I originally gave this one a try shortly after I first picked up my Steam Deck and it just didn’t quite click for me but I always felt like it was a game that I wanted to give it another go. So, one day I installed it on my Linux machine and decided this time, I’d play with a mouse and a keyboard. This ultimately made a world of difference in my enjoyment in the game.
I’m not big on multiplayer games, so I was glad this had solo mode. The biggest difference is that in solo mode, you’re accompanied by Bosco, an autonomous flying robot who helps with tasks such as defending you / attacking enemies, mining things that are out of your reach, picking up things, and helping to shine a light on things you can’t see and that your flares won’t reach. He’s actually super helpful and I found that, once I dabbled in multiplayer, I was actually missing the benefits that he came with. I’d love to see the multiplayer mode allow for a shared Bosco because I think it adds something to the game that helps make it more enjoyable for me. When I did venture into multiplayer mode, it felt more like a group of friends kind of hanging out and this was what they were doing to pass the time. I would frequently find myself trying to get the mission done and they were just kind of hanging out chatting. Kinda frustrating when you’re sometimes pressed for time with your gaming windows but I get that’s the allure for some people.
I decided to choose Season 1 as my focused season and started working my way through the various challenges, unlocking new weapon designs and paint schemes, emotes, wardrobe accessories, and more. While this adds a nice flair to the game, I quickly realized that this was the grind of the game and knew that if I didn’t kind of choose a preferred class to play, I was going to be spending a significant amount of time grinding for Scrip to exchange for unlocking the next thing. Fortunately, I had already found that I liked playing the gunner, did not like playing engineer, but accidentally stumbled into loving playing as a scout. I think this is because the scout has better accessibility to hard to reach places in single player mode making gathering things like fossils a breeze. I never did touch driller, but that’s OK, I’m not hanging my boots up for good with this one.
I dumped 20-30 hours or so into the game when it dawned on me, I’ve kind of unlocked everything this game has to offer. This led me to realize that there’s not a ton of depth (pun intended) to the modes in that you’re going to always be gathering two different types of things, unless you’re playing one of the modes where you’re protecting the drilldozer or taking down dreadnoughts. This is where games often lose me because while the caves were procedurally generated, the content isn’t, and I find myself getting bored doing the same things over and over again.
So I’ve realized that this is one of those games that it’s not your primary game, eg: not the only game you’re playing. So I’m marking it as “complete” here because I feel I’ve gotten what I want out of it. That being said, it’s staying installed because I think hopping in from time to time, especially when the next season comes out, might just scratch certain itches.
Rock and stone my brothers!