In the first month of 2023 released two underwater strategies at once – Aquatico and Surviving the Abyss. Both – urban simulation, which suggests peaceful development, building process chains, logistics, and production, rather than the heated fights at the seabed, which remembered the most famous strategy series about the underwater world – Submarine Titans.
Comparisons can not be avoided – the projects have a lot in common, and the release date is less than a week apart, so begs the obvious question: what better to play for those who want to feel like the mayor of the underwater metropolis?
The Plot of The Game
The whole plot is a small splash screen with a story about the cataclysm that happened. Do not wait for a scripted single campaign scripted, nor a generator of stories in the image and likeness of RimWorld, when the gameplay itself creates a narrative or creepy atmosphere of icy despair Frostpunk. Everything is much simpler – there is a seabed, a set of buildings available for construction on the seabed, and a small number of inhabitants, whose needs must be monitored.
The player is forced to amuse himself, moving towards his own goal – Aquatico has no finish line, after reaching which you can consider that the game is over.
Gameplay Features
The gameplay is as bland as it gets. Strange as it may seem, the game is often downloaded on piratesbay proxy not for the story but for the gameplay. Perhaps the unique feature that distinguishes Aquatico from a typical city-building simulator is the strict separation of residential and industrial zones. If you look at the number of structures available for construction or the variety of professions at the beginning of the passage, it seems that in Aquatico, there will be a real logistical hell with dozens of interconnected resources and needs of the population, clinging to each other, as parts of a complex mechanism. We are faced with a purely linear process, there are almost no long production chains, and resources are extracted only to meet the increasing demands of the inhabitants.
- Building improvements are another annoying part of micro control: upgrading each building by hand gets tiresome very quickly.
- Improving buildings is another annoying part of micro control: upgrading each building manually is annoying very quickly.
Your domes give the impression of a vertical, layered structure, which gives the illusion of playing two games. Outside the domes, you are essentially building an underwater machine designed to be efficient and productive. Inside the domes, you build a livable city where your citizens gather and enjoy life. It’s a nice feeling when you switch building modes, the sudden change in styles keeps your attention on the game.
A lot of minor bugs that testers encountered early on were fixed by the end of the first week. After that, we experienced very smooth gameplay for the most part. Some ran into minor issues here and there, but nothing broke the game.
Game Mechanics
The game gives no other incentive than to explore all the available improvements and unlock all the “techs”. The only technology that generates interest and is at least somewhat different from just another factory to produce new resources is expeditions.
A lot of people liked the level of subordinate control that some of the buildings have. If you like counting, you’ll love this game. The dynamics between the trading post and the trading company allow you to minimize your resources and make the game much faster when they are pumped up. Buildings such as the cage and underwater field allow you to collect various products that you can use for trading.
Conclusion
If you are interested in the managerial aspect of mini-maxing and watching it all grow, this game is ready for you today. If you like the special events and narrative aspects of city building, you may not really like this game at the moment. At this point, the game is in great condition, future updates will add some of the exciting content that is missing.