If you are convinced of the concept of Surviving Mars, you will certainly have Surviving the Aftermath on your label. In both cases, you should build a colony in a hostile environment. At first we only have a short preview, because the game from Paradox Interactive is still in early access.
The earth has been devastated by a meteor and more natural disasters are just around the corner. Bandits and radioactive fallout are also dangers that are causing you trouble. Even before we start the game, we have to make some decisions. The level of difficulty is determined by the choice made. For example, you can decide how many survivors you start with or how often food and resources are available. New challenges are always inevitable.
The beginning – with many tutorials
Frankly, the controls and gameplay aren’t really intuitive at first. Fortunately, the tutorials are extensive and explain the most important elements. You should use them. With your survivors and the starting raw materials, it’s time for survival. You have to make sure that there is always enough food and water available.
There are many ways to get food. You can send your porters (adults without a job) to collect berries or set up a hunting lodge, for example. But there are more ways to get food. Water procurement, on the other hand, is easier. Just build a well and you’re done. But it is important to prepare for the catastrophes, don’t forget that.
Of course, the procurement of raw materials also plays an important role. Construction timber, clothing and medicine do not fall from the sky. Building materials are simply collected by assigning a work zone to your storage area. Free carriers will then set off and collect the raw materials.
If all survivors are supplied and have a barrack in which they can sleep, you should think about building DAS Tor. Without Tor you don’t have to be afraid of danger, but there won’t be any new survivors in your settlement, and they are important. Besides other workers, they may also include looters you send around on the world map. The looters, however, are especially important for research points. Research is the only way to protect your settlement from natural disasters and bandits in the long run.
Too light or still too heavy?
At first the game feels really too easy, although we started at a medium level of difficulty. Building houses, making decisions and making sure the survivors get enough supplies is really not difficult in the beginning. Quickly you get into a rut and build buildings randomly and send your plunderers around the map without having any goal.
At the latest at the first catastrophe you start to sweat. Literally if it’s a heat wave. If you haven’t provided enough water and stored it, your inhabitants will die like flies – and you can’t do anything.
Short and close – the conclusion
Since this is a short preview, we would like to conclude our discussion. The game is still in the early access phase, so in theory the game could still change fundamentally, or it just disappears whole functions from the game.
Surviving the Aftermath really makes you want more. It offers you a challenge and has been really thought through so far. Graphically it’s certainly not a masterpiece, but it’s more of a challenging strategy game, and that’s Surviving the Aftermath.
In general gameplay we couldn’t find any mistakes, but the developer seems to be very anxious to hear feedback from the community. You also have the possibility to report feedback directly in the game, so always pass on bugs, suggestions and praise to the developer!
