Alone on a barren planet, and out of Shake 'n' Vac. I don't know why that phrase sprang to mind (stolen and paraphrased from Red Dwarf) but after playing Mars First: Logistics for a while, and realising that it's as addictive as Haribo Tangfastics, and feels utterly original compared to a lot of the stuff I've been playing recently, I couldn't help thinking how utterly ridiculous (yet satisfying) most of the missions are.
I say "most" because sometimes the game throws you a curveball and you set out with good intentions, only to rage-quit a few minutes later as the game's unintentional cruelty rises to the surface, and certain objects completely elude your engineering skills. But I'm getting ahead of myself here, what on earth is this game about?
Simply put, you're in charge of a potentially massive Lego Technics kit, comprising all the parts you'll need to transport things from A to B. At first you're given a few parts, but earn more as you complete missions - and buy extra bits once you start to earn some credits. Simple enough eh? Indeed at first it all sounds blissfully simple, dare we say boring, but then it gets its teeth into you and starts throwing you some serious curveballs.
Warning - there may be spoilers ahead!
MFL has a deliciously satisfying looking game engine, all crisply cel-shaded and moody, but at its heart it also has a rather remarkable physics engine that feels like it's accurately representing just the right amount of heft and gravity to things in the game.
With that large bunch of 'lego bits' you build rovers to transport objects around, starting off with a simple set of wheels and some chassis bits, a couple of pre-made templates (some of which are useful, most of which are utterly worthless but do gain you a few new bits), and lots of different linkages and moving parts that help you to build your rover's functionality. Servos, pistons, springs, hinges, you name it and you can build it - you've just got to use your old grey matter a bit to try and think your way around the problem.
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| "Put...me...down!" |
I started out transporting simple objects around and then the game thought it'd have some fun with me, presenting the first object that had me swearing my head off - a slippery glass prism, a huge triangular object with no grippable surfaces that I just could NOT find a satisfying way to deal with. But as the game fills your inbox with side missions and other distractions, you're never stuck for something to do - until you start reaching a point where your resources and funds are outstripped by your need to increase the bandwidth of your 'working area' - like the fog of war in RTS games, MFL limits the range of your rover based on the placement of huge radio towers - which you will have to fund and build yourself.
In amongst those challenges you'll also be called on to build monorails, pipelines and other structures, making good use of Mars' mineral resources (and a handy drilling bit for your rover). Some of those missions are intensely challenging as you try to work out how to weave a pipeline through mountainous terrain, before realising you've run out of resources for your ridiculously convoluted design. MFL makes you think - and often rethink - your strategies to suit that delicate balance.
I love how the game lets you start getting cocky enough that you think you can build anything, before presenting you with a near-impossible challenge. For example, how the HELL do you transport a flittering butterfly, or a bunch of pots and pans whose lids keep falling off! Yep the physics engine represents stuff like that almost perfectly, teasing you into building transport and structures that can incorporate those 'loose bits' that keep falling off what you're transporting.
It's been a while since a game has lit a fire under my imagination like this one, and forced me to really think about the solutions to its many puzzles. I really liked the fact that if you get stuck on a particular challenge, you can go and polish off a few side challenges to get more funds or just to do something easier - rather than the usual gameplay mechanic of bricking you up in an inescapable problem.
I paid a shade over £8 and I've easily got my money's worth out of it already, and it's actually one of the few games I've played recently that's made me almost forget Roadcraft. Yes, it's that good!
"Mars First: Logistics" is available via the Steam store for your favourite flavour of machine (and it works really well on the steam deck too!)
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