Developed by: Pathea Games
Build Status: Alpha 0.62
To start off with I’d like to introduce myself to you, IndieGraph’s faithful audience, I’m new to the site having joined following the change in management. You can find out more about me on in the team section of the website.
In the independent gaming marketplace there are two types of games, the small but brilliant projects completed by a single developer and then larger developments such as Euro Truck Sim 2 and Minecraft. Pathea Games fits into the latter type, the game is being funded by the increasingly popular route that is Kickstarter, with the project Planet Explorers being released with an aim to raise $100,000 by April 21st it had almost 5,000 backers and raised just over $137,000. You’ll probably wonder why this game needs such funds, especially when you consider many games reviewed on this site will have no budget at all and will still achieve moderate success, the answer to this is simple; scale. Planet Explorers promises to become one of the largest games released in recent times by indie developers, by now you probably want to know what it actually is…
Planet Explorers is an open-world sandbox RPG adventure game based in the year 2287, the basics of the storyline are that you were in a colony ship sent out by Earth and you arrive on planet Maria in the Epilson Indi Star System. Whilst trying to land, the ship crashed with few survivors, you are one of these people and you must fight, build and create to be able to conquer the planet.
So, what is the game like? Well to start off with I had some issues downloading the game directly, it appeared to be incredibly slow, this could have been a one off but nevertheless, I’d recommend downloading the torrent instead to save time. The newest build costs $21 but if you want to try the game for free you can download a0.53 links; all these options can be found at: http://planetexplorers.pathea.net/download/. Following the download the activation of the game failed, an issue judging by comments posted on the website that appears to be common. As a result I had to test the free version which loads up without any issues.
The game currently has three different play modes, Adventure, Build, Story and there will also be multiplayer which is unavailable on the build I’m testing. I started off on the build mode where you are given customization of your character, whilst the changes you make are mostly subtle it’s always nice to have control over how your character looks in game. You can customize the settings of the map you spawn in or randomize it. The first map I spawned in was flawed. Every time I spawned I was dropped from the air and would die and this repeated not allowing me to play – something which suggests more testing of the game is required by the developers. The build mode includes no enemies so is useful as a testing ground or to build your own beautiful structures. At the moment this mode seems to still be quite glitchy, although the developers seem to have lots of plans for it in future updates.
Adventure mode provides the ability to participate in random missions. The adventure mode surprisingly had the same issue with spawning in the air and constantly dying, the free version of this game should’ve been thoroughly checked as many people will try it before paying for the newest build and frankly this puts of a bad image of the game regardless of whether or not the issue is fixed in 0.62.
Finally there is the story mode, the main focus of the game and the part the developers are most proud of. It promises to become a huge mode with over 100 different enemy types and many possibilities to how you survive the game. The mode starts with a nicely produced cut scene explaining the scenario and then pleasantly you don’t spawn in the middle of the air! Whilst it’s not immediately clear what you have to do at the start it must be the said the world Pathea games have produced is stunning – even on lower graphics settings. The gameplay is initially well laid out with the use of various conversations with the AI to discover what has happened and what you need to do. Having left this part until last and read what the developers say about the story mode, I’m left wondering why Pathea Games bothered with the adventure and build modes as this game would be better with a focus on the story and multiplayer instead of trying to become too many different things at once.
In summary the game shows massive of potential, with a large backing from the Kickstarter community this project has the resources to grow. The developers however need to seriously consider the path this game is taking and fix issues on the free version that will put people off paying for the full game.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ollie Atkins is to be found playing games on his Xbox, PS3 or PC, whenever he isn’t studying or working part time in the fast food industry. He was the co-founder of IndieGo in 2010 and has also produced articles for IGM, following a prolonged break away from gaming journalism Ollie has returned after being convinced to come out of retirement by Dan Jake Neal.
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