Judgment: Apocalypse Survival Simulation – Review
Back in January 2017 we had a very positive encounter with the Early Access build of Judgment: Apocalypse Survival Simulation, which revolved around the end of the world, by the hands of demons swarming our Earth. The concept was simple, the mechanics had enough depth, the characters were diverse, and the research options seemed endless. Recently we retried the game, in its complete state, to see if this game still impressed us, or if it remained pretty much the same as when we first encountered it. We can immediately state, that if the Early Access build tingled your senses, the full version will certainly be an enjoyable treat as well.
Story
The story is actually fairly simple, but the developers took some time dressing up the game, that you start out with a group of survivors, who come across two hunters, who are being chased by demons. These hunters fend off the demons while you manage to escape, together with two friends, making it so that you see the city burning behind you. To survive, you decide to head into the deep of the woods to regroup, start a base of operations and see how you can manage to survive, first on your own, eventually being joined by stragglers. Overall the concept is simple, but the painted picture is a nice one.
Graphics
Graphically not much has changed compared to the Early Access version. You’re still treated to fairly simplistic animations with a cel-shaded style amping up the quality. You’ll meet a diverse cast of survivors, who don’t stand out too much from one another, but it’s fun to see them change, depending on what you equip them with. This might be a small detail, but it shows that even small changes were taken into account. The monsters are also fairly different from one another, making it interesting enough, so you don’t become bored after a few encounters.
The different locations are neatly made, with enough clutter to make them interesting and not too bland, keeping the somewhat 2D graphical style in mind. The map is very big to explore, so it’s certainly a plus to come across different encounters, many different materials and enough different pieces of equipment to make.
Sound
The soundtrack is likeable, albeit a bit generic at best. You’ll be able to hear a set amount of different tunes, all accompanied by the sounds of battle, people harvesting, constructing, researching, practicing the occult and a lot more. It’s easy to say that the sound design will not win you over, but it will certainly not scare you away either. Overall this part of the game feels sufficient, but by no means special or outstanding.
Gameplay
Judgment: Apocalypse Survival Simulation is a strategic survival game, in which you’ll have to build a base, explore the world around you, save other survivors, and grow and become stronger the further you progress. You’ll mostly be expanding your base, researching new technology, fighting off demons and sending out recon parties in order to clear all the events on the map, hopefully creating a safe haven for the survivors under your wings.
Building, scavenging and harvesting is actually fairly easy, as you’ll simply have to create tasks for your survivors to do, and they will prioritize those that need to happen first. If you have a well, a research table, and some other continuous tasks, you’ll most likely always find survivors utilizing those. If you are shorthanded, they will alternate between tasks, making sure your base can expand. Of course, the more survivors you decide to save, the more your machine will be well oiled and start running smoothly. You will soon find yourself combining many tasks, as many hands make light work.
Researching new technology isn’t all that hard either, as you can easily keep a survivor at a research post at all times. When you have more survivors, you can create more research benches making it go even faster. You’ll soon be able to create new buildings, use new irrigation techniques and develop new weapons to kill those pesky demons. It’s fun to see how in depth the research trees go, giving you plenty of content to research, develop and utilize.
Combat is still a bit clunky, as your survivors won’t automatically move towards enemies, even if they’re attacking one of your own. You’ll constantly have to micromanage, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but the overall battle experience feels sluggish and a bit lackluster, making it a bit bland after several fights. It seems the developers also knew this, and they have added auto battles to the mix, making it easy to clear easy encounters if you already have a great war party for clearing events on the map.
As stated in the preview, the complexity of the game might be that there is a lot to take in if you start off at a higher difficulty level. Luckily the game provides many difficulties, allowing new players to ease in, mess around with the basics and then move on to a bigger challenge. Nonetheless, even if you decide to play on a lower difficulty, the enormous map will still be an adventure to clear, providing many hours for you to spend with this game.
Conclusion
Truth be told, with the base it had already planted firmly in the ground with its Early Access release, there wasn’t all that much that could go wrong with Judgment: Apocalypse Survival Simulation. The developers decided to simply brush up a few portions of the game, add a small plot to the equation and create even more depth in the gameplay department. While some people may shy away for the graphical prowess of this title, we can easily recommend this game for true survival fans out there, ranging from the adept ones, to those just discovering the genre, thanks to the game’s extensive difficulty options. If you’re looking to sink in many hours with a game that revolves around a demon apocalypse, then this one should be placed on your Steam Wishlist.
Judgment: Apocalypse Survival Simulation – Review,
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