It’s been a little while since I’ve done one of these posts, but once again, I’m putting together a list of games that you might not be aware of and that I can’t wait to get my hands on.
Astroneer
First up we have Astroneer from System Era, a game that isn’t actually too far away with a rough release via early access sometime in December.
The sudden development of technology for rapid space travel enables fast and inexpensive journeys to the stars. Exo Dynamics, the dominant conglomerate in the new field, has opened flights to daring citizens of Earth. Like the Yukon gold rush of old, waves of adventurers sign up to launch themselves into a new frontier, risking everything to seek their fortune in the far reaches of the galaxy. These are the Astroneers.
As an Astroneer, you must find a way to dig out a life on one of a multitude of harsh new worlds. Blast through the terrain to uncover precious artifacts and materials you can use to fuel your quest to become a wealthy baron in the stars. Along the way, discover oddities, raise questions, and uncover mysteries.
Perhaps not all is as it seems.
Astroneer is essentially a space survival game where you can travel to planets and start building a base; you can then mine on those planets to hunt down materials and other bits and bobs. The concept might not sound like anything all that ground breaking, but I just love the way the game looks and I really like the co-op side of the the game – being able to play with my friends and carve out our own caves, our own bases and our own stories sounds really good fun.
Also I get some very serious Lego vibes from the game which I really like!
People have been comparing Astroneer to No Man’s Sky to the point where the developers actually spoke out about how they’re going to be managing expectations. Personally I don’t think the comparisons are needed they’re different games being released in different ways, but it’s nice to see a developer being open about things.
Space survival seems to be a very popular genre right now – in fact it pops up again later on, but for me Astroneer looks like a refreshing entry and looks different enough to remain interesting in the very busy genre.
I for one can’t wait for the game to release and hopefully I won’t have a difficult time convincing a couple of others to get it as it definitely looks like it will be a game enjoyed more with friends.
Astroneer is coming to PC and Xbox One.
Escape From Tarkov
Escape from Tarkov looks like an interesting game but I’m remaining cautiously optimistic about it.
A lot of people seem to think this is going to be another survival game, but it isn’t.
Escape from Tarkov is a hardcore and realistic online first-person action RPG/Simulator with MMO features and a story-driven walkthrough.
There are missions to play through with a story that can be played in co-op and there may also be other players around. Each mission is described to be like a raid on an area and you must clear that area. There is a permadeath feature – which I think is where people get the survival idea from, but it just means you start again. Basically you kind of play in a session and have to complete your missions, if you die you start that session again.
There is trading with both AI and players, there is crafting but it’s more akin to finding/buying weapon add-ons and customising your load outs – again, these things make it sound a little like a survival game.
There has been a fair bit of gameplay released and it does look very good, the gunplay looks good, the graphics looks really nice, the setting seems interesting, even things down to the UI and weapon customisation look really good and well-polished. I just hope that it can deliver on all these fronts and give us an intense FPS experience.
Escape From Tarkov is coming to PC and does have plans for a Beta at some point, you can also gain access to the Alpha by pre-ordering the game – if that’s your thing.
Abandon Ship
Assassin’s Creed Black Flag is my favourite AC game, but only because I got to be a Pirate and sail around the seas singing sea shanties. Abandon Ship – whilst not strictly pirates, looks like it will fill that ship sailing gap I now have in my life and fill it with a lot more interesting ideas.
Become the captain of a ship and sail the procedurally generated seas, complete quests, hunt down treasure and engage other ships in tactical combat – you might even come across some Lovecraftian myths!
Abandon Ship features a permadeath feature of sorts, but if you do find that your ship is destroyed your Captain doesn’t actually have to go down with his ship, there is a chance you can escape on a lifeboat and then work your way back to the top of a new ship!
There is still a lot unknown about Abandon Ship, but from I’ve seen and heard so far, it all sounds really promising. The only thing I wish the game had was multiplayer, being able to work together as a team and operate your ship would be really good fun. But that’s not the be all and end all, if the game has interesting quests and stories to follow then I can see it being a really good game.
Abandon Ship is coming to PC. No release date beyond ‘2017’ has been mentioned at this point.
Hellion
What was it I said about Space Survival being very popular right now? Hellion is another game that looks to tackle the genre.
Hellion is a distant solar system and the destination of the first interstellar colonisation missions. But after awakening from hyper sleep you discover that something hasn’t gone quite to plan. You’re in a fight for survival and must search desolate space stations for supplies. You can team up with other players or try to fight alone to try and repair and upgrade your own spaceship.
On the face of things, maybe Hellion isn’t doing much different in the survival genre, your usual things are all there, crafting, ‘base’ building, resource gathering etc… But I really like the idea of the open world aspect of it being space, instead of a large map. I really like the idea of teaming up and building a ship, with players taking on certain roles – one flies, the other goes out mining. I love the idea of basically floating around in space to scavenge and fight for survival. I love the idea of raiding other player’s ships, getting in to dog fights of sorts and then boarding them, or the threat of being boarded. The idea that I could go mining and then potentially come back to my ship and someone might be stowed away on it is a really cool thing that could happen!
Hellion is due for release as an early access title and I really hope that it can realise the potential of the game that they have as it could be a very good game indeed!
Hellion is heading to PC and should be hitting early access in Q1 2017.
Of course there are a lot of other games that I’m looking forward to – Below, Ashen, Deep Rock Galactic to name a few, but I can’t spend all day talking about them – as much as I’d love to.
-Will
