REVIEW : Ostranauts (PC)
Ostranauts is the latest game from Blue Bottle Games, the studio that brought NEO Scavenger to the world back in 2014. Their latest game, Ostranauts, is set in the same universe and develops upon the gameplay of their former title.
Ostranauts is actually a space-life and spaceship management simulator. You are in control of a probably dysfunctional crew of astronauts onboard a spaceship, Lost in Space.
Key Features:
- Detailed Custom Ship Design: Players can create their ship, in any shape, from working modular parts. The parts have physical properties, communicate with each other, and can use out over time.
- Crew Needs: Team members have physiological and psychic needs, ranging from basal needs like food, water, oxygen, and temperature, to added obscure needs like privacy, security, intimacy, and admiration.
- Systems Management: Ostranauts is a perfect simulation, with many interdependent systems. Players will have to manage supplies, emotions, power grids, investments, security, social ties, and more to retain their enterprise alive, both literally and figuratively.
- Crew AI: Each crew member runs an AI that is constantly making choices based on their prevailing needs and experience. If one colleague is consistently encouraging, and another threatening, an AI will seek out the former when they need protection.
- Rich, Drip-Fed Lore: Just like in NEO Scavenger, the play is rich with hidden lore for those who need to seek it.
- Hard-ish Science: The tech-level in Ostranauts is near eternity but believable. There is no faster-than-light trip, no noise in a void, no dogfighting, nor force fields. FTL texting is possible And the unexplained celestial events seen in NEO Scavenger are not restricted to Earth.
Dark, gritty, and deeply detailed, this is a game for the detail-lovers, those who are looking for an incredibly in-depth game to sink many, many hours into.
There are parts of Rimworld in the people management side of things, whereas the ship trade is more complex than many various simulators There’s a lot of flicking the right switches and operating various parts of the ship. Take a look at one of the control panels.
The characters are diverse, each and every one riddled with uncertainties, emotions, and probably some sort of bug.
This is a post apocalyptic world, and you’re stranded on a space ship somewhere deep in space, thousands of miles from an already devastated earth – people probably aren’t feeling too great about it.
Each member of your crew has their individual needs, from essentials such as food, warmth, and oxygen, to esoteric requirements and benefits, such as intimacy and security.
Manage your team efficiently or you’ll be facing a nightmare. There’s an interesting social-based battle system certain figures have social abilities that boost moods…or ruin them. For those who experienced NEO Scavenger, you might see some connections.
The ship also needs careful managing, with a group of interdependent systems all communicating with each other fuel, power grids, supplies, and much more.
Ostranauts centres on a speed that suits the player you can pause and fast-forward to your desire, much like other management sims. The game is about accuracy and smart choices.
