The debut survival game Forever Skies by Polish developers Far From Home has finally arrived to the PS5 after being released in early access. This game gave me Subnautica and No Man’s Sky vibes while playing it. And fortunately this wasn’t a bad thing. But this game does enough to separate itself from other games in the genre.
Is It A Bird? Is It A Plane?
The main story of Forever Skies follows the playable character as they search for a cure for a virus that is ravaging humanity. Players will travel by air to random outposts scattered around the map to find what happened to other human beings who were attempting to do the same. Datapads from other survivors who died are the main meat of the lore and story throughout the game. The plot is interesting but also weak as you end up not caring about it after a few hours of playing. For me anyway this was the case.
But the main thing about this game is the gameplay. Your main mode of transport is flying a big ballon airship. That is correct. Your airship is the main mode of transport as you fly around the map completing missions, side objectives and scavenging materials to survive and expand your airship. The survival aspect of this game I think is well-done and highly addicting. You use a an extractor tool to extract materials like metal and use them to craft other objects that will help you survive. Players have a hunger, thirst and sleep icons in the bottom left of their screen which they need to take care of if you want to survive. Dying results in losing some of your inventory.
Water purifiers and cookers are some of the things you can craft. Collecting dirty water and placing it in your purifier makes it safe to drink while collecting dust mites and cooking them makes it safer to eat. Basic stuff similar to the likes of Minecraft. But it is an engaging mechanic. Every step you take is dangerous and it is important to be stocked up on these basic essentials.
Your Airship Is Your Home
The airship is your main headquarters. Everything is stored in here. At the start of the game, it will become more cluttered. As you progress you can expand it with new rooms which allows more movement and places to store more things you craft. You can even find decorations to personalise your airship even more. I loved decorating my airship and expanding it. The airship really does become more like a home the more you play. Engines can be attached to the airship to make it faster and these need to be repaired when taking damage when taking damage while flying around. Fuel needs to be scavenged or else you will be stuck in the air while travelling. I felt a connection to the airship as I played and I feel like the mechanic of looking after it was Forever Skies strongest aspect.
Upgrades can be made to make it faster or make it float higher than ever. It was the best part of the game. However, despite being a big map and beautiful to look at, there wasn’t much variation of the locations while exploring. Most areas looked the same and it became repetitive after a while. Exploration is rewarded when finding new materials and the scanner is handy when finding new items and discovering what they are and can do. But it doesn’t stop it from becoming boring. Even the combat is weak. Fighting alien enemies with a knife and crossbow isn’t all that entertaining, but this is a game more interested in the exploration and survival side of things.
Verdict
There isn’t much else to say about Forever Skies. I do think it is a solid game, a fine entry into the survival genre. The airship mechanic is fun. Gathering supplies to survive is engaging and customising your airship is great. There is even a co-op mode for friends to play with. But a weak combat system and exploration being repetitive does bring it down.
