What if I had decided differently? This question is probably something everyone has asked themselves, and an interesting new game on Steam wants to answer this question in a special way.
What kind of game is this? We’re talking about The Alters, a sci-fi game with adventure, survival, and base-building elements that tells one of the craziest stories you can imagine. The game is set to release in 2024 on Steam and comes from the same creators as Frostpunk and This War of Mine.
What is the story about? At the beginning, Jan, the character the game revolves around, lands on a hostile planet with his spaceship. This planet is so close to the sun that his spaceship must constantly move, or the radiation from the sun will take him out.
To escape the planet, he needs to gather new fuel and keep the ship in good condition, but this is hardly achievable alone.
Here you can watch the trailer for The Alters
If I have no friends, I’ll just clone myself
What makes the story interesting? The story becomes thrilling when Jan clones himself. Here, not just replicas are created, but alternative versions of the character.
In plain terms: What if Jan had become a doctor? Or a mechanic? Or a gaming journalist? Each clone of the protagonist reflects one of those life questions that the character has made a different decision about before.
Each clone or Alter
, as they are called in the game, has its own needs, feelings, and goals. While the technician, for example, wants better food to boost morale, the scientist-Alter says that food paste is sufficient and provides everything a person needs – taste? Overrated – after all, you want to save resources.
What is the goal of the game? The goal of the game is to leave the planet. To achieve this, resources must be collected to refuel the ship. However, the real challenge lies in keeping the Alters’ morale high – they often can’t get along and like to argue. If you’re not careful, you’ll only be mediating disputes and will be caught by the sun, which means death.
What does the community think of the new trailer? On Reddit, the trailer was shared in a post. Below, there are initial reactions to the video. Cilantro42 writes under the post: “I was a bit undecided until the reveal that the Alters are different versions of your character if they had made different decisions in life. That’s such an interesting concept.”
Kiroqi also finds the trailer interesting on Reddit: “The original concept of the game alone was interesting enough, but this mix of gameplay makes me even more curious.”
ldc also writes on Reddit: “I am so excited for this game. I hope it can capture the same strategy/narrative mood as the few gems we have, like Frostpunk.”
The interesting story and the Alters could make the game a contender for the best story in a video game in 2024. However, it remains questionable how the game will ultimately play and whether the Alters will really be exciting or just complain all day. If you’re looking for a story game in the meantime, try playing Baldur’s Gate 3 again with a new character.
