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[LegendOfKage]

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Who? Deep Field Games
What? A co-op crafting and survival game set in a underground facility.
When? Right now. The game was released on the 22nd of July. Before that, it was in early access for over a year.
Where? PC, PS5, and Xbox.
Why? Co-op is fun, exploration is rewarding, and crafting bases anywhere within a large indoor complex is a unique change for the genre.
How? $35 to purchase, but it's also included this month on PS Plus Extra and Game Pass.


What is this game?

Abiotic Factor is a a co-op crafting and survival game set in a underground facility. You play a scientist working in the facility when things start to go wrong. Hostile alien life forms are now roaming about the sprawling complex, and you're going to have to figure out how to survive and escape.


Can the game be played solo?

Yes! Co-op is not required to play.


Is there cross-play?

Yes! There's full cross-play support across PC, PS5 and Xbox.


How does progression work?

All progression is tied the the host, and you cannot take a character back to your world, or to another friend's game.


If this is a survival game, does that mean I have to worry about eating and drinking all the time?

Thanks to a large number of sandbox settings, you can make Abiotic Factor as easy or as challenging as you want. You can raise, lower, or disable all sorts of settings in the game before you create a new game. That includes how long it takes before you're hungry, thirsty, tired, etc.


How punishing is this game on default settings? I know survival games can be pretty difficult.

With the default settings, when you die you drop everything in your inventory, but you get to keep anything equipped and anything in your quick access wheel. It's not really frustrating, and you don't lose progress.

 

[Generic]

I will give it a try.

 

[Trogdor1123]

I remember seeing it and thought it looked pretty neat. I'll wait to hear what folks think.

 

[forsakkenSoul]

I played it with some friends, but I didn't like it. I requested a refund on Steam. I don't know, I just don't have the patience for this kind of game anymore.

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

Anyone play the PS5 version? How's the port?

 

[Punished Miku]

Just played a bit of the tutorial. The dialogue is definitely humorous. I'll try it when I'm in the mood for it. Really feels like a PC game with tiny font and mouse- centric menus. So that was a little off putting on console.

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

Just played a bit of the tutorial. The dialogue is definitely humorous. I'll try it when I'm in the mood for it. Really feels like a PC with tiny font and mouse- centric menus. So that was a little off putting on console.

I'm weary of games like this on console by now. The controls are always annoying.

 

[Neolombax]

Just tried this yesterday, played the tutorials, a bit dull for my tastes.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Amniotic Fluid.

 

[Buggy Loop]

I played it a lot on PC coop with friend

Really fucking fun and hilarious moments.

The map is one of the best made one I've seen in a long time, full of shortcuts and secrets

 

[ryantetric]

Just played a couple hours crossplatform PC to PS5 with a friend and didn't have any issues. Really fun so far exploring the facility and crafting along the way with some nice QoL coop stuff, would be more fun with a couple more people. Loving the Half Life influence.

 

[LegendOfKage]

I remember seeing it and thought it looked pretty neat. I'll wait to hear what folks think.

I'm enjoying it enough to make an OT thread, and I don't make a lot of them.

Anyone play the PS5 version? How's the port?

Seems good to me so far. Maybe watch a review or two if you still have concerns.

Just played a bit of the tutorial. The dialogue is definitely humorous. I'll try it when I'm in the mood for it. Really feels like a PC game with tiny font and mouse- centric menus. So that was a little off putting on console.

I'm weary of games like this on console by now. The controls are always annoying.

You can enlarge some of the smaller text with an option in the settings, and you can also play the game using keyboard and mouse.

 

[Branded]

Me and a few friends played it for about 3 hours back in early access. Really enjoyed it but it's also a bit of an investment as far as time and attention goes. Some of the level design can get rather intricate (even with the eventual shortcut unlocks) and the enemies are no push overs either.

Definitely looking forward to getting stuck back in but we'll probably start on a fresh save though.

 

[Rocinante618]

looks cool, wishlisted.

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

I played it a lot on PC coop with friend

Really fucking fun and hilarious moments.

The map is one of the best made one I've seen in a long time, full of shortcuts and secrets

Is this viable solo at all? Not anti-MP but just sick of all my MP gaming bros right now and not in the mood.

 

[Roman Empire]

Heard about it from my brother. I'll give it a try.

 

[Buggy Loop]

Is this viable solo at all? Not anti-MP but just sick of all my MP gaming bros right now and not in the mood.

Yea for sure you can solo

 

[Cynical_Aries]

Going to start soon, looks fun.

 

[Pimpollo818]

I gave it a few honest tries before calling it quits. I like the exploration, but the crafting kept putting a fat STOP sign on my fun. I finally quit when it had me craft the Power Cell. You need to Craft J, but you need to craft H O and Q to craft it. To craft H, you need to craft D and N. Oh fuck off....

