It’s a clear day, the weather is just turning slightly warm in early May 1957, and my rocket is ready to go. Or at least I believe it is. I mean, I have a 38% success rate of the rocket getting into the sky and out of the atmosphere. What does one do? Hmm. Let’s talk about it.
A week and some change ago, we had the opportunity to be a part of a preview event for Mars Horizon, a new PC simulator game that gives you the nitty-gritty duties of a space agency director, minus the useless government meetings. While the game demo of MH launched during the Steam Fall Festival, we had the good fortune of getting a full ride with the game to see what the heck it was about. Mars Horizon is essentially a budget-balancing rocket simulator that allows you to create and build-up a space agency, while also giving you a taste of success and failure in the space race. Also, yes, you do get to shoot a rocket into space. The balance between effort and results will most likely charm the hell out of simulator freaks (like myself), while also intriguing space enthusiasts to come to get a feel for what goes into a rocket launch.
Carefully Plan
How the game works is anything less than simple, but not quite impossible — it’s in that healthy middle of HCI success and fun. The game will put you to the test and sometimes leave you hanging for answers, but never leaves you completely high and dry with what you should be doing. Much like the point of the game, exploring the game’s menus and getting used to its nuances is fun, sometimes thrilling. That is the first step of the game and one that you will most certainly get quickly used to as you play it…when it comes out.
You start off by building up the ESA (European Space Agency) from the ground up. You build out a rocket, build a place to launch it from, then begin researching the hell out of flight elements, while gathering funds and constructing buildings to further your earthly/space explorations. The more you build, the more you research, the more you have a better chance of succeeding with each mission. Taking your time in this game to explore all the nooks and crannies while watching your money flow is the name of the successful game, and even then you don’t have a 100% chance of succeeding (just like in real life). Rather, the game wants you to provide your ‘best’ chance of succeeding, a goal that is reachable depending on your achievements and choices. It does this in a few ways.
A Few Ways
The building part of the game allows for the rest of its options to show up. The more research labs you build (and expand upon), and the more research areas you make available to your scientist and astronauts, the more you have a better chance of completing a mission. Giving your agency a large amount of research in an ample amount of time is going to open up better doors for your rocket to make it in a mission. Much like in a real space agency, the more you know and can account for, the better things will be for the mission. When smart people are hungry for knowledge, you want to make sure their brains are well fed, and the only way to ensure this is to keep researching. Getting back to missions, completing missions earns you not only praise, success, and such, but also earns you money and research points that you will need to see yourself through better and more difficult missions. Again, the more you know, the better you’ll be — that is most of the game. It’s a true simulator in that respect.
Completing missions on time and through well-researched plans will also put you ahead of other agencies, which you can work with or against. Much like the space race from the 50s/60s, the soviets and NASA are doing their best to get their rockets in the air before you do. If they succeed before you do, then there is the potential for backlash, and your research points and budget will take a hit. Who wants to fund second place? No one. As the director, you really have to figure out when to take chances. You have to figure other agencies’ agendas and if you feel comfortable launching when you’re not ready. For me during my brief time with MH, I over-researched and over-planned my launches, which meant I didn’t get my rocket in the air first. Being a semi-responsible adult, I could live with that, but it didn’t help me grow faster at the end of the day. Sure, it kept rockets intact and people alive, but there was no virtual glam or glitz. I’m fine with that at the end of the day.
Anyway, this is the exoskeleton and somewhat fine details of what to expect with Mars Horizon. The game is addictive as hell, especially if you’re the type of person that likes building simulators, space simulators, and watching hard work equal out to success. It’s emotionally rewarding for a game that is still in development, and it’s incredibly easy to pick up and go for a game that should be complicated.
We’re definitely going to keep an eye out for this one as it nears launch (har har har — but seriously, we’re going to be back reviewing this when the time comes). In the meantime, you should give the demo a go and see for yourself.
