Review – Surviving the Aftermath

With thanks to the folks at Paradox Interactive, I’ve been spending some post-release time with their apocalyptic RTS Surviving the Aftermath. As ever, you can find a full video review just below, and keep reading for the extended written review. Both of course come with the traditional common-sense parent’s guide.

The Basics

Surviving the Aftermath first hit my radar way back in 2019, when it entered the Xbox Game Preview Program. Releasing into early access a little over two years ago, there have been a lot of improvements made since then, but the released title has managed to retain some of the great elements which made it a little unique. With a heap of optimisation, as well as new technologies, buildings, challenges, workflows and story elements, it’s worth taking another look if you haven’t played for a little while.

In Surviving the Aftermath, you’ll take the reins as the leader of a survivor’s colony in an apocalyptic wasteland. You’ll look to rebuild, taming the wilderness and rampant pollution, defending against bandit raids and winter storms, and establish a new civilization. To do this, you’ll need to closely manage a number of resources to ensure stockpiles are filled, and that the colony can take whatever this brave new world has to throw at it.

There are a number of different disasters which can and will befall the colony, in addition to pollution seeding the very ground you build on with toxic waste. You’ll also need to fight off bandits from the outside world and local mutated wildlife. To do this, you can use guard towers and similar structures and tool up your colonists, as well as using unique specialists.

As well as building the colony and making tough decisions on who (and when) to help people from the outside world, you’ll also need to explore far outside your colony on the world map. Utilising specialists, this is where you’ll find research points to help you unlock new technologies and working methods, as well as scavenge for materials, gather new survivors and contact and trade with other survivor colonies.

Parent’s Eye View

Surviving the Aftermath is rated by PEGI at Seven and above, and by the ESRB at T for Teen. These are quite different ratings and if forced to pick one of them I would likely side with PEGI’s seven and older. The title does contain violence, however there’s nothing hugely graphic in terms of visual gore. While there are some threatening encounters to navigate, and potentially distressing themes such as pandemic outbreaks there’s not a huge deal I’m too worried about.

While it’s not awful in terms of content, even on easy modes there are a lot of different elements to deal with in-game, and it would likely get a little frustrating for the younger audience. With this in mind, I’d say it’s not awful for children, but probably not one which they will get along with well.

Accessibility

In terms of accessibility, Surviving the Aftermath is picking up a rating of Moderate. When you begin your colony, there are a great number of options which allow you to fine tune the difficulty for your game. The large number of areas of management, and the different requirements, do mean that it’s a little harder to pick up and put down, and it is one which benefits from some consistent play to make sure you stay on top of all of the different management elements.

The Run Down

Visuals – Good: Visuals in Surviving the Aftermath are decent, and whether you’re zoomed out or up close things look pretty decent. This could have been elevated a little, and I’d have liked to see a little more in terms of variation for the various buildings.

Audio – Great: Music in the title is brilliant, and the voice acting is great as well. A really strong showing in terms of audio and for me it’s one which sees no complaints.

Narrative – Good: A decent narrative here, and a lot of side quests which can give you some nice background outside the main storyline.

Replay – Good: Surviving the Aftermath is a strictly single player title, but it’s one which does keep me coming back. Procedurally generated worlds mean each adventure does bring new challenges so while the title wouldn’t lend itself well to multiplayer, there is still a lot to do. The expansive tech tree also means that your approach can change up each time, to see where prioritising different areas gets you.

The Verdict

Overall the Pixel Bandits Eye of the Tiger Level for Surviving the Aftermath is Enjoyable. This is one I’ve really enjoyed, and brings a nice twist to the traditional base-building experience. There’s a good tech tree to work through, and a decent storyline to complete. Outside that, it’s just been a pleasure to build a colony where you can just focus on surviving, against the odds.