I got this game three weeks ago and have been obsessed with it since then. It is *amazing*. The first game that really blew my mind was Pirates ("Sid Meier's Pirates!" lol) way back in in 1987. Since then I've been waiting to find another game that could give me that kind of experience of immersion, fantasy, simulation, adventure, and chef's kiss gameplay. A few other games have scratched that itch to some extent over the years, like Heroes of Might and Magic 3 and No Man's Sky. EVE Online was amazing for that first month of figuring out its systems. But no game put it all together. No game synthesized everything into perfect gaming bliss. Until this game. This is *The Game*. And it's not even expensive. At sale price it's almost robbery. There's so much I want to say about Approaching Infinity. First let me just say it has a demo that you can try for free, which is already such a cool and unusual thing. If you're thinking this might be what you've been looking for the demo should give you enough of a taste to confirm it. The depth of the experience isn't fully apparent right away though. If this is the kind of game you've been looking for get ready because it is going to hit the *spot* and you're bout to go way down the rabbit hole. The gameplay is really chef's kiss. There are two layers to the game: space, where you pilot your ship, and planetside or on boarded ships, where you explore with your away team. In the space layer you start in System 1 which is beginner difficulty and progress through each system all the way beyond 100. You're not stuck going one by one though. Your starting warp drive can travel 3 systems but later you'll make/find/buy a better one that can jump 12 systems away. So it's a "line" of systems but you don't experience it that way. You'll jump around trading goods (buy low, sell high), working on quests, looking for crafting components you need, mining or just exploring. Ship combat is excellent. And can be *intense* because if your ship pops that's GG in permadeath. (If you're not used to playing with permadeath give it a go. It leaves save scumming in the dust. Don't shortchange yourself.) Your reputation with all the different factions changes based on a lot of factors. If it goes too low then they'll attack you on site. But you can totally go the space pirate route. You can also go the opposite way and be a peaceful explorer. The funnest experience for me is somewhere in the middle. So there's a lot going on in space but on the ground is where the game gets really deep. You can land on planets and explore them and collect loot, fighting off a vast array of enemies, maybe beasts roaming the planet or soldiers of an enemy faction or who knows what. You can sell the planetary surveys for cash and as you explore you also collect "data" which is a kind of currency in the game which you can sell for cash or use in other useful ways. Some planets have caves that you can explore. Some are just one or two levels, some five or so, but some go 10, 15, 20 levels deep. I don't know what the deepest recorded one is. You can also board wrecked ships, sometimes right after you just wrecked them! On ships or on land you're moving your away team around fighting enemies and looting. Enemies start out on a level you can handle and they get harder as you get out into further systems. Once you starting getting out there into System 20 and beyond it starts getting *real* and you need to to be ready and be careful. If you are (and you don't bite off way more than you can chew) you should be able to survive and thrive. Progression in this game feels really good. The strength of monsters levels up as you go further out and so does the quality of loot and stuff being sold at stations. You also get better at crafting as the game goes on and eventually you can craft some powerful weapons, items, etc. You need "crafting parts" which you can find/buy/salvage. But then you can also mod (modify) things to make them more powerful in a variety of ways and fine tune them to what you want. For that you need "essences", most of which you can only loot on the ground. A few are sold at stations here and there. The whole crafting system is really satisfying. You can farm less powerful planets and ships as much as you want/need to but when you're out there on the edge facing enemies at or maybe above your power level the game is *intense* and engrossing. When the enemies are powerful ground combat is rich with both strategy and tactics. Sometimes you won't be equipped to take down a powerful monster you encounter but if you can escape with your life and learn enough about its weaknesses you can go back and handle it. Tactically you're using line of sight, cover, abilities, surprise, and whatever you can to get the edge on enemies. When you're pushing out into further systems and fighting more powerful monsters, searching for greater rewards, it's chef's kiss. I'll just say one more thing about Approaching Infinity. It's great because of what it is, but also because of what it will be. The creator of the game has been working on it for over 15 years. It's been playable for a while but he finally refined it enough to release it on Steam in April. This game is his passion and he's going to keep refining, developing and expanding it for years to come. We're talking No Man's Sky levels of passion and commitment. This game is great as it is right now but I can't wait to see what it will be like in a few years. The sky is really the limit to a level I haven't seen with any other game. If you've read this far I appreciate it! I highly, *highly* recommend this game and without a doubt for some people it's *exactly* the game they've been waiting for.
Expand the review