I spent way more time than I thought I would in the Satisfactory closed alpha that ran from March 9th to March 11th. Not only did it feature a large amount of content, but my experience was also largely bug free. There are a few rough edges that need to be smoothed out, but Satisfactory seems to have a strong foundation to build upon once it hits early access on March 19th.
Let me try to convey what it is you’ll actually be doing in Satisfactory because it’s not your typical management simulation. On the surface, it’s a real time strategy game about resource collection viewed from a first person perspective. It has roots in games like SimCity, Dwarf Fortress, and more recently Rimworld and of course Factorio. However, the first person perspective and sole focus on resource collection puts it in a league of its own. There are no citizens to please, few enemies to fight, and exploration is just as important as building. It’s that last bit that really makes Satisfactory special and a stand out management simulation.
Crafting games are nothing new, but the management aspects of Satisfactory are less common in most games that follow in the footsteps of Minecraft. So thankfully Satisfactory has a robust tutorial system that gets you going without holding your hand. This is actually something a lot of modern crafting games are now incorporating and I’m personally a fan of it. The tutorial tip-toes you through the basics of getting a simple factory up and running. It also teaches you the importance of completing milestones, which give you access to more buildings and craftable items.
As the tutorials progress they begin to get more open ended, but thankfully the basic rules of the game have already been explained. This is where the meat of the game comes into play. Each area is basically a mini open world. It has defined borders and finite resources, but it’s large and beautiful. The first person perspective and lack of map mean you have to explore in order to find all of its secrets. This adds a level of wonder, and sometimes danger, other games in this genre lack. You can get lost, encounter dangerous beasts and flora, and of course uncover hidden areas. It’s really just as much about exploring as it is building.
The first person view also has it’s draw backs, however. It can be difficult to place building and objects exactly where you want them. As someone who usually obsesses about building placement in city builders this was upsetting to me. However, I eventually got over it as the intricacies of the manufacturing process began to show themselves. It’s clear you will have to have huge, sprawling factory networks in order to get all the resources you need, and the game makes it easy to connect everything together with winding conveyor belts and webs of power cables.
What really kept me going with Satisfactory is the milestone system. It’s important for me to always have an in-game goal, it gives me something to shoot for amidst my madcap escapades. Thankfully, Satisfactory provides a straightforward progression system with satisfying rewards and intuitive building mechanics. It has a few UI and inventory annoyances as well some performance issues, but nothing unexpected from a work-in-progress title. It makes me excited for its early access next week because everything I’ve played so far has been quite satisfactory.
