The Solus Project

There's tons of so called "survival" games available so how is The Solus Project the only survival game? The thing is that most of the "survival" games really consist only of running around and eating while monsters/animals chase you and that's it. Pretty much like pacman. The Solus Project is different. It goes back to the early survival games like Deus and Robinson's requiem and provides you with proper survival experience as it gives you a reason to be in the dangerous environment and it also gives you a goal you need to accomplish there, so your existence in the game is something more than being a pacman. And what you're trying to do there is to call home and tell them what happened, simple enough. Except for the fact that your stuff is broken and the planet is not really uninhabited which provides you firstly with incredibly detailed and beautifully crafted gameworld with lots of secrets, places to explore and various thrilling mysterious events, and secondly with many genuinly creepy and spooky moments and imaginative story events. All that is further enhanced by brilliant graphics and audio design. And the best thing is that this game very friendly to all kinds of players with its modifiable difficulty so you can go with difficult survival mechanics or very mild survival mechanics for people who'd rather be playing an exploration adventure game than worrying about nourishments and various other life threatening situations. Overall The Solus Project might in fact even be the very best game of 2016 as it's an entertainingly thrilling experience with lovely visuals and audios that really has no competition among the other "survival" games since, as I mentioned before, this is the only one that understands the concept of survival games right.

Survival-Exploration with Story. I think that defines the game pretty well. But I love it for the details and those are: + it seems a bit shallow to mention this first, but ... yeah: the visuals!! The game just looks beautiful. The sky first of all in combination with the weather simulation and the day and night cycle are just amazing and deliver a huge part of the atmosphere. At night thousands of stars, during the day a bright sun and several moons, that go round the planet. + second of all: the score from Jonas Kjellberg. A top-notch soundtrack, that underlines this adventure perfectly. I get goosebumps every time, a "weather anomaly" like a thunderstorm/tornado or a meteor shower appears. The score knows "quite" as well as nightmarish. + the scenario: You are one of mankind's last chances of survival, searching for an alternative earth. You crash-landed on this god forsaken alien planet. You find several rescue pods, debris and supplies... but no life sign of anything, no matter a crew member or an (for a human) alien living form. But instead you find traces of an ancient civilization. You try to find a way to contact your fleet while exploring this forlorn planet. First I tried on normal, but I died very fast. Certain combinations of your stats don't allow you to rest (you shouldn't be to wet ... haha :D ). And you can freeze to death, if you sleep at a cold place. Since temperature is location and time dependent, it's not as easy as it seems (but you get used to it very quickly). Since the controls and mechanics still need improvement, I chose the easy mode in order to just get an exploration experience instead of survival. -E.g, it's very inconvenient, how many steps you need to do in the game, until you go from "I have a closed can of food" to "I finally opened it with a tool and got to eat the content and did not freeze to death, because I needed to put my torch away". -water does not look very well. The story continues in early March 2016.

Have not played a game this immersive for quite some time now. If you love RPG, Survival, Sci-Fi, you have to buy it. Actually me myself is not such a sci-fi game fan. Initially I did not like the check-point/sleep saving system, but once getting used to it, it is not bad at all. Compared with other survival game like subnautica, the major difference is that you cannot build anything. But that does not mean Solus Project is any less attractive. This is more a RPG/Exploration/Puzzle with survival elements, lots of it. And it is not that open world as well. Overall, I really recommend this game, it is really brilliant in every way.

The underlying idea shows lots of promise: explore the strange planet, survive its harsh atmosphere and deep caves, learn as much as you can about the alien culture, and find a way to phone home. The graphics are beautiful, and the basic physical needs meter makes sure you are never totally relaxed. It's the execution that ruins this game somewhat. For starters, survival is rarely a problem. From time to time you might find yourself wet with a freezing night approaching, or a meteor shower might catch you out in the open, but supplies are always plentiful. There's an abundance of water and food, more than you can even carry. This takes away much of the suspense. The exploratory part is rather nice, although I wish the infrastructure were a bit more "alien". As it stands, the puzzles are too simple, and are in most cases reduced to just weighing down a pressure plate or finding a key to open a lock. There is also a quest compass pointing the way to the next waypoint, which, along with the sheer linearity of the caves, makes for quite a railroaded experience. All in all, I find no serious fault in the engine, crafting, survival mechanics and other gameplay elements. The game world just needs to be changed in order to be more indecipherable, harsher, without direction. Then The Solus Project will be a walking simulator for the ages!