Crashlands Review

Crashlands is an outlandish story-driven action-adventure game, set in a world of hidden magic and high technology. Tame and milk alien beasts, craft resources into menacing weaponry, befriend the locals, and go toe-to-chin with a maniac. All in the name of on-time delivery!

Not the coolest base out there...

Gameplay is very simple, you move around the map interacting with the wildlife, crafting structures and items. You can build everywhere, literally, EVERYWHERE. Can't reach that enemy? Build a bridge! Some mean creatures are threatening your beautiful garden? Wall it up! The creative space for the game is enormous. On the combat side, you have your melee weapon to kill said wildlife while using and abusing from a plethora of trinkets to increase your destruction power. From bombs and pets to laser beams and bladed boomerangs, to mention a few. Unlike most games where you just slam the buttons and kills creatures, every enemy in Crashlands has an attack pattern that you need to understand in order to defeat them.

That is a LOT to explore.

Progression in the game happens mostly through the story, which is directly attached to increasing your crafting options. The more recipes your discover the further you go. There is an enormous amount of side quests to explore, as well as a vast diversity of structures and furniture to build and explore. The map itself is realistically infinite, so you can build to your hearts content.

The creative space and crafting for the game is impressive. Unfortunately you will go through killing, harvesting and building over and over as you advance through the game. Every new level of gear require new parts, making all older resources almost useless. Some very interesting mechanics, like the gear upgrade, will save you a lot of re-crafting. Crashlands is a great game, with some amazing integration and portability. On top of a unique sense of humor, it provides a very enjoyable experience that we definitely savored for more hours than we should.