Astroneer: Glitchwalkers DLC by developer and publisher System Era Softworks and Devolver Digital—PC (Steam) review written by Susan N. and Valerie, with copies provided by the publisher.
Estimated reading time: 10 minutes
My family and I embarked on our new journey from our previous game when we went through the base game story. Before finding our space shuttles and fully adjusting to our previous save, we looked at the mission log and found the starting quest for Glitchwalkers. In order to begin the DLC content, you will have to complete the mission called A Core Concept. Once you achieve that, you can go into the mission log and begin your new journey.
The first thing to notice about the new planet is that you lose access to all the research you had unlocked, basically starting you back at the beginning. You will be able to access those after you collect research like you did at the beginning of the base game. Another thing I noticed is that you begin in the Boolean Fields. I was personally amused by this fact, along with some of the quest names.
Another thing to notice are the graphics on this new strange planet. It feels eerie, particularly when you approach the storms. Everything from the ‘normal’ vegetation to the vaults, and to the storms themselves, are beautiful - if not terrifying. Upon entering a storm, an indicator will appear above your head. If it fills up, your systems are hacked and you have no oxygen unless you get out of there. Each storm you collect data from will get you access to the next layer and you will have to pursue a stronger storm.
When you open your research terminal to unlock different tools, you can always tell the objects that have been hacked because the icons will be red in color and it will appear distorted. Should those be insufficient, directly above the research button is a section that normally displays the total bytes needed. If you cannot research it yet, the box will be highlighted in purple and it clearly says 'HACKED'. These are the details that I appreciate in games.
We've had a blast playing Glitchwalkers. Although, there are some things that we each noticed about the game which will hopefully be improved soon. So let's talk about some of the good points and some of the bad points about the DLC.
The Good
Now, when talking about the nitty gritty aspects of Glitchwalkers, there were plenty of things that we enjoyed. First, the idea of walking through a cool portal to start the DLC amused the heck out of me because Portal is a fantastic series of games (even the unofficial games are awesome. Not going to lie…)
Another thing that we enjoyed was the concept of a hacker being the big bad. I can’t recall having a villain in Astroneer before, so this is a great story concept.
Thirdly, the visuals and the hazards keep you on your toes. There were several points where we were innocently walking along and a hazard shot at us. Be careful with these things. Some of them have quite the range and the sound they make scared the heck out of me!
Fourthly, we love the vault mechanics. Having a simple puzzle to solve in order to unlock helpful tools, is fun for a family who enjoys elements like that. They are similar to a 'complete the picture' type of puzzle and when all three of the pieces are placed, it will open. Vaults give useful research and information to help you on your journey. I'd love to have more things like this, personally.
The Bad
There were a few issues that we had during our playthrough of the game. Firstly, the visibility is atrocious at times. The fog was a little too dense to see anything - even with a light on our backs. However, in a recent patch, System Era Networks did mention that the fog around the storm was prohibitively dense and they reduced it by 25%. Additionally, they increased the Alpha Storm Protection so that players can learn the mechanics of the new system more easily.
Again related to the graphics of the game, my brother fell through the world at least once, which was quite aggravating. This occurred on the new planet and while we were relatively close to a storm. While I didn’t fall through the world, the minor bit of lag that I experienced from the camera turning around while inside the storm, pointed my character in the wrong direction and I ended up running off a cliff.
Something that doesn't relate to the graphics which could have hindered progression is the fact that while in the multiplayer game, I could not scroll through the text in the mission log. This would have meant that I would miss a bunch of the story as it is told through the mission text. My mom had to read the text out loud so that we knew what was going on. In my single player game, the mission log seems to be working fine. Again, I'm unsure of the cause of this issue. Hopefully, no one else has to deal with that problem because it could set people back.
We'd also like to see an in-game chat for those times when one or a couple of us cannot use the voice chat of Discord while playing the game.
Before getting into my final thoughts on Glitchwalkers, Valerie has some comments of her own.
