Reviewing a game
that is not yet out of alpha/beta is a difficult thing to do, to say the least.
As others, such as Jim Sterling, have pointed out, as soon as you begin asking
for money for a product, that product is open for critique. This, I certainly
do agree with. However, the problem is that games in alpha or beta are not
necessarily representative of the final product, and as they are ‘works-in-progress’
they cannot be critiqued in such a certain manner.
Naturally, I am
not saying this out of context for the sake of putting words on the page. Not
at all. I am saying this because today I am going to talk about a game that is
still in alpha. Because of the caveats raised above, I shall write this in the
same format as my other reviews, but shall not
give the game a review score.
Again, not
finished product. Alpha. Me write good.
RimWorld
(Alpha 12)
Developer:
Ludeon
Studios and Tynan SylvesterPublisher: Ludeon Studios and Tynan Sylvester
Genre: Story Generator
Released: Not yet, bucko.
From the word go,
RimWorld is different. Described by its developer as a ‘Story Generator’, not a
‘competitive strategy game.’ So, what does one compare it with? The developer explains
the game in the following way:
‘RimWorld
follows three survivors from a crashed space liner as they build a colony on a frontier
world at the rim of known space. Inspired by the space western vibe of Firefly,
the deep simulation of Dwarf
Fortress, and the epic scale of Dune
and Warhammer 40,000.’
Just from that, I
was intrigued. So many wonderful themes and ideas jammed together? That could
result in one of two things: Either a mess, or a masterpiece. RimWorld, at
present, certainly seems destined to be the latter. The premise is interesting,
and well thought out, and the execution – even still in Alpha – is fantastic.
Gameplay
RimWorld is
primarily mouse-driven, with hot keys assisting. The gameplay seems complex at
first glance, but is intuitive and relatively straight-forward.
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| Your landing site, m'lord? |
First of all, the
player must create a world, determining its size. Then, they must pick where on
the planet their colonists will crash land, as well as specifying how large
said area will be. With a number of biomes – desert, arid scrubland, temperate,
tropical, boreal, tundra, and ice shelf – to choose from there is plenty of
choice available as all the biomes have different climates, growing seasons,
and rainfalls. This choice is further augmented by the four terrain types:
flat, small hills, large hills, and mountainous. Lots of choices, and lots of
replayability. The player is also required to choose their difficulty setting,
and 1 of 3 AI types, each of which result in a different ‘story’ (ultimately
this determines the frequency and severity of random events). Once all of that
is done, the player must choose – through random rolls – three colonists. The player
must assess the health, age, skills, and traits of their colonists, trying to
produce a team that is likely to survive, and be less susceptible to mental
breakdowns (or more, if the player has a masochistic streak). The story telling
really starts here, with 3 protagonists who come with interesting backstories
and personality traits.
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| Like a nanny, but with scarier bedtime stories. |
The player can
control the passage of time, pausing it should they need to stack up some
instructions for multiple colonists. A
bar across the bottom of the screen gives easy access to any menu you desire,
which all pop up in simple windows.
Most players will
be using the Architect menu most, as
it is from there that you give all the building orders to your colonists, set
storage areas, growing areas, and restricted zones. The player is expected to
plan out the shelter, power grids, food supplies, security, and sundries for
their colonists. From the Architect menu,
they can do all of that. While there are a few items that are in tabs that you
might not expect, it is relatively logical.
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| Choose your party. |
While you can
leave it automated, to get the most out of your colonists, you can set what activities
each colonist prioritises – using your nous, or lack thereof, to determine who
will do what best. Thankfully tooltips are here to help, showing you how good
each colonist should be at each given task. A further elements is passion:
colonists are passionate about different things, and so ultimately you want
colonists doing things they are passionate about, as they will be happier and
more willing to do those things, and will also increase their skill level in
that area faster than people who don’t care about what they are doing. While
you can tell a colonist to do something immediately, they do operate
semi-autonomously, basing their actions on how you arranged their priorities.
Don’t boss them round too often, it isn’t good for their mood. The priority
system is a fantastic element of the gameplay, and one I can barely applaud
enough.
Random events,
which are part of the ‘story’, will take up a lot of your time. Even so early
in development, these events are many and varied. From toxic fallouts that trap
you inside your base to manhunting boomalopes or raiding pirates, the variety
keeps you guessing, and stops you from falling into a routine. You can’t step
away from this game, or it will punish you for not paying attention. At times,
often when you are unprepared, a series of consecutive raids can leave your
colonists wounded and your base in tatters. More than once, I have lost half my
colonists to hypothermia after a nasty raid knocked out my power generation.
