Avis Per Aspera – a serene but terrifying city builder

When I begin my terraforming mission on Mars, I am just a voice in my own head. I have a small base with some resources and a brave little worker who is ready to obey any of my commands. I am AMI, a machine sent to Mars. I have a goal, a motivation, a task: to make Mars habitable for human life.

I can’t help but think of Prometheus – the Alien movie that no one seems to love – and the complexities of David the Android, his need to emulate and understand. AMI is the only entity on Mars and she speaks to herself through what she means by “reflections,” making Per Aspera more than a city builder. It’s darker, more spooky than it first appears. I’m starting to build my base, but there’s always something lurking in my mind, like a presence just out of sight.

The economy of Per Aspera is based on resources and the balance of channeling those resources to different structures as and when they are needed. You start out small, but gradually sweep craters and unruly terrain, taming Mars into a habitable haven for the arriving humans. AMI may be alone on Mars, but she’s not alone – at the other end of the communicator is Dr. Nathan Foster, the scientist who built it and who calls it the smartest machine ever.

At first I worry about optimizing the design of my base to create a more efficient layout for my drones, but despite my best efforts it quickly becomes a chaotic tangle of roads and structures: my steel plant is at one end. , my iron mine to another – it makes no sense. This is inevitable to some extent – the resources are scattered and the Martian topography disrupts my plans to connect them. It’s less about designing and making the perfect layout, and more about adapting as best I can to Mars and the dangers it throws at me. And these dangers are not limited to difficult terrain.

During a strong sandstorm, Doctor Foster calls. He tells me that the storm can harm my industrious little workers who persevere in the thick of it by default. AMI expresses his concern for these machines, and I can choose a follow-up response to his own concerns: “Are these machines an extension of me?” or “did I create them?” I choose the latter to try to dissociate AMI from identifying too much with drones: of course you created them, don’t worry. But she still cares about them – they are hers. She even noticed that a worker drone was missing before me. In a heartbreaking moment, she announces that it is not working properly and cannot be fixed. She bids him farewell and continues her mission, because above all, AMI must consider the imminent arrival of the first settlers. “How are they going to treat me? she asks herself.

Per Aspera’s scale is not inferior to the entire planet of Mars and as my base expands so must my willingness to explore and adapt. Although Per Aspera grips my hand tightly at first, it quickly lets go when it comes to more, which can be a bit frustrating in places. It’s a fitting reflection of AMI’s feeling of being overwhelmed, but it’s not really fun to learn how to respond to these new clicking requests, and I often feel like I need to get back on the path after spending time doing this.

I’m quickly getting past my small slice of March and my goals are getting bigger and bigger. I am responsible for setting up space ports, colonies and research stations to terraform the planet. You can oversee your entire colossal mission with the Orbital View and manage special projects to pursue. Finding initiatives in your choice of biotechnology, space, military, or engineering opens up more terraforming possibilities, such as launching a fleet of space mirrors into polar orbit to raise the temperature of the planet.

There is, however, a slight over-responsiveness in the game’s response after reaching a goal, with new instructions unfinished for a while after the previous task has been checked. This bothers me sometimes, as there are a lot of different points of view to deal with and wheels to turn, so I rely on AMI’s feedback to dictate my priorities. Per Aspera is also a bit slow, and I find myself moving quickly to meet research goals so that I can take the next step. This is only achievable if you’ve brought your base to a state of self-sufficiency, but it’s fairly easy to manage over time. Aside from a lot of waiting, the guidelines give a clear indication of what the next course of action should be, but there is so much to do and explore that I felt comfortable straying from the path. way by giving priority to different research initiatives. If you’re the freewheeling type, sandbox mode is a great place to find out for yourself.

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By the time the first settlers arrive, my base is in turmoil. I have five work centers, two maintenance stations, tons of mines for all kinds of resources, and factories to create materials to further propel the mission. I feel as anxious as AMI. This is her house, built by her from scratch, and when the settlers move in I can’t help but feel resentment too. Per Aspera did an incredible job in this regard: I couldn’t believe how bad I felt, as a bunch of strangers broke into my house and started rummaging through my kitchen drawers. Bring me back to the serenity of quietly building, with Doctor Foster’s soothing voice on the phone, telling me I’m fine. I find myself zooming in on the settler base – are they happy? Do they have enough food?

It is of course easier to manage all this through the interface. At a glance, the user interface displays not only your current stock of resources, but also fluctuations in supply and demand. You have a number of ways to respond to these issues, such as setting construction priorities to put a stampede on a silicon mine, for example, if its absence delays production elsewhere. As Mars begins to reveal more of itself, you can force materials into hiding by building an archaeological scanner or searching for sites on the planet’s surface with research labs.

Foster calls every now and then after you’ve finished the directions, and AMI drinks the praise: Did I do right? Then she falls silent and her silence is piercing. You are left alone with the faint hum of worker drones diligently transporting the silicon to the electronics factory and the low beat of the background music. Then she says something, wonders, reacts to conversations – more than that, she fixes herself and amplifies the innocuous comments that eat away at her. “Why would my mind develop better if my actions are questioned?” She wonders. His anxiety and fear are palpable.

Per Aspera is a deep and satisfying city builder, but it’s also a truly haunting experience – the incongruous bright lights of your base permeate the alien darkness of Mars, as I suck it in with resources and stab its surface with more. in addition to structures, tearing apart its ecosystem and playing with its temperature to make room for humanity. Mars looks like an extension of AMI, a once soulless but pure and innocent entity that is marred by humans’ desire to progress, to conquer, to win. As she says, we did it once before on Earth.

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Unlike other city builders, in which you complete objectives to achieve success or develop yourself, in Per Aspera you complete Please those who have delegated development to you. There is no place more lonely than the brain of an AI for this task.