Mines of Mars is in truth a simple platformer with basic mining and crafting mechanics. However, the story, wonderful atmosphere and genuine surprises suck you in. Before you know it, you’re role-playing well beyond the facade of a simple 2D platformer. [Episode 3, April 2014]
I have had my fair share of survival space games from games as simple to rymdkspsel to this beefy beast of a survival space game. I have played this game so many times over and over again through deaths and close calls and through moments of glorious triumph as I got to the various endings over the two platforms I have played it on. I want to say a few things (actually a lot) to the people that are reviewing this game. There are people that say that, well, the game isn't balanced, the thing I love though is it isn't supposed to be! It is supposed to be challengingly fun and difficult. If you leave a one or two stars because of how difficult the game is, it is because you came here thinking that the great reviews and five stars meant an easy, fun, not at all challenging game YOU WERE HORRIBLY WRONG. This game is not easy or not challenging but is a whole lot of fun if you actually have a brain to learn to play it right. There is no such thing as the only way win is randomness and chance. Sure those are factors, but skill is involved too. Your ability to get yourself out of bad situations will be out to the test. How the player can manage space and resources can mean the difference between life and a horrible death by drifting through space. The game is not based solely on blind dumb luck. There isn't supposed to be a lot of anything. There is no resource that is abundant in this game. You have to work and survive for every little piece of fuel or iron. This game is not about thriving, it is about trying to survive in a hostile environment where nearly everything is trying to get you killed or stranded in one way or another. The randomness aspect of the game only makes it more real. This game is one of the closest games to mimicking the harshness of the vast darkness that is space. It is no easy game that can be conquered while doing absolutely nothing. If you are rating down this game because you don't like the randomness of it, then you are doing something wrong. This game is even more closer to real life because of the randomness. This game is meant to be random it adds to the challenging and difficult part of it. It forces you to prepare for every single possible scenario from being tossed into the middle of deep space, to bring chased by space sharks. The game makes you think, work, and sweat to make it to the end. If you don't want to do any of these things to get I the end of this game, then just don't buy it. This game is wonderful on its own with its randomness that brings it closer to reality, the scenarios that forces you to prepare and think on your toes, and the endings that to you may not seem like endings but just pave the path to bigger stories and plots. One thing that I want to tell the developer directly: Don't make this game any less difficult. Sure, you can add different modes that take out the randomness of a real space, but always keep the difficult, hard, brutal to conquer yet fun and strategic game that you have made so far. The game's randomness and chance yet it's ability to include the player's skill into the equation too makes this game unique and special in the genre of space games. It is the most real simulator of space I have come by so far, and I wish for this game to grow in some way to become better and more realistic. This game was meant to challenge and strain your mind and see how well you can adapt to a situation it throws you in. *Tell the truth, if this game was easy and you could get through it quickly and you play it, admit it, you would only play it once or twice, I know I would. The randomness of this game mean you could play it a billion different times, and each time would be completely different from the last one or the next one. No matter how beautiful or amazing or wonderful any game is, without replayability, the game is trash that you would play a few times and forget about. This game I could play thousands of times and not get bored of it because every single time I would have a different run, with a different ship, different equipment, and most of all, a different mindset. Saves would ruin the point of anything that I have said above. The developer(s) have done a good job in making this game as realistic as possible and save games which you could load up whenever you in some deep crap would completely ruin the game. This game is supposed to be as frustrating and teeth grinding and that-feeling-that-you-could-punch-a-wall-ing, as much as possible. It isn't supposed to be fair, easy, or balanced. If you have a problem in real life, do you always have the materials or the brains needed to conquer that problem? Sometimes you have to work to find the materials you need. Every single time you die in this game, you remember that mistake you made and keep that mistake in your mind so it won't happen again.* I would like to thank the developer(s) that spent their time making this game as real and random as possible and risking more low reviews.
Out There offers a beautifully bleak experience. It has it all: a great plot; an appealing comic book aesthetic; otherworldly sounds; and simple, infuriating and compelling gameplay. As you pilot a lone starship on the edge of the universe, scrambling for resources to fuel and fix the ship - and keep breathing - you realise how unforgiving an environment deep space would be. It is very tough at the beginning. There were a number of occasions when I howled with annoyance as I died on the brink of reaching a critical solar system - and then howled again when I realised I could have gotten further if only I'd cannibalised some of my gadgets for an extra lump of iron or something. However, the frustrations are part of the joy of the game, and I found myself starting over and over again to complete all three rather dispiriting storylines. Worth the effort.
Out There is some kind of science fiction gamebook, where the difficulty changes depending the end you want to reach. This rogue-like doesn't feature combats, but it is still very interesting. And for this price, you should definitely try it.
Really really fun game. Whoever made this is a creative writing genius on the level of Michael Crichton. He knows how to develop believable tension using an understanding of physics on the level of a a PhD in Theoretical Physics. This is what I wanted out of Sorcery 2 and but its even better than that. On top of having better writing they take away the rewind option that's available in the Sorcery series making every decision you make feel like it could cost you your life. The clever and complex writing along with the well crafted space noir music lend well to creating this lonely, isolated, mysterious atmosphere, where you feel like you are trapped in the vastness of the cosmos searching for a way home that might not even exist. That makes this game extremely good. This game feels a bit like sorcery because each decision must be carefully made and can lead to death, but you feel the danger and tension are much greater because when you die in this game there's no rewind option. There is a greater random element to Out There that pushes your thought processes to make the best calculations possible to survive, because so many times the worst of luck can kill you, and the longer you survive, pushes that luck. There is a sense of urgency in Out There which translates to making every choice count, and also makes every death hurt oh so good. The sense of urgency is akin to the movie Gravity, where every choice seemed so important it could lead to survival or death. Likewise the atmosphere of loneliness and isolation are akin to the movie Gravity around the time after everyone died and there was only one astronaut left, and she started feeling desperate depressed, scared of not having enough oxygen or fuel, and started hallucinating, and dreaming of her past life on earth and dreaming of her dead child, I imagine you die a lot or you're very clever and solve the game on few tries. I am belong to the group that died many times. Reaching the end of this game will feel like like an epic accomplishment. Update: I just Beat it! wow what an AMAZING ending. Excellent writing!! Update: Kept on playing, there are multiple endings, i only beat the easiest ending. Replay value is very high! Update 3, i thought i got to the 3rd ending and the story has crazy plot twist. All the endings seem tied together beautifully w/o conflict. Story is very complex and seems as if its written by a theoretical physicist / philosopher / master story teller. Do not pick this game up if you you have something important to do for the next two weeks . Update: i just beat another **** seems like there may be one or two more endings? Beating this game is better than beating ANY game ever made. They need to make a movie out of this game and this should get Alfonso Cuaron to direct it. Update: Just got the third Evil ending. It''s pretty damn good lol
Out there is a fantastic game, period. It's like a bare-bones version of FTL, great for killing time - I play it on the toilet and end up sitting there long after I'm supposed to get up :)
It's simple with an interesting story, has several different endings and TONS of replay value. It's great if you want to play a game for 15 minutes, and picking up from where you left last time is seamless.
This is the game I just keep coming back to.
I was really looking forward to the release of this game, but then I hesitated because of its permadeath. I'm not into roguelikes, and I'm used to games that only move forward, games that may have you stuck at some point, but never have you start all over.
It turns out that's the best part of the game!
Once you get the hang of it every attempt at reaching home feels like a journey telling others about. Sure, you'll die. A lot. Probably you will never finish the game completely. *SPOILER* I got to the easy green ending rather easily, and I've crossed the blue ending a couple of times without anything happening (you probably have to destroy the enemy's star with a Death Seed, which I didn't have at those times). I even got to the red ending once, but it turned out to give you another mission, for which I didn't have enough resources anymore.*END OF SPOILERS*.
I guess I'll be playing this game for some time. I just hope the developer will be adding new stuff. That would be perfect for a game like this.
It is repetitive and sometimes unfair - like when you just can't find oxygen in a whole game and you die because of that - but still fun. It is only aesthetically comparable to FTL, as sometimes the game-play reminds me more of Mafia Wars, but with very good writing and writings are not a minor thing here. To me it is a 7, maybe a 7.5.
Mix "Out there" with "FTL:AE" and you would get the best Game for iPad in the App Store.
"Out there" is great, but lacks a bit of diversity. But it is fun to play and challenging. Get it, you won`t regret it!