Detailed, at the same time hilarious and gloomy strategy for survival
Sometimes it may seem that there are too many survival simulators in the world, and they differ only in nuances, but in general they are built according to the same drawings. Is it really impossible to say something new in the genre, and its fans are doomed to play the same game with different skins? Not at all – if only because we have Oxygen Not Included : a very unusual and interesting survivalist created by the authors of Don’t Starve, Mask of the Ninja and Shank.
His heroes are a company of clones who somehow got stuck in the bowels of an asteroid. There are some supplies for the first time, but they won’t be enough for a long time, and there is still no idea how to get out without dying and reach a habitable planet. It turns out that you need to somehow equip yourself.
Under the guidance of the player, the clones begin to extract resources, collect equipment, and build tunnels. In general, do your best to last as long as possible. True, there is a small nuance: you cannot directly control the wards, giving them orders. Your job is to make plans, deciding where to dig and what machines to mount, and the clones are already sorting out among themselves who will do what.
Another important detail is that the world of the game reacts to your actions, and it even simulates some physical processes such as condensation, which can be used when setting up a colony. That’s just not all recreated phenomena will be useful. Rather, on the contrary, the majority causes new problems that need to be addressed. When water is processed, hydrogen is released, gradually displacing breathable air; the clones can’t live without toilets, but the accumulated feces start to stink and spread disease.
Sometimes it seems that the game is specifically looking for ways to turn your every achievement into a source of trouble, forcing you to spin like a squirrel in a wheel and constantly look for a way out of more and more hopeless situations. But that’s what makes Oxygen Not Included interesting. It’s a very well-designed sandbox that always has something to do, and the ability to plan several moves ahead is just as important as the ability to quickly rebuild plans, adapting to unpredictably changing situations.
The game teaches you not to be afraid of failures, because you have to go through the collapse more than once or twice. In Oxygen Not Included, this is not so much a punishment for negligence as a pedagogical tool. Have you managed to kill a whole horde of innocent cartoon clones? Let us suppose. Is it possible to learn some lesson from how another attempt to establish life inside the asteroid went? Is always! And now, armed with new knowledge, you are already building a new colony, without even having time to feel the bitterness of defeat. Will you fail this time as well? Most likely. Will you have fun? And how!
Moreover, Oxygen Not Included is a game full of special black humor, even though you will not hear a word from its heroes. This is a real expanse for those who liked to lure Sims into the pool in The Sims, and then remove the ladder from it. Only ONI characters are much better drawn and animated, so watching their misadventures is even more hilarious.
Oxygen Not Included is one of the most interesting and unusual games in its genre. If you are attracted to complex, detailed gameplay and the ability to experiment, independently finding unexpected solutions to problems that arise, then few games will suit you better. Just try it, you won’t be able to stop.
