Captain Planet is Dead
I’m a sucker for the survival games, I have played Ark, 7 Days to Die, Valheim, and a bunch that I can’t even remember anymore. And while they all had something I was looking for none of them had airships and that is just what Forever Skies delivers on. Recently released in early access, Forever Skies sets players loose in a world overrun with pollution; so much so that there is a constant dust layer that hides the surface world and humanity is forced to live in skyscraper like buildings. As I said before the game is in early access and as such doesn’t have a lot of narrative so far, or combat for that matter but the devs have posted a road map that shows how much they intend to add.
MSRP: $29.99
Platforms: PC
Price I’d Pay: $19.99
As it stands currently Forever Skies isn’t unlike most other games of the genre, players will need to monitor things like thirst and hunger to start off with. Early on this means purifying bad water and ‘dust’ fishing for moths as a quick snack. The game is quite the slow burn as it reveals more and more complexity, players will start off with a basic airship and given some basic tasks to teach the scavenging and crafting mechanics. As players move about the world on their airships there will be tasks to do in order to keep things moving. Ensuring that you have fuel is a biggie, I can’t tell you how many times I was stranded in the middle of the sky because I didn’t have any fuel. But players can also cook, craft and purify their water if they have the appropriate stations on their airships. Once unlocked the ‘shipbuilder’ allows for lots of rooms and items to add to the airships but watching its weight will be important if you want to remain airborne.
The world of Forever Skies is littered with decaying buildings of various sizes which can be seen through all the muck by their flashing beacons atop them. Once players reach these destinations, they will be able to explore and find various materials for crafting new things. Forever Skies does a good job of gradually introducing new items and things to build to not overwhelm the players with information overload. But for all the cool things Forever Skies has to offer it still suffers from a lack of content and proper direction and that’s really a result of its ‘early access’ moniker. While there is something of a scaling complexity to how things are taught in game, there is rarely much direction on where to find things other than “follow the flashing light”. There is a radar that players will be taught to build early on but as of now there is no way to mark anything on it or a map. Players will have to use their memory as ‘POI’ will disappear the further away they fly. Those players who are adventurers will be right at home with this sort of sandbox, but for players who don’t necessarily want to stumble their way towards victory it may be best to wait until the ‘1.0’ release.
There really isn’t one thing that I walked away from in Forever Skies that I absolutely hated; in fact, I found its approach quite refreshing to the genre. Having a lone scientist return to the polluted Earth is a great jumping point for some survival stories. And flying through the world was strangely beautiful at times, seeing the sun rise and set against the green sky and thunderstorms with the impressive lightning flashes and rain were my favorites to witness. Alas there just isn’t enough content currently for me to invest in this game fully, I don’t want to get burnt out on the limited content and then never come back to check out the game in all its glory. Forever Skies isn’t a bad game by any means, it’s just not a complete one and if you know that going in and aren’t bothered by it then you will have some fun in the skies.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
