Brought to you as part of the Frontier Foundry gaming label, Stranded Alien Dawn is an amazing survivor-centric survival game developed by Haemimont Games, creator of the popular city-builder Surviving Mars.
The futuristic story begins when our heroes' ship is forced into an emergency landing on a hostile planet. Only four survive, to be chosen from the long list of thirty crew members. Each has specific skills, essential to the survival of the group, among eight categories: combat, construction, cooking, crafts, agriculture, medicine, intelligence and physical strength. Of course, some combinations are more effective than others. It's up to each player to choose what they want to do, how to approach survival and, in some way, to adjust their own difficulty. The studio does not particularly seek to ensure a perfect balance. A player can very well start his game with only scientists or big guys! Every survivor has their chances. Maybe not at the same time. Maybe there will be hard knocks. But with a little perseverance, anything is possible.
Different affinities bind the characters, who all have a past. One of the characters chosen for the demo, Connor, for example, has a cranial implant which is a time bomb. While he knows his days are numbered, his optimism is not looking good, and he may have some unexpected reactions, especially since the pain is constantly causing him pain. Others will overreact in certain situations, or on the contrary refuse to do certain things. With all the possible combinations (4 survivors among 30 = 27 possibilities), there will be so many opportunities to have fun putting your group in unique situations.
Unlike characters, the world is generated at creation, a completely random 3D environment. A unique code allows players to share this initial configuration, in order to play in the same environment.
The beginning is dedicated to the exploration of the crash site, in order to collect the first resources, which are also directly extracted from the wreckage of the ship. It's time to set up a few tents and harvest everything that can be eaten around. Others are in charge of collecting wood, to cut it into sticks and feed the fire. For her part, the scientist of the group begins to study the first plants in order to try to guess their properties. Tasks can be assigned to special survivors. Otherwise, it suffices to indicate an objective, such as selecting a harvesting area for example. The first available survivor capable of performing the task does so. In order to manage priorities, a task board offers the opportunity to select a priority ranging from one to three, for who will take care of healing, handling, building, hunting, gathering, sewing, planting, recycling, mining, cooking, deliver, search...
As our time is limited, the developer loads a backup after several hours of play. Our survivors now live in wooden houses, with several rooms, dormitories and a few storage spaces whose shelves show the contents directly on the boards. In order to see better in the buildings, the roof is hidden: less realistic, but very practical. The camp has begun to attract the attention of attacking wild animals. Fortunately, walls protect the buildings and the enemies all gather at the single door, a bottleneck where they find themselves slowed down by traps. The survivors win the battle without harm, they collect only a few benign bites.
A new save loaded, we are now in winter. The survivors live in a solid base with brick walls, with individual rooms heated by a stove and even have at their disposal a room dedicated to recreation. A well-equipped kitchen is used to prepare meals. Next door, the ingredients are stored in a large refrigerated room. Solar panels, wind turbines and batteries ensure continuous electricity production. When creatures decide to attack the camp again, the survivors do not have to lift a finger: automatic turrets are responsible for defending them. You just have to go fix them afterwards. Much less dangerous! In addition, the system is connected to automatic sensors, which avoids unnecessary consumption of electricity when no one is attacking.
Now survivors have time to explore. This happens with a ball, without it being possible to accompany the chosen character. Besides, this is the only downside that I pose to the whole. With such a vast world, I find it unfortunate that exploration is reduced to abstract action that happens off-screen, limited to screens of events with little control.
But other than that, the game has it all. Beyond all the options related to the construction and the technologies to research (which is already a lot), the management of the survivors and their stories are at the center of everything. Their reactions, as well as their strengths and weaknesses, will define the specificity of each game, for a replayability that promises to be enormous. Each part in itself already looks particularly rich: it will take twenty to thirty hours to achieve victory. The main objective remains to find a solution to leave the planet, even if nothing forces you to leave, and it is entirely possible to continue beyond the victory condition.
The game is slated for early access sometime in October, with a final release date yet to be decided. The studio does not want to rush and wants to take the time to respond to player requests. You can now follow the Steam page if you want to be one of the lucky ones who will help shape the world of Stranded Alien Dawn:
