The Planet Crafter, a new survival game set in space, has quickly gained popularity on Steam, attracting a peak of 15,928 players shortly after its launch. Players can experience living on an alien planet, managing resources, building bases, and terraforming the environment. The game offers a demo and is currently available at a 30% discount on Steam.
Homeworld 3's demo on Steam offers a taste of the game's atmosphere and gameplay, including the War Games mode, which allows progress to be transferred to the full release. However, some players have expressed concerns about the controls, particularly the camera control schemes, and the emphasis on precise control in encounter design. Despite this, the game's visuals and slow-mo option have been praised, and the upcoming single player campaign promises an intriguing storyline set in a galaxy facing a mysterious threat. The full game is set for release on March 8th.
After over a decade since its announcement, the single-player campaign Squadron 42 of the controversial space sim Star Citizen is now "feature complete," according to developer Cloud Imperium Games (CIG). Squadron 42, which was originally part of the Star Citizen Kickstarter campaign in 2012, has faced numerous delays and setbacks. The game features a star-studded cast including Mark Hamill, Gary Oldman, and Gillian Anderson. While no release window has been announced, CIG has begun work on the beta and final release stages. Star Citizen has raised over $616 million from 4.8 million accounts, making it one of the most financially successful video game projects to date.
Starfield, the upcoming game from Bethesda, has faced criticism for its segmented approach to planetary surfaces and outer space. However, a streamer and writer for God of War discovered that it is possible to fly close to planets and even clip inside them, suggesting a more immersive experience. Flying between planets, however, remains a challenge. The game's modders may eventually enable fully manual passage through the atmosphere.
No Man's Sky has added PSVR 2 support, bringing new features such as haptic support for the Sense controllers and headset, and the ability to use capacitive sensors in the trigger and grip buttons to perform gestures. The game's latest update, Fractal, also brings an increase in texture quality, draw distance, and added reflections when playing in VR mode. While the game's graphics are not as impressive in VR as they are on a flatscreen, No Man's Sky on PSVR 2 still offers an immersive and endless universe to explore, making it one of the best space survival sims available in VR.