There are so many good-looking games released this Wednesday Night that I almost got lost on the vast ocean of apps. Among them, Out There is neither graphically attractive, nor from a renowned developer or publisher like Warner Brothers, Chillingo, and etc. But I am confident to say, after 30 minutes into it, it’s undoubtedly one of the most playable, even the most addictive games in this new load of offerings on the App Store.
It’s not so easy to pick up though. There are a lot to be learnt before you finally fall for it. There is a brief tutorial leading you through the fundamentals of the game. But to be honest, that tutorial is far from enough to get you on track, a second tour into it might do though. When I finally got to know what’s in there in the package, I was amazed, ’cause it’s truly something pleasantly surprising.
All right, let’s start with the settings. The game is set in the not-so-distant future, when resources on Earth have almost been used up. Mankind tries desperately to find resources beyond its exhausted planet. You are playing as an astronaut aboard the Nomad, passenger on a line that connects Earth to Ganymede, a moon of Jupiter. Something unknown suddenly happened. When you got out of cryonics,you found yourself not in orbit around Ganymede, or anywhere in the solar system. You are totally lost. Fortunately you found a space station where you refill your fuel and get to know where you should be heading - a remote planet far across the galaxy. And then the true adventure kicks off.
During your long adventure, there will be plenty of occasions that your spaceship drop out of order and fail to work. Then it’s your job to repair the relative units, which requires a certain amount of varied resources for sure. There are three essential resources you have to keep a close watch on: fuel, oxygen and hull. Running without any one of them would be a disaster and lead to the termination of your journey. These resources can be refilled at space stations (one resource can be refilled each time), or through exploring the planets. But be cautious, some of the planets could be dangerous for orbiting or landing, though they might be rich in resources.
For most of the times, planets along your way will grants you much needed resources to repair your devices or keep your spaceship going on. But emergencies might also occur when you approach a planet. To counter these unexpected emergencies, you will be given several options, each will lead to a different consequence, which might be an immediate shutdown or some surprises, like the learning of a new technology or a new word.
Every adventure is a unique experience, as the planets are randomly generated. Your resource searching and managing abilities and critical decisions whether or not to visit some of the planets are the factors that determines how far you can go. But since you can not predict what will happen after each decision, it’s pretty much a matter of chance that how long you can last.
Once you are out of resources, your journey will come to an end. A detailed calculating system will display all the data involved, including star systems you visited, technologies you learned, Alien raced you discovered, and etc.
At the end of the day, Out There is a real awesome outer space adventure game that’s rarely seen over the years. Tough it crashed a few times during my play, it did not distract me from enjoying the exploring fun as a whole. And chances are the farther you travel, the more surprises you will encounter. And the deeper you dive into it, the more charm you will find out of it.
View and Download on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/out-there/id799471892?mt=8
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