STARSEEKER: Astroneer Expeditions by developer and publisher
System Era Softworks and
Devolver Digital—
PC (Steam) preview written by
Valerie, with copies provided by the publisher.
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
This is a fun and colorful game that we are previewing here today. Our team consists of myself, Susan N. and Bryan. We so enjoyed playing Astroneer: Glitchwalkers that we just had to put our names in the ring for this one! So, with these
words written by the dev team at System Era Softworks, we are previewing the game that is Astroneer, but not Astroneer as you will find out as you read along.
“Whatever we do next I really want it to feel massively connected.
Massively co-operative. Not an MMO, just… everyone on the same team. You
know?”
STARSEEKER: Astroneer Expeditions is just that! Massively co-operative and not an MMO! When you first run the game you are instantly into the tutorial that gives you all you need to proceed onto the station to craft your implements. You'll need to mine, defend yourself (yes, you heard that right!), scan the area, have some fun, go on expeditions, and just be an Astroneer! You also can dress up how you like from the new and fun outfits, color palettes, your body type, and more!
Every Astroneer that starts this game has to go through the tutorial individually where you'll find some things the same from Astroneer the game and other stuff used differently. One of our team, or
'squad' noticed during the tutorial that the compass gave no direction on how to find the resources in that part of the quest he was on. From the start of that tutorial to turning in the resources weren't explained enough either.
The major factor in our experience of the tutorial is the scanner. The quest 'Find something to open the door' offered no encompassing explanation about the scanner in relation to finding that item to open the door. When you hit the 'R' key to pull up the scanner, sure it gives a description of the objects that are scannable, but when you go to interact with the object, you can't open it, collect it, or anything. You have to turn the scanner off to be able to interact with the object. That creates frustration more than smooth integration into the 'training'. It also leaves you open to injury when you are on planet and have 'scanned' a hostile and another hostile (if there are more than one in the area) hits you from another direction. I am NOT fast on the keys, so this part was very frustrating for me as well. And don't get me started on 'Why not use a controller?' as I hear snickering from my two kids in the background! *laughs*
When you get the door open, the next quest is 'Assemble components for your EXO Multi-Tool'. The instructions weren't clear here as well. A little blurb about the EXO Multi-Tool as written in the Astropedia: "Your EXO Multi-Tool can be used to dig up the terrain of the planet. Use it to collect resources, dig tunnels, or carve new paths up mountains." The tutorial doesn't say directly how many pieces you need to collect, but it is listed in the task list in the top right corner of the screen.
However, it does point you to the printer after you have collected the parts, but from there what do we do? I stared at the screen for a full minute before clicking and as I was unsure of doing it right I thought I would see some form of popup that the tool is now in your inventory and ready to use! So many details left out in all instances during this tutorial. When you're in the printer menu, nowhere does it actually say to left-click on the EXO Multi-Tool in the list to print it.
STARSEEKER gives its players a lot of hammers.
After getting your EXO Multi-Tool you are sent to get resources. Now here we had the ultimate fun of the original Astroneer. Digging for resources! Even carving a path down the ledge to get to the floor of the area to hunt down those resources. However, that compass up top? How are we to use it? In the below screenshot I took during my tutorial I see the resource I'm
looking for with the scanner, but I didn't see any mention of the
compass at the top of the screen pointing out the resource and how far
it is to the quartz. And the map? Did you know you can't open the map when you're scanning? That was major frustrating to say the least! After you’ve collected those resources, again it isn’t pointed out where to drop them off. I, personally, would have loved a bouncing arrow above the machine that accepts those resources. Everything is so shiny that the machine seems to blend in with all the other objects on that platform.
On the topic of 'hammers' as stated above by the dev team, your last part of the tutorial before sliding to the launch area is to 'Throw a canister at the Redsuit nearby'. A little teaser here would have been nice with something like 'You'll thank me later', or 'Trust me, you're gonna need something to defend yourself out there!'
Now, on to the station! When you reach the ESS STARSEEKER station you appear in the landing bay player area. Here you find your Stash (which holds a LOT btw), the customize machine so you can fiddle with all your gear and color palettes, and the EXO store. Also note that these machines appear in other locations around the station making it easy to access after expeditions, running around doing tasks, or just for the sheer fun of having a new look for your next quest!
When you walk up to the main platform/floor area of the station you see the big billboards that announce community challenges and players who hit milestones. You're greeted with the first task of meeting up with Muriel who gives you tasks to acclimate you to the station and the things you'll need to use in other tasks given you by three officers: Captain Jupiter, Science Officer Jessandra, and JAM-BX. With these three you gain reputation for rewards, can sell and buy stuff, and complete missions/objectives.
There are two areas for printing and recycling stuff as well as a lot of open space to have that fun I was talking about. You get a lesson about your EXO Multi-Tool that gives you a nice boost, and I don't mean in points.
For your expeditions you access the Launch Terminal. If you've created a team, or squad in the social menu tab, then they will all show up so that when you hit the launch button they all get a notification to press V to ready for launch. It doesn't matter where they are on the station, that notification will show up for them each.
All in all we had great fun on our family night gaming and we are looking forward to more from System Era Softworks! You guys rock! And for all of you still sitting on the fence, go get this game. It's loads and loads of fun!