But this, as Ludeon Studios say, is all part of the story. Even a playthrough
that ends in cannibalism and starvation has a great story, ultimately limited
only by your imagination.
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| Welcome, my friends, to Hell. |
There are a number
of ways to grow your colony. Wanderers can join, you can offer sanctuary to people
fleeing pirates or angry tribes, you can buy slaves from pirates, or you can
capture people (friend or foe) passing through your territory and try to turn
them. All options are viable, though some may have negative impacts on your
relationship with your neighbours.
Should people be
wounded, they can be treated in your hospital (if you bothered to build one),
and should limbs or organ need replacement, you can have your medical personnel
perform operations to give people prosthetics (whether a bionic eye, or a
wooden peg-leg). Naturally, if you are an unsavoury sort, you can harvest the
organs of prisoners to sell on the black market. I often found myself tossing
up whether to wait and hope that an infection is survived, or whether I should
amputate the limb. I love the medical system, as it really is great.
 |
| Shelter first, luxury later. |
For a lot of the
game, survival is your main concern and is often reduced to living day by day.
This makes the game exciting, and makes success all the more rewarding. The
end-goal at present is to build a ship to escape the planet, but honestly I had
so much fun building large bases and researching new things for my colony, I
didn’t want to leave…
The gameplay, even
now, is solid, engaging, and entertaining. Things that aren’t around at present
that I wouldn’t be surprised to see are: water management (slightly nervous,
this could make it really hard), colonists having children, vehicles,
multi-storey structures, nuclear power.
Graphics
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| Charming, clear, and people with no legs. |
Despite its
simplicity, the look of RimWorld is great. Everything is clearly defined, and
the little, legless people that glide around the world are actually quite
charming. The different biomes look markedly different, which is nice. Perhaps
most outstanding is that despite this ‘simplicity’, a lot of work has clearly
gone into the design of every single visual asset, and it shows: this game is a
looker, and has a unique aesthetic at that.
Sound
The sound effect
are great, and seem to accurately match the activities they are assigned to.
One feature I love is that if a weapon is being fired off-screen, it sounds
muffled and distant. While it is a small detail, it adds to the immersive nature
of RimWorld’s sound production. The music is charming, and does not intrude.
That said, it is well written, and its often calm melodies juxtapose poignantly
with the at times depressing setting and events. There is a nice western twang
to it all as well, tying back to the aforementioned Firefly inspiration (also, to me, a little of the StarCraft
Universe. More can’t really be said, the music is good, as are the sound
effect. Naturally, there is no voice acting.
Re(Playability)
 |
| Helpful prompts, info, and events abound. |
Is RimWorld
playable? Yes, very much so. As I covered in the Gameplay section, even in this
early stage, RimWorld is intuitive and well set out, allowing players to dive
in. Further, there are handy prompts and in-game tutorial texts that help guide
the player in the beginning, making sure they have everything they need to
survive.
On the replayability front, things are even better. With the diverse biomes, terrains, 3 AIs and 5 difficulty settings, from the outset the cast replayability is obvious. From there, you need to acknowledge that no two games are the same – the maps are randomly generated, (most) players will take a different set of colonists at the start, and different people will join the colony. Crops might fail, and other random events will change how you play. This game doesn’t want you to have a routine, it doesn’t want you to have a method, and I love that.
On the replayability front, things are even better. With the diverse biomes, terrains, 3 AIs and 5 difficulty settings, from the outset the cast replayability is obvious. From there, you need to acknowledge that no two games are the same – the maps are randomly generated, (most) players will take a different set of colonists at the start, and different people will join the colony. Crops might fail, and other random events will change how you play. This game doesn’t want you to have a routine, it doesn’t want you to have a method, and I love that.
Conclusion
As I said at the
offset, reviewing/critiquing a game in Alpha is hard – fraught with caveats.
However, even at its current stage (Alpha 12), RimWorld feels more expansive,
more fun, and better polished than a lot of games that are ‘complete’, even
some AAA titles. As I have said before, I love to see games made by developers
who love what they do, and are passionate about their vision. It’s challenging,
and you will fail many, many times, but the charm and the storytelling of
RimWorld will win you over, and you will lose many hours to it, but won’t
regret even a second of it.
I will be watching
the continued development of RimWorld with significant interest, and be
reporting to you about it whenever I can.
You can get RimWorld here: http://rimworldgame.com/
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| It's a beautiful world... |
