REVIEW : Endzone – A World Apart (PS5)
Gentlymad’s survival city builder is an interesting title, though only in certain circumstances. What? Our review will reveal this.
Stephen King once said, “Bad news travels fastest in small towns.” The bad news in Endzone: A World Apart is that Henry became ill with radiation sickness after drinking a glass of radioactive water, little Mary died of starvation during a prolonged drought, and someone even heard that old Jurgens went on an expedition to distant ruins of a gas station and has not returned for many seasons. The poor man was most likely shot by bullies. After all, life in the colony continues. Oh, the acid rain has just begun to fall again.
If we trusted game developers with our future, they would most likely paint it in dark hues. After all, we are eager to reach for this type of subject, attempting to solve potential problems or face the danger. As a result, all survival games are extremely popular. When the sun is shining brightly outside our apartment window and the biggest worry is a failed session, overcoming virtual difficulties quickly restores life balance.
The city builder genre is also becoming more willing to meet such demands, with the Endzone reviewed here being one of its most successful examples. That isn’t to say it’s a perfect game. It’s a shame. Leave the shelter.
The plot is painfully predictable. The old world was destroyed by some apocalypse, but the survivors were able to hide in underground shelters. When it appeared safe, it was decided to leave the musty corridors and begin a new life in the shade of the motorhome, which serves as both a resource gathering hub and a base at the start of the game.
It is our responsibility to assist the virtual people in developing and expanding the colony for future generations. New children are born, old ones die, and the danger only grows rather than diminishes. The challenge is significant. Although the game was eagerly compared to Banished in its early access phase (another city builder with similar assumptions and ways of presenting the world (albeit without the post-apocalypse), it also draws from classics such as The Settlers series and the Polish Frostpunk. At first, not much happens; for a dozen or so people, it is sufficient to provide a source of food by constructing a fisherman’s hut, a hunter’s hut, and a pier to collect fresh water from the reservoirs.
Adults have children, they grow up (due to the construction of a school), and they become full-fledged members of a growing society. And so forth. All of this would have taken place normally if not for the realities that our students faced. An ever-expanding colony must be prepared for the prevailing conditions, which are deteriorating. There are dry periods or sandstorms from time to time, and when it rains, it usually rains with acid drops.
The pain of micromanagement
Time is a finite resource that will pass without notice. This forces us to construct increasingly specialised structures that comprise a network of communicating vessels. Collecting scrap metal and converting it into three different resources necessitates constant concentration. You must always be aware of what you require. Because of a lapse in concentration, the tailor is unable to sew masks or protective coveralls. The inhabitants’ discontent grows as a result of their scarcity, and they eventually die. The task of assigning settlers is enormous. Fortunately, it does not necessitate direct contact with a virtual character, but you must still contend with it. This is not a problem when the colony has twenty or thirty people. However, when we have two hundred of them, we begin to get lost in the tangles of micromanagement. You must make all decisions on your own; task automation simply does not work. Sending your settlers to logging or scrap metal collection is the best example.
