What better way to celebrate October (otherwise known as spoopy ghost month) than to sit back with a cool scifi game? Alright, there are probably better options. Amnesia the Bunker might be a better fit, seeing as I am 20 hours into the game and still no closer to finishing it. I blame the invincible horror that stalks the bunker, but it might just be my skill level. It might also be better if it were October.
I might not be good at that game. Where were we? Oh yes, Forces of Ether! I received access to the game a while back (thanks to the developers through Keymailer for this!), and it has taken me longer to try it out than I expected. At first glance, Forces of Ether looked like one of those overly ambitious games that falls short. The world is massive and there is a ton to do in this scifi exploration game, but I wondered at first what the catch was. I’m happy to be wrong, because Forces of Ether is better than I expected. It will launch on November 8th, so consider this an early preview.
Despite its simplicity, there is a lot to praise so far. Upon crashlanding on an alien planet, the player goes through a short dungeon tutorial. The usual mechanics you might expect are here. Move around on foot with a keyboard or via a controller, shoot down the hostile animals and rogue drones that plague the region, and gather resources. Ether is the primary resource in the game, and funds your level up powers. The progression system is pretty diverse with a lot of different abilities to unlock. I recommend getting the Dash ability as soon as possible, as it makes the combat much easier. Your character is not as quick as the enemy, so being able to dodge attacks is vital. I found early on that you cannot tank much damage, so it is better to avoid enemies until you can get a better weapon.
After getting your spaceship and needing to get it fixed, the scope of Forces of Ether expands quite rapidly from there. The map is easy to access and provides a satellite view of the planet – teeming with things to do. Dungeons can be explored for loot, and cities have people to talk to and do errands to build up reputation. The quests so far have been pretty basic fetch missions, but they’re an organic way of leading into its solid gameplay loop. So far, so good.
I have also been testing it on the Steam Deck. So far, the experience has been fairly solid with good performance and controls. It is not currently optimized for it, so I’m hoping once the launch period is over, the developer can work on that. So far, so good.
Forces of Ether will launch on November 8th. This is a short impression preview, and I will likely follow it up with another review once things settle.
