The Explorator

The Explorator features a truly unique art style and atmosphere. Although the controls and general missions are fairly self-explanatory, the game still feels like an early-stage alpha right now. The developers state in the EA info that "Early Access will allow us to make corrections and modifications", but in my opinion, there isn't even a solid foundation to build upon yet. Based on this disclaimer, I expected a fundamentally playable game that just needed players' feedback and polishing, not a project in its rawest form. During my short time playing, I've already encountered a few bugs that made the gameplay more annoying than entertaining. For instance, the UI is completely glitched; the compass symbols are totally distorted and overlapping, making it impossible to know where to actually go. Then I couldn't close the compass anymore, and it stayed stuck right in the middle of the screen, which could only be fixed by a restart. This happened 2 times, so I just decided not to open the compass again. You can see the effort, the unique vision, and the game's quirky charm the devs have put into their project, but it simply isn't "enough" yet - even for an Early Access title. I'll k…

The graphical aspect of the game is done really well aswell as the quests: everything pretty much straight forward etc. its unique and fun.

I think this game is a lot more awesome than it has been given credit for. I learned that it will likely be drastically changing some time in the future, so I have been trying to experience it to the fullest before that happens (though I have faith in the developer's decisions). First, of course, the environments are to fall in love with. I think the scenery is beautiful. The way The Explorator portrays nature and how aesthetically pleasing its world is reminds me a little of the animated series Scavenger's Reign. Massive trees, broken up ruins implying a deep history in their decrepit state, rolling hills of grass and the occasional mushroom, birds flying overhead, the steamy locker rooms of a swimming pool building overtaken by the caustics of time, mossy sun speckled buildings inhabited by insect swarms. I found myself taking screenshots often, and it's the sort of game I could walk around just taking in the atmosphere. Complementing the atmosphere is the combat presence. I enjoyed the feel of stumbling across enemies out in the wild, I enjoyed their quips as they spot me and work into a frenzy lobbying to take me down, firing shots that whistle past my ears and into the cover…

There’s so much that feels ethically wrong about giving an Early Access game made by a tiny dev team a thumbs-down. And yet I feel compelled to do so because the Steam Early Access blurb reminds me that we’re buying Early Access games as-is, with no guarantee that they’ll ever be developed further. And I believe [b]The Explorator is just not in a place right now where I would confidently recommend it to anyone[/b]. The reason for this is simple: What I’ve played of [b]the current build of the game feels totally aimless[/b]. And that’s coming from someone who loves exploration-heavy shooters in the vein of [i]Project Silverfish[/i], and who recently spent way too much time having a blast with the [i]Road to Vostok[/i] Early Access build, despite that game being designed as a free-form sandbox from the get-go. But both of these games feature systems that prevent them from feeling aimless in the same way The Explorator does. [i]Road to Vostok[/i] has its very intricate moment-to moment combat, survival and weapon handling systems. [i]Project Silverfish[/i] adds lots of environmental interaction, a faction system, intricately designed maps with cool secret areas and so on. The curren…

Cozy First-Person Adventure Game with a lot of crafting. I could definitely see this being a great game to chill and unwind with. I like the artstyle a ton, it has great bones. It's obviously not a finished product, so I wouldn't go in expecting that. I know that the dev is looking for a publisher to help with the resources to see the project to it's complete potential, and I hope he finds it.

I keep my fingers crossed for the devs to keep going and finish the game. As of right now, The Explorator just oozes charm and passion. There are very few games where I just stop and admire the scenery and this is definitely one of them. After a rough first mission, the game opens up and the gunplay starts to shine, where the aim and movement are plenty responsive and everything feels and sounds as it should be. This game is absolutely a recommend from me and I do hope that more people will hear of this game so it gets the traction and attention it deserves.