Who doesn’t love a good strategy game? They are relaxing, addictive and just in a league of their own. I came across Endzone: A World Apart while scrolling through steam trying to find something new and exciting and I wasn’t disappointed. Endzone just ticked a lot of boxes for me and that made me dive into a world long gone, it was up to me to try and recolonise the surface and begin life above ground once more for mankind.
Hopefully not based on events yet to come, in 2021, a group of terrorists blew up nuclear power plants all over the globe and plunged the world into chaos. Only a few managed to escape into underground facilities called “Endzones”. After 150 years, it was time for mankind to return to the surface under the player’s command and start anew. In an extremely hostile environment full of radioactivity, contaminated rain and extreme climate changes you have to prove your worth as a leader of your settlement to make them thrive and prosper.
Endzone: A World Apart shines when it comes to the level of detail that goes into the core mechanics of the game. There is so much going on and at first, you can feel overwhelmed by what’s going on but thanks to a very in-depth tutorial that guides you through every step of the way it makes the game more accessible and easier to understand. There are two modes but I found myself mainly playing the survival mode which tasks you with building a settlement that can survive in the hostile world that now exists. With over 70 different building in the game, it’s up to you to manage and expand your settlement the best you can while fending off threats from raiders and harsh weather. You’ll need to do everything you can to keep the women, children and men of your settlement safe and giving the best quality of life you can.
Gather and refine resources to help build the different building, protective clothing and further research into better ways of life for your settlers. Not only this but you have to be on high alert at all times as the dynamically simulated environments react to the ever-changing weather and radiation that is present. You will have to prepare for droughts, toxic rain that can ruin your crops and sandstorms that can damage your building, this game is so good at keeping you on your feet and finding new ways to bettering your society.
Once you find your feet you can start branching out more and sending settlers on expeditions to forgotten places, while they’re out on expeditions it falls on you to make big decisions to make sure that they return safely and with valuable loot and information.
The tutorial set me up so nicely that when I eventually started a new game and tried to fly on my own, I was able to get started with ease and work my way towards getting a nice settlement going. You design everything from the paths you lay out, the residential areas for you settlers to live in as well as responding to any problems your settlers might have. On top of this, you will have to build hospitals to look after the sick and wounded as well as graveyards to bury the dead. With the in-depth map overlays and heat maps, you can see everything from the radiated area where you should avoid as well as the area that have the most moisture so you can build crops there. This game feels as if it has everything and the developers haven’t left anything out which is brilliant.
Graphically the game looks good, its hero pieces have a good level of detail while the smaller less important models just pass the mark. Visually running at max on my PC I didn’t have any problems what so ever and I enjoyed the post-apocalyptic world that Gentlymad Studios have created. I love that there is some voice acting in the game it helps bring life to the settlers and raiders in the game. I think if it was just text dialogue it wouldn’t have given off the same flare. The music is a bit tedious after some hours of playing the game but then I do like playing my own music while enjoying a good strategy game because you can somewhat switch off and just enjoy the main elements of gameplay.
Endgame: A World Apart has a good level of replay value, you can start multiple playthroughs as well as undertake in either the survival mode or the scenarios mode. The Scenarios mode is more aimed at players who are seeking a challenge and have to meet certain requirements to complete the tasks at hand. There are ten scenarios in the game and each offers different gameplay and challenges, some harder than others but if you’re like me and just fancy a more relaxed approach then you can find that in the survival mode. In this mode, you can configure the settings to your liking and there isn’t a predefined condition to win. You can play for hours and build huge settlements or fight against the challenging environments and raiders the only real goal is to survive and thrive.
Closing Statement
Again, I feel like I have found another game out of the blue just by scrolling through Steam. I haven’t seen anything about this game until a week ago but have seen that I was in early access until March when it saw its full release. It feels smooth, runs well and is probably one of the most enjoyable strategy games I have played in a long time. Reminds me of City Skylines apart from its set 150 years from now and the world has gone to ruins. That being said if you like strategy games defiantly check it out and let us know what you think. For the asking price of £25.99, it is worth every penny and offers hours of gameplay, relaxation and challenging scenarios that will keep you hooked and wanting to succeed. For these reasons, I’m more than happy to give Endzone: A World Apart a score of 8 out of 10.
Grab your copy here for £25.99
Developers: Gentlymad Studios
Publishers: Assemble Entertainment, WhisperGames
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