Game Review: Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead, Space Station 13

This blog revolves around two games, similar in some ways, so very different in others...yet some of the richest experiences gaming can offer for those who enjoy it.

Both of these games are free, open source projects you can download right now. They can run on nearly any device and have a tiny footprint for the content they offer.

Space station 13 is a multi-player social game. It's to note that Space Station 13 has trouble running on Linux currently, but other then that, it takes a very minimal footprint on your computer. All you need to do is set up a BYOND account: an old but still updated launcher for niche games. It's a top down perspective game based on tiles, with pixel art graphics. It contains atmospheric simulation, and involves by default, playing as a member of a space station crew who has a specific job to do while traitors or other antagonists played by other players cause chaos around the station.

The game is ridiculously fun, but extremely complex. It takes a long, long time to get used to the controls and all the mechanics, but the learning is worth it due to the depth the game has for all their mechanics. Chemistry. Combat. Cargo mechanics. Mining. Medical. They all have depth to dive into and have fun with, and there's many ways to use the tools and skills from each department you may be playing as will allow you to handle the inevitable chaos that arises on the station at large.

The community can be hit or miss, finding a good server is not difficult but an important step, doubly so because of the open source nature of the game. Space station 13 as I described it as is only one way it's played. Each server offers an entirely new experience, with some servers letting you play as the marines (or the xenomorphs) from Aliens in asymmetrical combat. Some allow you to play a character in a wasteland setting inspired by fallout. It's incredible, and it is worth your time...Remember, it's free!

You can download BYOND from https://www.byond.com/? for free, right now!

9/10 overall.

Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead, also known as CDDA is also an open source, single player, rouge-like survival game based on tiles with a top down perspective. If downloading, it's highly suggested you get the 'tiles' variant of the game, which means you can see pixel art graphics while playing. The controls are even more complex then Space Station 13, with some mechanics being even deeper. It can be daunting to learn, but you can learn as you go.

Should you successfully get the ropes and basics of the game down, you will find an absolutely complex, in depth, and wonderful survival sim. With a unique setting you'll find yourself constructing a safe house board by board, table by table, or bolt by bolt. You'll find yourself fighting zombies of unstoppable volition, aliens from other dimensions, demons and sinister shadowy figures, bandits and raiders....and mutants which gradually progress as you yourself gain better skills, gear, bionic implants, and possibly mutations of your own. As you play, you'll encounter stronger foes that take more punishment, deal more damage, and have more special abilities you will need to plan for, meaning you never get bored with normal settings...always a challenge to fight against.

The game is highly customizable to fit your experience. You can enable pre-packaged mods which add magic to cast, extra bionics or mutations, change the geography of the world and more with just the click of a button. Character creation is in depth enough to allow entirely new ways to play the game in different play-throughs. Psychosis will make you hallucinate fake enemies, unable to tell foe from fiction at your worst. Some characters may not be able to operate vehicles, and some might be able to heal from damage without magical or bionic intervention. 

The vehicle crafting system is incredibly in depth, just like the rest of the game. You can build off of an existing vehicle, turning a 2 seater sedan into an armored behemoth with mounted machine gun...Or build your own vehicle from the ground up, frame by frame, engine by engine, wheel by wheel, and pilot your mobile base across the countryside roads. It's awe inspiring to see your death machine move after so long working on getting it working, making scavenging runs for supplies and tools to get it working. 

It has some issues with unsure development, and the experimental versions have some questionable features. For beginners, the stable (as of writing, the 0.G) version is best to get started as a new player. The download is quick and easy from the https://cataclysmdda.org website.  

Easy 8/10, an incredible game that has a daunting learning curve and a few questionable design decisions. 

Both of these games are incredible, complex, in-depth, free, and tough to learn...rewarding to those who take the time to master them. I've been playing them for years, and never regretted a second.