Per Aspera Reviews
Hard science, harder simulation, and narrative innovation make Per Aspera a real gem.
A compelling take on a Martian colonisation and terraforming project, Per Aspera also comes with a gripping mystery to unravel as you fight to survive and thrive. There's some muddled pacing and it's not always how you can proceed, but this is a thoroughly enjoyable sci fi planetary sim.
It lays the existentialism on pretty thick at times, and it has the potential to thoroughly overwhelm you, but Per Aspera is an oddly intoxicating expedition into the colonisation of another world.
Per Aspera has a bunch of good ideas in it. Adding a narrative element is a slam dunk, but the pacing of it hurts it in the long run, even as interesting as it is. Per Aspera also has a lot of solid gameplay elements, and evolves into a pretty complex package in the end. But a lack of explanation as to what you're doing impairs the experience, and may cause newer players to give up before the enjoyable gameplay loop kicks in.
Per Aspera reaches for lofty heights, but I could never shake the impression that the difficulties I encountered were more because of the game breaking down rather than Mars being a hostile place. But who knows, patches do wonders these days.
I will fully admit to getting stuck in a few places. On a few tries, I overextended too quickly or didn’t adapt well to the changing planet. I always mismanage my electrical grid, or my maintenance bots, and build my way into a corner. But I keep coming back. Never before has a strategy game offered me such an involved story in such a staid sandbox. I think I’ll be turning Mars green for a long time to come.
Per Aspera is a haunting sci-fi simulation in which you play as a lone AI tasked with terraforming Mars for human colonization.
A detailed yet challenging city builder, Per Aspera keeps players entertained with subplots and objectives while they collect resources.
A smart, sprawling city builder that explores the cost of humanity's need to conquer through the mind of an AI, blurring the line between duty and morality. It requires some patience, but its quiet chills are unique in the genre.
Per Aspera is not only the best city builder to come out in the past decade, but one of the most interesting games to grace computers in a long, long time.
Terraform Mars in this narrative driven planetary scale base builder
Per Aspera is a stunningly realistic "planet builder" in which you play as an AI tasked with terraforming Mars. Although its pace is sometimes slow, it is an extremely educational game with a surprisingly deep and touching story.
Per Aspera is a one-of-a-kind entry in the genre. It engages the mind and soul in a way management simulators never achieve. This is a must-have for fans of the genre and fans of quality hard sci-fi.
While building a Mars colony is a neat theme for a city builder, how that was executed in Per Aspera is underwhelming. Lots of time is wasted on simply waiting, and when you get to issue some orders there's not much in the way of thinking very hard about them. It's… okay, but that won't suffice.
The twin challenges of expanding and re-building for greater efficiency are carefully balanced and truly engrossing. Just make sure to take tour time and explore as much as possible before moving through the checkpoints of the campaign. And spend as much time as possible running at the slowest speed, watching how mars can be changed from inhospitable wasteland to a new cradle of humanity. Just don't forget to ponder whether it's actually worth it, just as the protagonist A.I. does.
For Aspera it is a complete management game from all points of view, managing to offer rich and articulated dynamics that the game itself struggles to keep up with towards the mid-game. Despite this, the challenge offered by the title is decidedly durable, compelling and satisfying, a must for all those who are passionate about this genre, especially if sensitive to the gloomy charm of space.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Overall, I really love Per Aspera. It is a fantastic game that keeps players on their toes. Unlike other colony builders, players feel a connection to the colonists and to the mission. It is a spectacular game like no other and I absolutely adore it. Per Aspera has amazing audio and voice acting that are well suited to the title and I can't get enough of it! For me, there are some minor UI issues, but I give Per Aspera a 9 out of 10. Do yourselves a favor and buy it now. Take out the weird aliens. The mission depends on it!
Per Aspera is a solid and concise experience in the real-time strategy genre. Its diversity of mechanics makes it so complex that the range of possibilities seems endless for each new adventure. This immense complexity, however, was where the developer sinned by not explaining all the mechanics clearly and sometimes trapping players in deadlocks without them understanding what they are doing wrong. I hope that the intense community support given so far will also correct these problems.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
I never expected a simulation like this to be so relaxing - especially because I didn't really get the resource management. I liked the mission to make Mars a planet we could live on.
Review in German | Read full review
Per Aspera is a unique planetary simulation game that brings a narrative, exploration, and even combat to the genre. There is plenty to do with tons to build in Per Aspera as you get to experience terraforming and colonizing Mars that is based on real-life science. I really enjoyed this game and think there is plenty of potential for this game as it continues its life cycle and things are only going to get better.