Build, Automate, Expand

Factorio is a base building game in which you have crashed on an alien planet with the aim of building a rocket silo to get you off. The game makes you build a lot manually at the start and tries to get you to do as little as possible by the end. You start out handcrafting items, running between mining drills to refill them and take their ore to a furnace. You then automate the mining and smelting, then basic production, then production becomes a little more complex and you automate that too. By the end you have an army of robots building every structure, and a grid of machines making more machines for the robots to place. All you have to do is feed your all consuming factory, and keep expanding.

As well as building up a complex factory you will also have watch out for biters. The more you build, the more pollution you release in the air, the more the biters will attack. Luckily you can defend your base with walls, gun turrets, laser turrets and flame throwers. As you advance in game the swarm of biters grow larger and stronger meaning you have to keep upgrading your defences to keep the biters out. Unfortunately though, it gets to a point in the game where your base is armed to the teeth and then the biters just become cannon fodder for your, well, cannons and you may as well forget about them.

Pros

Building - This is a base building game so it’s not a surprise that the best feature of this game is the base building. You will build, expand, tweak and build some more. The real achievement that the developers have managed to do in factorio is make a game that sneaks up on you. You start out so simple, harvesting some coal and iron, chopping down a tree or two. Then you place down a machine that starts mining iron then feed the result into a furnace. More machines that make more materials to make more machines. Four hours later you look down on a factory system so complex you are amazed that you designed it; and yet it grew so gradually, so organically, that at no point you felt overwhelmed.

Length - The average length for building a base that can launch a rocket can vary between a minimum 15 to 30 hours depending on how focused and experienced you are but there really isn’t an upper limit on how long you can play for. I’ve seen bases online where players must have put at least 200 hours in, plus every time you start fresh your build will be completely different to your last,then add on top online co-op, this game will give you endless hours of enjoyment.

Military - This game isn't only about building, researching and improving your factory, you also have a huge arsenal of weapons and body armor you can craft. As you need to expand there will be biters nests that you’ll have to clear out, it’s a great feeling to get in your tank and take them suckers out.

Never ending - Although there is sort of an ending to this game (building a rocket silo),
that’s not the point of this game, it just feels like something else to do if you choose. Trying out new designs, tweaking old ones, connecting multiple bases with never ending railway lines, that’s where the enjoyment of this game comes from. I have put more than 60 hours into building a base and never bothered to make a rocket.

Cons

Graphics - The biggest negative about this game is the graphics, I mean seriously, I think the developers built this game on a potato. It’s a good thing that you’ll be a lot more concerned about total ore production that you’ll forget you are playing a game that looks like it was made in the 90s.

Enemies - They add a great extra dimension to the game other than just base building but my gripe is that later on in the game when you’ve leveled up the biters aren't a challenge, you can set your turrets up and just forget about them.

Ending - After the hours of building you may decide you want to finally build that rocket, well then be prepared to be underwhelmed, it’s a short animation of the rocket taking off followed by credits. It’s a good thing that this game is more about the journey than the destination.

Verdict

Factorio is easy to pick up but yet difficult to master, it's a beautiful cross between base building, Tower defence and problem solving, so if you like all of that on a epic scale, you will definitely enjoy Factorio.

Score

8.8/10