For The Good Of The Colony
Developed and published by Serious Brothers, Imagine Earth is billed as a economic strategy and climate crisis simulator set in outer space! As a space colony manager, it’s up to you, the player, to explore and populate planets for the betterment of the human species, ensuring its survival. This is the meat and bones of the story available in Imagine Earth. Across the course of the campaign you are tasked with populating and managing six different planets, each with their own benefits and problems. The campaign effectively works as a challenge mode for each level/planet. Set in the Andromeda Galaxy, these different planets offer varying tasks for the player which really helps diversify the campaign and help the player to understand the overarching themes of the game, particularly its environmental message. The first planet you land on serves as your tutorial planet. Beautifully narrated by your unnamed colony advisor, the game does a wonderful job setting up the tasks and challenges on the horizon for the player.
Throughout the campaign, which roughly takes twelve hours, there are numerous tasks the player has to complete. Serious Brothers have crafted a real thought-provoking narrative that balances the fine line between sustainability and profitability. You’ll work against scheming corporations hellbent on profit at any cost, or cooperate with alien inhabitants to ensure the survival of their race and the planet. The environmental themes are so deeply woven into the narrative and the gameplay itself; it is impossible for the player to ignore them. Imagine Earth doesn’t bombard you with preachy warnings but does allow the game itself to become a discussion on the perils our own planet faces with climate change and global warming. It is commendable how much deft storytelling the developers have poured into the game. Imagine Earth really can at times serve as a discourse on our current environmental struggles and I think that’s a wonderful way of creating impactful storytelling. Of course in a management sim like this, it’s important that the gameplay itself serves the player.
Planet Fixer-Upper
At its core, Imagine Earth is your typical management sim. You can construct districts, farms and markets, along with energy distributors and mining resources to help keep your colony thriving. Controls are easy to get a hang of and are responsive; building has never felt easier for me in terms of picking the right zone for your construction. A unique aspect to the game is the fact that you have to acquire licences for research and technologies within your colony. This adds an element of thought and detail for the player that is not always there in simulators. Deciding on whether to unlock a planetary scanner or a thermal cooler for your powerplants really adds variety to the game and allows you to focus on what you feel warrants your attention. Random events like patent thieves trying to steal your newest technologies or forming alliances or rivalries with alien races really help sprinkle a genuine sense of the unknown for the player and are welcome distractions.
Like the story, moral and environmental issues are woven into the gameplay itself. Build too many factories and powerplants and your planet will begin to pollute, causing the area in which you can construct to shrink over time. Overpopulate your areas with districts and no viable food consumption and the colony will suffer. Wild fires and meteor showers derail your best laid plans. These mechanics created such a fine line for me I loved it; I constantly felt as though I was battling against time itself, while also being conscious of the environment. It really created a pace in a simulator game that I feel is unrivalled and different, a real thought-provoking game.
A Galaxy Of Wonders
Along with its core campaign mode, the game also has a multitude of options for the player, whether you want to face AI companies in competition mode (a mode which could add online matchmaking that could create real fun for a co-op partner) or kicking back and creating the ultimate utopia in endless and challenge modes. The depth and variety in this game is something to be really applauded. What also makes this game hard to put down at times is its beautiful art design. I marvelled at the graphical prowess of the game which I really did not expect. Planets look colourful, vibrant and ooze detail at each turn. I often would spin the camera around the planet to view its beautiful scenery. Sometimes simulators and strategy games like this leave graphics and presentation to the wayside. But Imagine Earth really is a gorgeous game to look at.
Along with its wonderful presentation, the music and sound design of the game are a real high point for me. The soundtrack has such a retro sci-fi feel to it and so I absolutely adored it. Set at such a perfect level, the score is so relaxing and comforting for the gameplay. Serious Brothers have made such a complementary soundtrack that perfectly meshes with gameplay and is thus highly impressive. Sound design also delivers, with ships landing and alerting the player to deals to be made, and voice acting that really sounds true to the sci-fi genre. It’s a shame the campaign doesn’t utilize more of the voice acting overall. But despite that, the developers have nailed the look and feel for the genre both visually and through sound design.
A Few Minor Bumps For Mankind
Whilst playing Imagine Earth there were some issues along the way. Throughout my time I suffered from numerous crashes, severely affecting my journey at times. Due to autosaves not being frequent enough, I lost hours of progression due to these crashes and I hope that the developers can patch such issues out in due course as it really hindered my overall enjoyment of the game.
While controls are responsive and easy to get a hang of, the UI can be hectic at times and downright confusing at best. The tutorial really weighs heavy on the player as a great deal of information is thrown at you with little time to digest it all. Often I felt overwhelmed with the text and analytics on my screen and I found myself consistently pausing to make sure I had a grasp on what my colony needed. Similarly, menus can be clunky and hard to navigate; some veterans of this genre will love this, but I fear most newcomers of the genre will simply become put off by the lack of direction the game offers you at times.
Verdict
Imagine Earth really hits home with its thought-provoking narrative and overarching themes that really are close to reality. With gorgeous visuals and game design, great sound and a serene and calming soundtrack, Imagine Earth is an impressive game when everything is going for it. Crashes and a chaotic UI can hinder that experience but overall it’s one I really would recommend checking out. To infinity and beyond!
