Per Aspera is a new PC game out this week in which you play as the AI responsible for turning Mars from a big cold stone into a place where people can chase their dogs in a grassy green park can bring outside.
It’s a city builder in spirit in that you build buildings that interact with other buildings, and the progressive goal is to keep your settlement bigger and bigger. But For Aspera is very immerse yourself in the science of terraforming and lean into its surroundings quite a bit (from you as the AI responsible for loads of construction drones and robots), and so it’s not really a city builder either.
Think of a game like Factorio and you could get closer to the brand. As you keep building more things and spreading across the surface of Mars, your only problem is ripping resources up and converting them into more things for your expansion, and so many things you would expect from a city builder – namely the sandpit element that makes everything look nice and pleasant – doesn’t really exist here.
Optimization is everything here. You are a computer in charge of other computers, and you have one very It’s a big job and you spend so much time making sure your roads are up and running as quickly as possible, that your factories have enough raw materials, and that you have enough energy and minerals to actually try to transform those Planet instead of just feeding the endless expansion of your settlement.
That sounds very boring and math and it can get like that sometimes, but boy For Aspera knows this and compensates in some key areas.
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First, this game has a story! Well, there is also a sandbox mode, but the storytelling campaign is definitely a better option. I won’t spoil it as things get pretty wild later on, but you start the game as a very functional AI with a very clear mission and as your settlement gets bigger and you unlock more tech things start to change. With very few people on Mars, at least initially you will be accompanied by the constant radio chatter of your coworkers and supervisors, which will help you tell a story that will unfold the longer you play it (and the best quality, especially Laila) Berzins as player AI and Troy Baker as creator).
Second, it’s easy beautiful. For Aspera It’s not located on a tiled map or static isometric room, but rather gives you the entire planet to play with. This gives a sense of scalability and performance that is wonderful to sit back and soak up. You can zoom right in and see your little drone workers struggling, and you can zoom right out and see the entire planet at once. The best part is to find a spot somewhere in between and just use the mouse to move Mars. It’s god-like, and with all the work that went into the systems of terraforming Mars, I think that the galactic representation of anything can be Per Aspera
I’ve been playing the game for about a week now and have spent almost every second on it, though it has a few minor annoyances. The terraforming effort – and the story that goes with it – has some serious speed issues, with things flying towards you in certain places and then deadly silent and monotonous for hours. There’s an entire fighting side to the game too, which feels pretty under-baked, considering how important and destructive it can be.
Per Aspera is a pretty good game if you want to build cities, and it’s a pretty good game if you want to optimize systems and build factories. If you’re looking for something to make you feel like a less strict Dr. Feel Manhattan, it’s fantastic.
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