Hello, have you ever regretted anything in your life? The Alters is aware that you do, which is why its science fiction tale of dubious cloning on an extremely hostile extraterrestrial world resonates. It’s like a playable Black Mirror episode (not that one), where technology has gone haywire and we can now communicate with our past selves who chose a different path than we did. The question then arises: what if some of those individuals despise you?
Furthermore, what if all of this is the result of corporate exploitation or a crazy scientist? It’s an efficient pressure cooker of environmental and personal threats when combined with a straightforward yet efficient resource harvesting and base management balancing act, as well as the ongoing threat of dying under a blazing sun. The Alters instantly creates a spooky and alienating atmosphere as Jan (pronounced Yon) awakens to discover that he is the only survivor of a crash landing on an uninhabitable planet.
This planet is incredibly alien; it is dark and desolate, with sharp rock formations, yet it is also dotted with glistening hues from water that appears oily and distortions brought about by Rapidium, the Unobtainium brand used in this universe. The expedition’s movable base, a characteristic tall wheel that suspends its habitat in the center, will soon be a noticeable sight on the horizon. As you struggle to gather enough supplies to last and get the base operational before the sun rises and pierces the surface, there is a tangible sense of urgency.
In a light version of resource games like Satisfactory, it’s easy to gather enough organic resources to feed Jan and fuel the base—you just need to build mining machines, gather chunks from the surface, and then network them back to your base with powerline towers. However, you must monitor the clock to make sure you’re not overworking him or exposing him to excessive radiation at night. Even though there are no aliens actively attempting to devour you, there is a certain amount of tension in navigating the maze-like map because the planet’s surface is also dotted with radioactive anomalies that are nearly invisible at first until you are directly on top of them.
By zapping their moving cores with what seems like a Ghostbusters proton pack, you quickly create instruments to make dealing with those anomalies easier. This reduces them to rolling balls of resources. To keep you alert, new and surprising kinds are constantly being introduced that distort your perception and force you to approach them in novel ways.
Soon, unexpected and new forms of anomalies will be added to keep you alert.
Alters switches from an over-the-shoulder third-person perspective to a diorama-like view as soon as you reach the base, and you walk around like you’re in a 2.5D sidescroller. It immediately reminded me of XCOM, except you can go between levels via elevators while running around as a character. Setting up the base with the new room types you unlock is a flexible puzzle with typically low stakes: you can move almost anything around to make the most of your limited space for free, you can delete rooms for a full (or very generous) refund of resources at any time, as long as you have the storage space to hold materials, and there is no build time when you place a new social room, refinery, or store room.
Although it’s entertaining to play about with (for a while, I was placing rooms I needed to access near me instead of walking to them), it may become confusing as you keep asking yourself, “Now where did I put that communications room?” You can zoom out to view everything, but you can’t move while in that ant farm perspective, so I tried to keep moving things about as little as possible so I could remember where they were.
As the foundation is expanded and more spacious rooms and storage are added, it finally gets a little tough since you have to work around an immovable block in the center, and it can be difficult to get to a crucial room when you need to. However, it’s never too annoying because you can essentially start over whenever you want.
The fact that every January has a different hairstyle and speech pattern makes it a touch goofy at times.
The Womb is one of the earliest and most crucial rooms you will construct. You are instructed to set it up to begin The Alter’s major experiment by your hazy conversations with your unethical corporate middle bosses. It produces clones of Jan with distinct specialties and philosophical viewpoints thanks to Rapidium and a quantum computer that accesses a map of his early memories and models the life he may have led had he made different decisions.
Although they all have an abusive father, their paths diverge greatly depending on decisions like whether they left home, attended school, sold their home, got married, and other significant events. I eventually created six clones across the 30 hours it took me to complete the third act, which is not all of the possibilities – you’ll have to play through at least a couple of times to meet the rest, and I’m looking forward to another run where I know all the goals in advance and can optimize my approach to gathering resources and unlocking new technologies.
This turns The Alters into a management game that reminds me of Fallout Shelter, where you’re assigning your team of specialists to tasks according to their strengths, but rarely have enough people to do everything you want to as efficiently as you’d like, so you’re forced to come up with the best solution you can. In the 30 hours it took me to finish the third act, I ultimately produced six clones, but that’s not all of the possibilities; you’ll need to play through the remaining acts at least a few times to meet the others.
I’m looking forward to another run where I’ll be aware of all the objectives beforehand and can make the most efficient use of my resources and new technology. This makes The Alters into a management game that makes me think of Fallout Shelter, where you have to come up with the best solution you can because you rarely have enough people to do everything you want to do as efficiently as you’d like. Instead, you assign your team of specialists to tasks based on their strengths.
Some of them are necessary for each playthrough—for example, the Scientist is required to unlock any new technologies—but the majority, such as the Doctor or the Guard (whom I haven’t yet made), are optional and will add some variation to playthroughs with their distinct personalities and production bonuses. However, I do wish that the selection for choosing a crew member to work a job would include their current workplace. Often, I had to reverse a step to ensure that I wasn’t depriving someone of a crucial position, then return to the menu and redistribute them.
Verdict
The Alters is a very atmospheric science fiction character study about a single individual who confronts the consequences of his life’s defining decisions. It is a balancing act on top of a balancing act to manage Jan’s relationships with his multiple selves while obtaining enough supplies from a dangerous alien world to survive, and the tension is deftly increased throughout the narrative.
The talks and moral quandaries that emerge from Jan’s clones are a unique way to approach a game like this, and exploring these desolate but visually appealing regions offers many hazards and puzzles without just shooting aliens. It’s obvious that the game doesn’t have a lot of money to spend on character models and cinematography, but it makes good use of what it has to convey its tale, and its odd interface doesn’t hinder that.
