If you’ve been waiting patiently, or perhaps very patiently, for news and new footage from Refactored Games’ Unclaimed World, your patience is finally being rewarded. Refactored Games has just posted their first gameplay trailer for Unclaimed World: “The Lost Explorers”.
Unclaimed World is a sci-fi colony simulation game which aims to weave a tale about mankind’s first interstellar colonization attempts. It seems an asteroid has caused massive casualties on Earth, and in an effort to save mankind, the nations of Earth have decided to build a starship unlike anything ever seen before. 2100 humans are selected and launched on a one way trip into the stars towards a potentially suitable new homeworld in the Tau Ceti system. While this is the background for the entire game, the plan is to release this game in episodes.
The current trailer is for “The Lost Explorers”, which is episode 1. A fitting title, as this first episode will primarily involve a group of scientists fighting to survive after being separated from their fellow space colonists. Each new episode plans to add new gameplay elements and continue a story that will involve many years and numerous continents on the planet.
It’s clearly a science fiction tale, but in many ways, the back story itself is not all that far removed from reality. Flip your calendars back little more than a year, and you’ll find an intriguing National Geographic documentary called Evacuate Earth which describes a very similar fictional situation. While I love fantasy and futuristic science fiction, I’m also very interested in near future scenarios. I find the thought of humans, humans much like ourselves when it comes to technology and education level, being tasked with a mission into the unknown to be a little scary, but ultimately very exciting.
While an immersive story and environment are certainly a great start, when it comes to the strategy and simulation games that I love, what’s even more important to me are the mechanics. While I’ve not had a chance yet to play it firsthand, the descriptions available and the initial trailer point to the presence of some in-depth simulation mechanics. It seems we will be exploring, gathering, hunting, cooking, researching, and constructing our own camps, defensive structures, and tools. This would probably be fairly easy, were it not for the presence of alien life forms to deal with, as well as issues like weather, exhaustion, injuries, and disease. It sounds like a lot of aspects have been considered, and I’ll be interested to see how well these features have been implemented.
One thing Refactored Games is certainly doing right is that they will be releasing a free public demo of Episode 1 in the not so distant future. This means that although I will certainly be providing you with my opinion on it, you won’t have to take my word for it. You’ll be able to take it out for a spin yourself when the time comes. If you like what you’ve seen so far, Unclaimed World is currently entered in Steam’s Greenlight system and would certainly appreciate your vote.
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Wow, I’ve never heard of this one and DAMN does it look good! Finally, something fresh!
Thanks for this!
I hope “episodes” doesn’t mean that it has low replay-ability.
Or that each episode won’t be released at full price.
That’s one of the things that turned me off of that Buzz Aldrin space simulator that’s also in development. Both that and this game sound promising, and maybe I’ll still pick up the first installment of both (especially if the Space Sector crew give good reviews). But I’m definitely getting Distant Worlds / Space Rangers 2 flashbacks here, and I’m NOT going down that road again.
Yeah I don’t like the look of the episode thing. Arma 3 is driving me nuts with that shiz. I’ll see what reviewers say.
It depends how they do it. If they first release the early game content, then add content higher in the “tech tree” that builds on that, etc… that might work.
As for price, it is all a question weather the game is worth the total cost of the episodes. I don’t particularly care if I pay for it in one or several installments if the gameplay value is sufficient.
Yeah I am getting tired of episodic games.
Smells strongly of RimWorld but with a different approach to ‘stories’ and to the management of your crew. Of course this also smells a bit like FTL and Interstellia as you play the game partly by managing a growing/shrinking group of independent agents. (Maybe ‘agent-control’ is a way to refer to this type of game mechanism, or is there already a better name in use for it?)
You list this as a PC game but the author told me Mac and Linux will be supported sometime after initial release if the reception to the game is good.
Last time I checked, Mac and Linux were of the PC (personal computer) platform.
Just sayin…
Personally I like the fact they are releasing a demo. That gives confidence and it’s a thing few developers are doing lately. Also it is a rare breed of software, understand, not seen much frequently. I went to Steam software and voted for it. It was about time somebody do something different, engaging and beautiful. I am sure this will be very exciting! Thanks for this website I like it very much.
I am using Google Translate to help me say things here sorry :-)
Episodes, done right, can be an excellent way to explore a gaming world. The Walking Dead by Telltale Games released the first game in 5 episodes: you paid one price, and received each episode (which was worth about 4-10hrs of gaming depending on your speed and skill) when completed by the developer. The overall effect was very compelling, and I would look forward to something similar in the sci fi genre.
Additionally, the release of a demo is a sign that the developer is confident in his product. I will definitely be watching for Unclaimed World.
“Additionally, the release of a demo is a sign that the developer is confident in his product.[…]”
Completely agrees, it is exactly what I said.
I have been waiting on this game ever since Adam first reported on it! It looks great and ive always wanted a game where colonisation isnt instant and you see your new civilisation grow or die depending on your luck and actions.
I cant wait to finaly get my hands on it Ive also voted for it on Steam Greenlight i suggest others do the same!