Half Lifey survival game Abiotic Factor is out now in early access
On the one hand, you've got to deal with interdimensional horrors of various flavours, such as multiple-storey cryptids and squishy skinless wolves; on the other, invading squads of Combiney soldiers. Fortunately, you've got a big fat Ivy League brain stuffed with knowledge of killer gadgets, base construction, subterranean farming and battlefield medicine. My increasing phobia for survival games notwithstanding, I think this looks and sounds like a hoot - and it's out now in early access. Here's the launch trailer.
As detailed in a Steam blog, the Abiotic Factor early access release includes three biomes or sectors - the offices, the labs and the manufacturing sector, plus "6+ portal worlds". I find the last line irritating inasmuch as there could be as few as seven portal worlds or an infinite quantity, but I guess that note of cosmic irresolution is appropriate to the premise of borked dimensions. You can travel around the facility by means of a tram system, which is definitely appropriate to a game that riffs on Half-Life - I'm sure the streamers will waste no time recreating the Valve shooter's legendary intro sequence.
There's a Crush Depth update coming in the summer which will introduce the security and hydroplant sectors, a "full laser system", jetpacks, teleporters and the unromantic but doubtless invaluable autosalvager. In autumn, we can expect a Dark Energy update which adds the reactor sector, hardlight technology for gossamer-thin bridges, "the gatekeepers" and various [redacted] things or places.
The developers plan to release the 1.0 version this winter, with a "chilling final chapter". They caution that everything is subject to change, and that "there will be some small and medium-sized updates in between these major roadmap updates".
Abiotic Factor is currently 20% off on Steam. Not really up for another survival sim, but newly afflicted with Half Life nostalgia? You might prefer to read Jeremy's interview with former Valve writer Marc Laidlaw
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