Mining Company – Review
The success of games like The Outlast Trials and Lethal Company has put cooperative horror games on the map, and it seems that many developers are now jumping on the bandwagon. We recently tried similar titles such as UNDERWARD and Terrorbytes, both giving their unique spin on the formula in order to diversify themselves from the competition. Now, Mining Company tries to do the same by seemingly adding Minecraft mechanics to the mix. While we liked the concept, the execution left much to be desired.
Story
According to the Steam page of Mining Company, you have just taken out a big loan for your brand new spaceship, and so you’ll have to earn back the money. To do so, you’ll have to travel to distant planets in order to mine rare ores. These planets, however, are not really safe, and so you’ll have to watch your back. In-game, there is no real mention of a story. That being said, we didn’t mind the absence of a bigger plot, as these games often just need the right setting to make the experience entertaining.
Graphics
Mining Company looks really rough around the edges, and while some may argue that this is part of its charm, we felt the game doesn’t convey the necessary information to enjoy the experience properly. The enemies are very basic, and they even lack attack animations. You’ll sometimes just drop dead when facing the behind of a spider, which is just a bit lame. You don’t get decent feedback when being attacked, and the UI is also as barebones as it gets. Other animations also look extremely cheap, which is a shame. The horror vibes get lost because the game simply looks unfinished in its current state. We realize that Lethal Company is also not that much to look at, but it feels more like a coherent package than what Mining Company has to offer.
In terms of accessibility, Mining Company is an absolute nightmare. The muck on the visor of your starting suit makes it so difficult to navigate the wastelands of the different planets. We understand this is done to make things more difficult, but with no graphical settings to tweak outside of the gamma, everything feels a bit too basic and underwhelming. Some additional options would have been great here, even if it was in the form of difficulty settings.
Sound
The sound design of Mining Company is also very barebones. There is nothing here that is truly worth mentioning, but a lot of these games do benefit from a more subtle soundscape, as you’ll need to stay aware of your surroundings. We immediately encountered quite a few bugs with the audio options, as muting players didn’t properly work, and when turning down the game’s volume, the game also reduced our microphone’s capacity to pick up sound. So we eventually had to resort to using Discord, as voice chat is important in a game such as this. We hope this gets patched in the future, as proximity chat does have its charm compared to having to hop on Discord.
Gameplay
Mining Company is a cooperative horror title much in the same vein as Lethal Company, UNDERWARD, and many others. It’s your goal to explore strange new planets to mine rare ores and pay off the loan for your brand-new spaceship while doing so. If you miss a payment, it’s game over, and you’ll start from the beginning again. The game is geared towards multiplayer play, and it’s best to have a full party of four players when delving into this title. As a whole, the format follows the formula of many other titles where you’ll have to go outside, gather materials to earn cash, and avoid creepy monsters when doing so. We liked the crossover with Minecraft mechanics, but the execution was rather poorly handled for this one.
Outside of a small paper you can read in your spaceship, giving you the bare minimum of information, you’ll be left to your own devices. You can travel to different planets to mine for ores, but you’ll have to keep an eye on your fuel levels, as refueling costs a lot of money. When you don’t have any money and you cannot buy more fuel, it’s basically game over. When you’re out and about on the planets, you’ll notice they feel empty and there’s not that much to do outside. You’ll have to go to a mining building, which also obscures the time of day when inside. Stay away for too long, and it might be dark outside, which is when monsters are the most active. Wait even longer to head back, and the spaceship will take off without you. As mentioned above, most of the monsters don’t even have attack animations, and their hitboxes are all over the place. This makes monster encounters a tedious affair most of the time.
Collecting ore is done just like in Minecraft, as you just need to swing your pickaxe at the ore blocks. Every player can collect dirt, which they can in turn use as platforms to reach higher ground or to escape from pits. On top of that, every player can collect one type of valuable colored ore. This means you’ll have to coordinate with your team to see who mines what, maximizing profit and reducing the trips back and forth between the spaceship. It’s a decent formula, but everything feels very rough around the edges. The game feels clumsy, and not by design.
Conclusion
While Mining Company does have some charm, we were under the impression this was more of a beta or demo of things to come rather than a finished product. With its low price tag, you’ll still be able to have some fun with friends with this one, but there are far better options out there that offer a more polished experience. We suggest waiting for some patches and updates, as the current state of the game is rather underwhelming if you’re a fan of this specific genre of games. We see a lot of potential in this one, but it should have stayed in the oven for a bit longer.
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