Announced in June 2022 as a new work from 11 Bit Studios, the creators of This War of Mine and Fropunk, The Alters has attracted attention for its original sci-fi survival setting in which players survive in harsh conditions while creating clones of themselves on a planet they have crash-landed on. With hopes of a release in 2024, a hands-on preview of the game was released over the weekend, featuring full-scale gameplay footage that shows a number of very interesting details, from the opening scene in which players crash-land on a planet, to the mining of the mysterious mineral lapidium, a giant tire-shaped self-propelled base, and the creation of a clone to explore what ifs of their own lives.
Check out the latest video below to see the game's crossover genre-spanning gameplay, which includes morally difficult choices, base building, a social simulation in which you coexist with clones, and survival including resource mining and management. The harsh environment of the planet on which the game is set, the creation of clones made possible by the mysterious mineral lapidium discovered on the planet's surface, the choice and branching of “if only” choices made as you look back on your life, which results in a variety of clones with different characteristics from the protagonist, and a time limit to avoid the scorching heat brought on by the three suns.
Advertisement
Preview video released by GameSpot
IGN's video reveals details about mining and life branching
Here are the previews and impressions released by Easy Allies:
The Alters
From the creators of This War of Mine
Features:
- He plays Jan Dolsky, an ordinary man who faces impossible challenges on a distant planet.
- Face important choices from the past and save your present self.
- Create new versions of yourself to accomplish tasks that would be difficult to do alone.
- He builds relationships with the alters and tries to influence their decisions.
- Discover what choices you can make to survive.
- Manage a mobile base to escape the deadly rays of the rising sun.
- Take advantage of planetary cycles to mine resources and run your base.
■ Isolated but not lonely
Jan Drusky is an ordinary worker faced with an impossible challenge. Crash-landed on a remote planet, he's stranded alone with seemingly no way out. Jan's only hope of survival is to recruit helpers to his mobile base… but how? Jan improvises an alter-ego of himself out of the local substance lapidium: Alter.
Have you ever thought about how your life would be different if you had chosen a different path in the past? Who would you be? Jan Dolski is about to face these questions that make the predicament he is in even more difficult. Each of his alters has a different personality and background, as they are the result of changes that each of them has identified in their lives.
To return home, Yang must not only navigate the Alters, but also confront the crucial choices he made in the past, sometimes putting someone's life at risk. The question is, are you prepared for the consequences?
■ Race against time
The planet where Yang landed is slowly turning towards a giant sun, which means that radiation levels could soon reach critical levels. Survival on this merciless planet is a death race, and Yang's home base must keep moving. Of course, this is easier said than done: the planet is extremely harsh and filled with many obstacles that Yang must overcome.
To travel across the barren landscape, you'll need food, fuel, and other valuable resources. Luckily, your base is ready to extract them from the planet's surface. The only problem is that finding these needed resources in time can be quite difficult… and time is running out.