Summary & Thoughts:
Empyrion is a new SciFi Survival game still in early access. As the game is developed the price will slowly increase until it is officially launched. You start out your adventure in a crashing escape pod. As you tumble toward the planet’s surface, you get to choose your landing spot. I found the crash landing to be a cool way to start out. It really set the tone for survival. Right now there are a handful of planets to explore with more to be added. There are several different types of planets and moons to visit, but before doing so you must learn to survive your immediate surroundings. You harvest oxygen, water, food, and supplies as you struggle to sustain your own life. You can mine resources, build advance tools, and construct a base. When you get the hang of all that, you can start building vehicles. You can craft pre-designed hover crafts and spaceships or build your own. After you get the hang of flying you can proceed to explore the rest of the galaxy, and test your skills on harder planets.
Graphics: How does it look?
The game looks pretty good, especially for being in Alpha. It has a nice low budget look that allows it to be played on various PC builds. There are plenty of unique buildings, blocks, and aliens to check out. The world looks very SciFi, and the community has been creating tons of awesome stuff from your favorite SciFi shows. You can easily download these with one click from the Steam Workshop. These downloads include ships from Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and more.
Sound: Orchestra or Elevator?
The intro music is epic, and the game background music is pleasant enough. It features your normal repetitive loop of calming and exciting music. It reminded me of a more SciFi Minecraft. The game play itself though has awesome sounds. Spaceship’s have cool hovering and flying noises. The doors whoosh just like they should, and the wild creatures even have their own unique languages. The game sounds good, and that’s important for a ScifFi survival game.
Gameplay & Mechanics: How does it play?
The game plays amazingly. This is where Empyrion really shines. Like most survival games there’s a bit of a learning curve, but once you get going, you can worry less about survival and more about having pure fun. The movement feels good. It’s smooth except for the occasional snag. As smooth as it feels though, it doesn’t look smooth. If you find yourself playing with friends you may notice that their legs don’t always move. This is due to the game being in Alpha still. The tool and weapon usage feels great; definitely enough to pass in Beta. There are a wide arrangement of tools for mining, terraforming, and killing. For weapons you can choose pistols, assault rifles, shotguns, and snipers. You can drive a few types of vehicles if you build them through the factory tab. Aside from using pre-designed buildings and vehicles though, is the ability to create your own. You can start with a pre-design and modify the look, or you can create one completely from scratch. You can then fly these vehicles in combat or use them for exploration. The vehicles blow apart piece by piece. Each block can be destroyed.
When creating vehicles and buildings, you can place blocks Minecraft style. But you can also right click to change the block into a slanted or rounded block. This allows for more realistic structure and ship design. You can also paint buildings and vehicles. The customization options are endless. Each building and structure is powered by a core. This core is what controls the structure and gives you ownership. You can then add oxygen dispensers, crafting machines, and refrigerators. You can also add seating, turret weapons, and lighting.
You have to eat regularly, as well as keep your suit oxygenated. You have a jet pack built in, so you can go for short flights. The jet pack also helps when underwater and in space. Your suit also has a toggle helmet that allows you to breath when in water or space. The spaceship’s are not air tight yet, so keep it on during flights.
The alien and wildlife on planets is pretty neat so far. The AI sucks, and the enemies are easy to juke, but what can you expect from an Early Access game. There are a variety of peaceful and violent NPC’s to interact with. None of them have conversations with you, but they do drop a variety of loot items. The starter worlds are PvE only, so you cannot attack other players. If you venture into any other world though, you are open to PvP. I usually play these games with friends, and so the only PvP we do is for fun against each other.
Overall
I found this game to be very fun. It isn’t finished. It has a few bugs, such as falling through the ground, but it also has a lot of great content. I definitely recommend this game if you’re looking for a fun space exploration/survival experience. I currently play on my own server with friends. You can see some videos of me playing on our Youtube channel. If you want to join our server, or have questions about the game, feel free to drop me a comment.
Release Date: Aug 15, 2015 (Early Access)
Price: 17.99 Steam (To be adjusted as the game reaches launch)
Rated: RP (SciFi violence and death present in game)
HFR rating: (To be adjusted post launch)
