on each planet. I loved the style of some of these planets and while I would class this as a “relaxing” game. You can still end up in trouble as there are dangerous flora and space storms that can cause you major problems. One thing that I really like is the overall presentation. This is a very good-looking game that just seems to get more polished with each update. Now granted the framerate can sometimes drop to a crawl, but the colors of that they have used are very bright and vibrant and it really does bring the game to life.

Gather, Craft and Survive

The overall goal of Astroneer is to go and get resources that you can then use to craft items that will make your life easier and your exploration better. You start off by having to move around on foot. Before long you can build a rover, then a base, a 3D printer, solar panels and more! You are always moving forward and this is what makes the game very addictive for some and a chore for others. It really depends on the kind of gamer you are. A big part of the game you have to get used to is tethering. Fuel and oxygen are if you ask me your two main survival things in Astroneer. You can make tethers that allow you to move further and further away from the base and these can give you more oxygen. If you go too far from home and get a little lazy in making your tethers you can get in big trouble!

The crafting in the game is very easy to get into. You can change the terrain as well as build things. I am not usually the best at stuff like this, but I found it very easy to get into it. It is actually really cool the way you can mess around with the terrain to help with your building.

Survive With Friends

Now granted I have not dabbled in the multiplayer as much as I would like, but you can work together and have some fun with this game. You can work together in order to build a massive space colony on a planet! You can also work together when it comes to exploration, making sure you have enough tethers and so on. You can even just screw around on your rovers and play your own made up games. The sandbox nature of the game means that if you are creative, you are free to really do whatever the heck you want.

Astroneer is a game that for the right person is going to take over their life! It has a lot of charm and you can really do some amazing building in this game if you are willing to put the work in. The lack of a story and the technical issues may turn some people off, but if you can get past that, you are in for a real treat with this.

7.5/10

Pros

• I love the art style that they went for
• Each planet has a really distinctive style
• The crafting is very in-depth
• You can play with your buddies
• There is no limit to the way you play

Cons:

• The story is really lacking
• Some frame rate issues can get super annoying