The Crust Review (PC)

2024 is turning out to be a treat for fans of colony simulation games. Take, for example, Empire of Undergrowth by Slug Disco Studios, which puts players into the tiny six legs of ant species. Ocean Punk thwarts you deep into the ocean with a cyberpunk background to explore the depths as you test your survival skills. These games have won the hearts of many. Ideally, the aim behind any colony simulation game is survival. What miles or sacrifices are you willing to trade for another day of living?

This type of adventure puts you at the edge of your seat, where you yearn for the next challenge that could be a breeze or a tough nut to crack. If this is your type of excitement, then The Crust should be a game worth your time. The colony simulator takes you on a wild Martian adventure where you explore a new environment or, shall I say, humanity’s new home. Without much further ado, here is The Crust review.

Home Away From Home

It’s a general rule of thumb for colony simulators to subject players to extreme situations where they must constantly balance survival, resource management, and the well-being of their colony members. The Crust doesn’t entirely depart from this formula with its gameplay and narrative. Picture this: the potential or long-awaited decline of Earth is finally here. The lush planet that we once knew and loved is now empty, with no resources to support life. The only option is to go the Elon Musk way and try to establish a colony on one of the planets in the solar system. But instead of going for Mars, which is the closest habitable planet, the moon is the right option. 

You play as a Director for the Crust Initiative, which is a group of scientists tasked with finding the next habitable celestial body. Your role is to explore every crevice on the moon, identifying resources and constructing structures that will be home for the future of humanity-call it a beacon of hope. Ideally, the colony must be self-sustaining, meaning you must extract resources, build factories and ensure a delicate balance between survival and colonisation.

Essentially, this is not a novel premise in the gaming world. However, The Crust takes a unique approach and runs with it. If you’ve played Factorio, Frostpunk, or Starfield, you’ll clearly see the similarities. If you’ve played all three games, this colony simulator will eventually feel like a crossbreed of the three. 

Build, Build, Build

From the moment you launch The Crust, you’re thrust into the heart of the action: factory building. Unlike other games where you start with a blank canvas, here you inherit a moon already bustling with high-tech remnants from previous lunar colonisation. Your corporation has spent the last decade maintaining and repairing mining and robotic equipment, as well as developing cutting-edge maintenance technology for these lunar missions.

As Earth’s resources dwindled, humanity turned to the moon for salvation. Before you can establish a thriving colony, you must first deploy drones to mine vital resources. But just as you begin, a catastrophic event devastates the moon’s surface, annihilating much of the equipment. This disaster spells doom for the lunar inhabitants and cuts off essential resources to Earth, placing the burden of survival and recovery squarely on your shoulders.

Essentially, the game offers a unique challenge where you build and expand both on the moon’s surface and below it. With surface infrastructure in ruins, you must salvage what’s left to reinforce the underground facilities. Essential structures like launch pads and vehicle construction sites need rebuilding above ground, while underground bunkers can be created to safeguard your colonists.

 All Aboard

From the get-go, it’s clear that The Crust is not your typical factory builder. This is because not every factory you set up is automated, meaning some will require manpower. Besides running the factory, your team will also help you with research. For now, the team under you doesn’t have much demand aside from food and water. This sort of points to the game being more of a base-builder than a colony simulator. Perhaps this aspect of staffing will be polished further down the road after the early access launch.

Moreover,  corporations from Earth will continuously ask for resources, and you have to ensure that the supply of resources meets the demand.

By feeding the demand, you can manipulate the market to your advantage, turning a keen eye on Earth’s fluctuating needs and positioning yourself as a pivotal player in the space economy. This strategic maneuvering can yield immense profits, but it requires careful planning and a bit of risk-taking. Timing is everything, and making the right call could secure your corporation’s dominance in the lunar trade. Alternatively, investing your surplus into mega-projects can transform the lunar landscape and advance human capabilities. 

The ultimate goal is to help Homo sapiens become a multi-planetary species. Your decisions on the Moon will ripple back to Earth, influencing global politics and economies. Will you be the magnate who controls the flow of lunar resources or the visionary who pioneers the next leap in human evolution?

Out and About

Expeditions are the heart and one of the most exhilarating aspects of the game. The Crust’s expedition feature brilliantly combines exploration, resource management, and strategic planning, making each venture a pivotal part of your lunar journey. As you venture out into the unknown, you’ll unearth new materials and put every discovery to good use, driving your colony’s progress and survival.

Moreover, forming transport teams is essential for these expeditions. You must carefully select your crew and equip them with the right tools that can make the difference between success and failure. Your teams will traverse the rugged lunar terrain, facing unpredictable challenges as they search for rare resources and invaluable artifacts.

Scientific and rescue missions add another layer of depth to the game. These missions often lead to remote locations, where unique geological formations might hold secrets about the moon’s history or possess rare minerals critical for your colony’s development. Additionally, rescue missions require quick thinking and strategic planning to save stranded personnel or retrieve malfunctioning equipment, adding a sense of urgency and heroism to your endeavors.

A Rocky Ride

With colony expansion come political affairs. The two are like two peas in a pod, where you must also forge alliances in your quest to ensure humans have two planets they call home. Of course, leave it to this species to want double ownership. Anyway, the fate of humanity rests in your hands. You wouldn’t want your grand efforts to be thwarted by a disagreement with the Martians. Your leadership will determine whether the citizens merely survive or truly thrive as a multi-planetary species.

The game features a skill tree aspect that unlocks access to upgrades. The skill tree progresses after conducting research; however, the game doesn’t reveal what you should research. While some elements will come naturally as part of the gameplay, it can be frustrating to figure out what needs to be studied.

The Good

The Crust does an impeccable job of setting the scene with its contrasting whites and greys. Since it’s the moon, you don’t get an entire color palette on the backdrop, which is good since it creates the notion of being up on the moon. I mean, this comes pretty close to the moon landing videos, so if you’ve always wanted to go on a moon expedition, this is your first-class ticket there. Visually, of course. 

I was particularly impressed with the level of realism, from how the sun casts a shadow to the insane amount of detail. Of course, being an early access game, some areas felt inadequate in terms of detail, but it’s enough to get things going for a start. 

Moreover, the character’s voice acting and soundtrack do a good job of complementing the gameplay. The voice acting is natural and doesn’t sound like an AI-generated script, which is a major plus for the game, considering that a lot of dialogue takes place in the background. At no point did I want to mute the audio since it gives heads-up information on how to maneuver the moon’s terrain and also how smooth the conversations are. 

Verdict

The Crust is a solid game that expands the boundaries of colony simulation with its mechanics. The game’s visuals have a striking appeal, and the soundtrack elevates the gameplay to far-reaching heights. However, the mechanics can get a bit frustrating. It really boils down to plenty of engineer fixes. It’s not straightforward in its execution, so you ideally have to make wild guesses about what is needed and when. I’ll reserve my verdict until the full release irons out all these issues. As for the price tag, it’s worth dipping your feet and getting a feel of things.