Survival Machine PREVIEW
Have you ever imagined what a zombie apocalypse would look like if it happened right now? Chances are, it would be like the ones you see in most movies, where resources are scarce and survivors are fighting for their lives to survive the ordeal. It’s also doubtful that people would live in comfort or think that they can relax in such times. But what if you combine the zombie apocalypse theme with a cozy atmosphere? Meet Survival Machine, a zombie apocalypse survival game that combines the relaxing and cozy atmosphere of other simulation games.
Right from the start, the game is already unique thanks to its colorful visuals and cartoonish characters. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, which is a good way to show that the visuals are meant to be a stark contrast to what’s going on. Overall, it’s a good looking game; it does its job well, instantly showing off what the developers were trying to show with its bright, blocky, and not-so-serious atmosphere.
The gameplay is very simple, and it’s good that the game starts with a tutorial that introduces you to the basics of how to start the game and progress through it. Like other survival games, you mine resources with the tools you’ve crafted and use them to create more and more tools, gear, and defenses to make your life as comfortable as possible. Progression is similar to most survival games, where you need to gradually upgrade your tools to mine better resources and craft even more stuff. It’s a pretty standard and straightforward process, but there’s a key difference: the machine.
The Machine is a moving fortress that automatically moves in one direction; you can stop it, but you can’t redirect it. What makes it different from other survival games is that your spawn point and home base are already in the Machine. Using the resources you collect, you literally build things on the Machine. This eliminates one of the problems new players face in survival games: where to place a base or camp.
In addition to building workbenches and storage facilities, you can also use resources to improve and upgrade the machine itself, so that it uses less fuel, your tools work more efficiently, etc. It’s an interesting concept that gives players a base that they can continually improve while still remaining within the core gameplay.
Incidentally, the main thing that drives the gameplay is exploration. This is a survival game where the player has to find recipes for cooking dishes all over the world. The moving base solves a big problem with some survival games where the player can go too far and getting back home can be a tedious task.
This doesn’t mean the generated world is small, as there are plenty of locations to explore and resources to be mined. You won’t be wandering around blind, either, as the Machine itself has a map that you can use to search for interesting locations and mark them with flares to give you a reference point.
Aside from these key differences, this is a pretty basic, standard survival game. It helps that there are in-game quests to guide players and objectives to complete, but the gameplay is largely similar to many other survival games. It’s a game worth checking out, especially if you have a group of friends who want to have fun together but also want to skip the boring base-building beginning and get straight to the game. It’s not the best in the genre, but it’s definitely one of the most relaxing and cozy survival games out there.