Valerie's Thoughts: I was the host of our multiplayer game and I still enjoy the puzzles, colorful world, all the buildings, just everything about this game is FUN! I don’t think I’ve laughed so hard over dying in a game than in this one. Some spectacular instances where the hostile plants have created periods of unnatural flight and disappearing acts did leave us scratching our heads until we discovered which plant got us. The graphics are unique to this open world survival game and I just absolutely love it. I am also sure that I sat through until I completed a mission, or many connected missions for over the two hour limit I should be giving myself of not moving to get the blood circulating.
We started Glitchwalkers from our family game save and had a blast with frustrations on doing the first mission of the DLC. When we got to the point where the story tied in, a big frustrating incident greeted us. I was very sad that my family members didn’t get to see the cinematic and were literally disconnected and had to reconnect to our game once the cinematic was finished. It wouldn’t let them back into the game until that was done. I know they’ll play their solo games and see it, but that would have been awesome to experience it all together.
On another note of the above, I didn't realize that a new save was made for the Glitchwalkers DLC. I discovered that when we exited the game for the night, and right there on the screen was a SAVE_2 with what looked like a snowflake icon next to it. So, when we went in on the second night of playing I automatically went to load the SAVE_1 and discovered that was the base game and not the DLC. Loading up the SAVE_2 and poof, there was all our stuff and the terrain of the Glitchwalkers DLC greeted me.
So, onto what I liked about the game besides the above. With all the skills, resources, and tools to build things from the base game, we came out on top for getting our home base set up to proceed through the Glitchwalkers universe. Of course that’s my specialty is setting up and getting things organized so we could produce the vehicles and items needed to complete each mission. I'm also good at setting out to hunt down resources needed and creating a tether trail so we don't die until we can get a portable oxygenator unlocked. All of the research, with the exception of the beginning stuff needed is locked in the research tab/menu. As we progressed, more and more items were available to be unlocked using our accumulation of research points.
Needless to say that we were grateful when the buggy was unlocked so we could go further than the tether lines I had laid down to get to the next mission area.
Another problem we all had was viewing distance. This was my view from our ramp going down into the ground to the open mantle layer. This is an image of my view as host of the game. My son's view is the image above.
Before getting into my final thoughts on Glitchwalkers, Valerie has some comments of her own.
We started Glitchwalkers from our family game save and had a blast with frustrations on doing the first mission of the DLC. When we got to the point where the story tied in, a big frustrating incident greeted us. I was very sad that my family members didn’t get to see the cinematic and were literally disconnected and had to reconnect to our game once the cinematic was finished. It wouldn’t let them back into the game until that was done. I know they’ll play their solo games and see it, but that would have been awesome to experience it all together.
So, onto what I liked about the game besides the above. With all the skills, resources, and tools to build things from the base game, we came out on top for getting our home base set up to proceed through the Glitchwalkers universe. Of course that’s my specialty is setting up and getting things organized so we could produce the vehicles and items needed to complete each mission. I'm also good at setting out to hunt down resources needed and creating a tether trail so we don't die until we can get a portable oxygenator unlocked. All of the research, with the exception of the beginning stuff needed is locked in the research tab/menu. As we progressed, more and more items were available to be unlocked using our accumulation of research points.
Needless to say that we were grateful when the buggy was unlocked so we could go further than the tether lines I had laid down to get to the next mission area.
Another problem we all had was viewing distance. This was my view from our ramp going down into the ground to the open mantle layer. This is an image of my view as host of the game. My son's view is the image above.
Final Thoughts
Glitchwalkers is a fantastic DLC for Astroneer. The family and I had a blast learning new things and exploring different strange areas. Although there were some massive pain points with respect to the graphics and missing a crucial cutscene, it has been a great addition to the game. The story is interesting and rather poignant in real life. The audio is incredibly well done. As you move closer to the storm, you will hear the wind increase its speed and it will amplify in volume. Plus, getting to spend time with friends and family while playing Glitchwalkers is worth it. I missed my galactic purple spacesuit bonhomme, if I’m honest.Aside from falling through the world and having reduced vision at points, Glitchwalkers is a knock out of the park in terms of the content you receive. If you enjoyed the base game of Astroneer, you’re sure to love Glitchwalkers. Overall, I give this DLC a solid 9 out of 10!
Score: 9 / 10
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