 

[wigsplittin4fun]

Does it have a campaign/ story mode?

 

[archangelmorph]

I can't with these modern 3D games with intentionally shit graphics.

It's just not cute.

it's not 1998 anymore and even if it were, these games would have looked better on native 680p CRTs.

Give us at least reasonable hi-res textures, even if you don't want to commit to PBR materials and a modern lighting model.

Sheesh…

 

[LegendOfKage]

Does it have a campaign/ story mode?

It does have a story. You meet NPCs who talk about being suck in their given situation, and who suggest things you should do to progress. Not sure how deep things will get beyond that.

The pace of the game is pretty slow, though. If you think you're only going to be entertained by the story elements, there's going to be a lot of crafting, exploration, and combat between the parts that move the story forward. If that doesn't interest you, I wouldn't play it, unless it's included in a subscription service that you have.

I can't with these modern 3D games with intentionally shit graphics.

It's just not cute.

it's not 1998 anymore and even if it were, these games would have looked better on native 680p CRTs.

Give us at least reasonable hi-res textures, even if you don't want to commit to PBR materials and a modern lighting model.

Sheesh…

This game is a strange mix of somewhat more modern textures, along with some that look considerably more dated. It's an interesting choice that somehow works, IMO.

I guess that's subjective, but less subjective is the lighting in the game. You might not be able to tell from trailers and reviews, but the lighting is actually pretty good. You can take lamps from all over the facility, and use them in other rooms to light areas however you want. The lighting is honestly one of the last things I'd criticize in this game, but I also can't find much to criticize.

 

[Roberts]

This has been influenced by Grounded so much but not as nearly as good.

 

[ClanOfNone]

This has been influenced by Grounded so much but not as nearly as good.

It definitely gives a Grounded: SCP/Half-Life Edition.
If this sounds good to you, I'd say it's worth the dough. I like the setting, but these crafter/builder games never seem to hold my attention for very long.

 

[bitbydeath]

I took a look at the store entry and it doesn't mention co-op, just online stuff. No interest from me until it gets actual co-op.

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

Good game! playing solo pc.

 

[Kerotan]

With the vomrile war over could we get more games coming to PS Extra and GP simultaneously?

 

[Cynical_Aries]

I'd like to play co-op. If anyone would like to join up, let me know.

 

[Roberts]

It definitely gives a Grounded: SCP/Half-Life Edition.
If this sounds good to you, I'd say it's worth the dough. I like the setting, but these crafter/builder games never seem to hold my attention for very long.

I'm generally not really into crafting/survival games but something clicked for me when playing Grounded and it ended up being one of my favourite games ever. Nevertheless I appreciate this game's sense of humour and it seems like it could be a lot of fun but I don't really feel it just yet. Need to play more.

 

[LegendOfKage]

I took a look at the store entry and it doesn't mention co-op, just online stuff. No interest from me until it gets actual co-op.

What do you consider co-op? If you mean you only want to play games with local co-op split screen, you're correct that this game doesn't have that. If you mean the ability to play cooperatively with other players online, then this game has that. It allows online co-op for up to 6 players.

It's actually the most co-op focused crafting survival game I've ever played, seeing as all times players players have to accomplish one specific goal in order to move forward. Maybe you have to build a specific item, or reach a certain point, or find a way to open a door, but all players are always working towards the game goal.

I'd like to play co-op. If anyone would like to join up, let me know.

Now that I understand more about the co-op in this game, I should probably explain how it works.

There's one major downside to how co-op works in this game that people should probably know about. The first time another player enters a world for the first time, the character they make, the items they collect, and the perks they unlock cannot be taken to any other game. Progress is only kept for the host, and all characters are forever tied to the host's game. Other players can come and go, but they can only enter the world when the host is playing. When other players return to host's game, they do keep all the progress that they made in host's world.

It's not that bad for people who have a friend or two they play co-op games with often, and maybe a couple more who play less often. But if that's not the case, all you can really do is decide who will likely play more often, and then the others just join them when they can.

 

[bitbydeath]

What do you consider co-op? If you mean you only want to play games with local co-op split screen, you're correct that this game doesn't have that. If you mean the ability to play cooperatively with other players online, then this game has that. It allows online co-op for up to 6 players.

It's actually the most co-op focused crafting survival game I've ever played, seeing as all times players players have to accomplish one specific goal in order to move forward. Maybe you have to build a specific item, or reach a certain point, or find a way to open a door, but all players are always working towards the game goal.

Yeah, local co-op.
No interest in an online multiplayer version.

 

[Denton]

92 on PC Gamer who call it one of the best games they played in years.
94% positive reviews on Steam from 34 000 people

Abiotic Factor review

Abiotic Factor is an instant survival classic, and one of the best games I've played in years.

www.pcgamer.com

I suppose for fans of the survival/craft genre (which I am not) this is going to be a classic, despite the lowend graphics.