Osiris: New Dawn - Early Access Impressions

Early Access can be a bit hit and miss. The developers of Osiris: New Dawn are open about the fact that this is not a fully realised product, but it should be noted that what's there currently is fully playable and fairly polished even if it has a fair way to go in terms of its development. Content is missing, and multiplayer frame-rates aren't where we'd want them to be. Down the line there are plans to build out a fully realised solar system for players to explore; for now there's one planet to take in.

Looking at these screens and reading up on Osiris: New Dawn, you no doubt expect comparisons to be drawn to No Man's Sky; every player's favourite exploration game to hate on these days. And there are some similarities here, at least on the surface, as you explore alien worlds in both games. Osiris: New Dawn is, however, more focused on a traditional survival game structure where you build things in order to better your odds of survival. And of course, there's multiplayer here as well. In many ways it's a space exploration game that focuses on the stuff No Man's Sky never wanted to focus on, even if there are some points of intersection. So perhaps this is something to keep an eye on for those disappointed in the experience No Man's Sky provided.

To paraphase how kids these days type up their Steam reviews and give you an idea of our first session. "Got eaten by a giant space worm within five minutes. Would love to be dinner again." These insta-kill sandworms may not be everyone's cup of tea, but we kind of look forward to learning more about how to better our chances of surviving an encounter. Clearly the environment is going to try to kill you here, which in turn is a great incentive to co-operate with other players in multiplayer. And while there are two factions, what little time we spent in multiplayer felt fairly focused on missions and co-operation. Up to twelve players can populate the same server, so it feels a bit more personal than what you're perhaps used to. However, it should be noted that currently multiplayer suffers from fairly low frame-rates, which can hamper your experience (single-player appeared much more stabile in this regard). It should be noted that the player count was decent during our tests of the multiplayer, so unlike some games that are in Early Access you can actually sample the multiplayer will full or nearly full servers.

As this is a game that offers as much action as it does crafting, the latter element is not as free-form as it is in some other games. It's pretty quick work conjuring up buildings and facilities with the right materials, even if there's a progress bar that tantalisingly slows down as you approach completion (surely just to allow other players or aliens the chance to interrupt you). Nevertheless, the buildings and vehicles have a neat look that is in line with what you'd expect mankind's upcoming Mars expeditions to look like. It's difficult to point at a specific origin of the style as there have been lots of games and movies with a similar aesthetic, but with Matt Damon's adventures as The Martian in recent memory, that's a reference as good as any. There is also a bit of a Mass Effect feel to the buildings and vehicles.

We mentioned missions and there is a definite structure here to focus on. You'll need to build a camp, extract resources and protect yourself. The player is given a fairly decent survival pack upon spawning, an assault rifle and pistol with ammunition, as well as duct tape (for those inevitable suit breaches), and an inflatable dome for early protection against the elements. You'll need to monitor the typical survival parameters here. We kind of like the structured start, and once you've warmed up you'll quickly move through this tutorial phase. There is much to explore and the planet that's currently in the game, a Mars like red-ish and barren place, certainly piqued our interest in terms of exploration. However, if you're looking for a rich and varied experience, the content just isn't there yet.

As is our usual course of action with Early Access games we want to sample what's there, without delving too deep. The game is far from done and shouldn't be given a full review at this time. There's still work to be done here, but from what we've played there is a great deal of promise and we'd like to return in a few months to see how it's progessed. The gunplay could do with some tightening up, and technically there are some issues to tidy (most notably the frame-rate in multiplayer when there is a lot going on, but there are also some pop-ins here and there). That said, the developers Fenix Fire Entertainment are open about the fact that the game will likely remain in Early Access for about a year, so clearly there is time for added polish.

The universe is harsh, and as in any good survival game you'll need to learn from your mistakes in Osiris: New Dawn. We learned not to casually walk towards the horizon as we got gobbled up by a sandworm. We learned that your early cache of ammunition is perhaps better saved for an emergency rather that being spent on nearby low level critters. We look forward to diving back in once Osiris: New Dawn offers more content to see how the experience progress. There is definitely promise here.