Surviving Mars: Relaunched Reviews

The developers continuous enhance this game and remove bugs. I think they are doing a decent enough job that this version is still superior to the original. But I do love both of them.

Better then whatever state the older game is in, ive played both so im not talking out my ass here.

Solidly fun game that continues to engage me. I have hundreds of hours in this game between the original release and the Relaunched version.

First, if you never played the original, then just get this, it's a good game. Ignore the rest of this review. Second if you're boycotting this because it no longer supports Linux, it does (at the time of writing) work out of the box via Proton. There are one or two minor ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, but none affecting gameplay, and no tweaks needed, just run it normally in Steam. And, uh, switch to windowed mode and back again. Done. Now for the main reason i'm reviewing: if like me you owned the original and were a bit (or maybe a lot) unhappy at having to buy the game you already bought again... Well in summary I paid the full amount for the new version and don't regret it. From my perspective here were all the things wrong with the old version: * no ongoing support * game destroying bugs (i gave up after the second complete colony ending bug) * game-breakingly buggy DLCs * unbalanced pay-to-win DLC buildings * silly llamas and penguins wandering your domes in stead of the puppies you were promised Now as I understand it the game and first few (not game-breakingly buggy) DLCs were originally developed by one developer who for whatever reason moved on. Then another maintainer/developer came along and completely failed to release/maintain non-game-breakingly-buggy DLCs. Below and Beyond was so buggy it was widely recommended simply not to purchase it. Martian Express was barely fit for purpose, and only if your purpose was working at distant out-of-dome buildings. Dome migration before you have shuttles? Haha No. Cargo? Maybe it will work if you micromanage it correctly and what you want happens to be exactly what it does. I don't know if it was decided the game was too difficult to maintain or what, but updates ended, bugs remained, and support evaporated. Now years later we come to this relaunch... which marks the return of the original developer, that is the one who we do know released a good game with working DLCs. With this: * support and bugfixing has resumed * both of the game-destroying bugs i encountered in the original have been fixed * the buggy DLCs are actively being de-bugified and improved * the DLC buildings are still unbalanced... but they're stock now so it's not pay-to-win * and well... the llamas and penguins are still there. I probably wouldn't have bought it if there weren't a mod to remove them. But there is. Just for all this, I really do want to support them in bringing back the original developer and remaking the game. I think it was the right choice. That said, regarding a couple other reviews with valid points... 1) right now (patch 1.0.7) the game really is broken without a bugfix mod for disasters... get it on the workshop. Without it disasters just stop coming after the first meteor shower. I'm a bit unimpressed this hasn't been officially hotfixed. 2) The underground and trains content does still have bugs. Like undeletable train tracks. Well, there's a mod for that too. But more importantly... you can turn them off when starting a game, in the game rules. Neither underground nor trains are all that important, and if you aren't using them turning them off gives a much cleaner tech tree with fewer useless techs. Personally tho i like the asteroids, and don't mind the trains now that they aren't useless. 3) Yeah there are some UI bugs. Yeah they're annoying.

Played the original, was excited to play a less buggy version with all the DLC (even though i bought a lot on the original). On the very first playthrough, i encountered the freezing Inispiring Arch. gltich, which was present in the original, and made me stop playing then. I don't see how i could have been fooled into paying again to just experience the same issues. Tried the mod fix, didn't work. I've troubleshot enough, it's a lazy cashgrab instead of what should be a great game. Don't buy it.

If you've never played the original, this is a solid game. Highly reccomend. People like myself that started from the original game, have nothing positive to say about this game. Quite honestly, we all feel ripped off. It's literally the exact same game with some new visual asthetics. The diplomacy addition is a joke, feels rushed and incomplete. thats honestly it for new content. No new maps. Same boring planet, with the same spawn locations. They couldn't even give us a new map, and they released paid DLC for a new faction? The devs are showing their true intentions with this relaunch. It's sad as I truly loved the original and had high hopes for this.

Great game, chill vibe. If you enjoy city builders and sci-fi, it is a must for you. Longer version (mainly for owners of the original): As of v1.07, the game is in a better state than the original, with improvements coming with each patch. While the new rocket mechanics take a minute to understand, they are a great improvement, as it is now virtually impossible to 'accidentally' launch an empty rocket, and you can export far more resources to Earth with a single rocket, or even export Exotic Minerals. Asteroids are now fun and worth visiting early, and even the underground holds more appeal, since you can now build any surface domes there and the elevator mechanics are much improved. Sure, there are still issues, but the devs are working hard to improve the game, with 7 patches so far since release, each bringing fixes and gameplay enhancements, so I will give them my trust, for now. We also have 2 incoming dlc's, so that support won't stop for a while. I know some reviewers/OG players have issues with the publisher's alleged bad business practices, and I do sympathise having been burnt myself, but if you can see past that, the game is great right now, and looks to get even better as development continues. Recommended.

Paradox has pretty much ruined the outlook on this game. The original devs returning to Surviving Mars should have been a triumph. This is an awesome game that deserves a long life of support -- but I've already had to pay for the base game and its DLC *twice* now, like a f*cking idiot. Literally had to buy this version just to get the bug fixes from the previous version Paradox ruined. Don't be me kids, and genuinely do not think about getting this game at least until the dust has settled. At any point they could decide to recharge for any inch of this game, yet again. They've already set the precedent for paying for bug fixes. Just don't get this game, but it really is a great game, so if you do, then know what you're getting yourself into and prepare for maximum Paradox bullsh*t.

Absolute Dumpster Fire I have not had 1 playthrough yet where I didn't encounter some bug that effected gameplay. There are bugs here from the old version that are YEARS old. This game is a scam. Do not buy it. The political system is awful as well.

Honestly game is in a bit of a sorry state, and the devs should be ashamed they re-released this game in such a state. I've done 3 different mysteries that have frozen up so you can't complete them. drone/shuttle management feels worse somehow then the original game. and honestly the political system is poorly implemented and frankly kinda annoying. there is really little reason to not just go to dictator every game as quickly as possible. I really like this game it would be really nice to see some improvement on the issues and I'll give the devs their due the last patch did make some nice QOL improvements but who cares if you can't finish the quests and just end up painting the map. also some new mysteries would be nice too