The idea of mankind making Mars its second home has been brewing in our collective consciousness. As we finally approach this incredibly milestone, I feel inspired to play in a Martian sandbox. For the last few years; I've been following numerous games as they attempt to capture this concept.
When I find a game is focused on glorified battle I tend to immediately eliminate it. War andThe idea of mankind making Mars its second home has been brewing in our collective consciousness. As we finally approach this incredibly milestone, I feel inspired to play in a Martian sandbox. For the last few years; I've been following numerous games as they attempt to capture this concept.
When I find a game is focused on glorified battle I tend to immediately eliminate it. War and killing does not inspire me. I want to imagine a future where human horizons are expanding and I hope we are getting better at doing this without violence. So I'm looking toward the survival against the elements direction. How can mankind use our intelligence and technology to expand our horizons? Similarly I don't want a game where the mechanics get in the way of the sense of wonder and progress.
I have found Per Aspera to be a deeply developed realization of my Mars play dreams; with caveats. There is a constant sense of struggle against the harsh reality of Mars' natural world. The balance between this struggle and the joy that comes from constant "little wins" as you build mines, factories, supply chains, and housing is addictive. Per Aspera is deep enough in the details to keep your brain working, but not so overwhelming that you cannot see the big picture of what you are accomplishing.
By beginning with a fully open planet that is accurately proportioned from topographic data; you begin in awesome desolation and wilderness. By choosing sandbox mode, you actually have the option to start your adventure from anywhere on the planet you desire. If you prefer the story, there is a complex and controversial one that awaits you.
I have to give a huge shoutout to the amazing artists that must have spent years perfecting each building and thousands of animations. Per Aspera allows you to instantly zoom from a single "worker" transport, out to buildings and roadways, all the way back out into space. It feels very much like Google Earth, but with the ability to create the cities and networks you see below you. You can choose to simply lay out your designs from above in an old-school sim city style, but if you take the time to zoom in you can see every building has a lot of character and life in it.
I hope I have made it clear that this game is very ambitious. Here is where the difficulty lies. Compromises must be made to engineer something like this; and compromises are almost always controversial. Here is one example: Building and terraforming Mars is going to take multiple human generations, and the conceit the developers chose was to have you play as an everlasting AI overseeing development from above. This then opened up a story involving AI, Mars, humanity, and the interplay between these. There are twists and turns in this story that are certain to surprise, and will surely please some and frustrate others.
The amount of complexity necessary to model and manage a functioning system on a planetary scale is high. I feel like the developers have generally pulled this off, but there are certainly bugs. Multiple patches have been forthcoming in the weeks since release, and we are told these will continue in the new year. There will be periods of frustration for most players when playing even the latest release. If you can find the patience to work through these frustrations, they do not break the game. I have found that I could work around any issues with enough patience and creativity. The patches so far have made progress on fixing the most frustrating issues. There are also reasonable limits on the number of structures that can extend around the planet. You cannot fill the surface of Mars with cities at this time; but you can create world circumnavigating arteries and infrastructure. This may be an opportunity for the developers to improve and expand the game's capabilities in the future.
You will need to enjoy sim city type games to enjoy this game. There will be periods of hours where you will be planning and managing resources similarly to those style games. But I feel this makes sense, and fits well with the Mars story. Humanity's expansion beyond Earth is likely to be a lot more about managing resources and supply chains than anything else. Per Aspera does a good job making this side of things fun. The developers constantly mix things up with new exploration and terraforming objectives. Of all the sim city style games; this is the first since the very original that truly sucked me in for endless hours.
I am very impressed with this game, and believe it will become well loved over time. I certainly enjoyed both the story and sandbox modes. The game is also reasonably priced in comparison to its depth and replayability. It is clear the amount of art and development work that went into Per Aspera is on par with much higher priced games.
If you are excited about mankind's expansion to Mars; Per Aspera is a wonderful experience that will likely pull you in for many hours.… Expand
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