Beyond Contact is a sci-fi survival game published by Deep Silver and developed by Playcorp Studios, a local Australian game studio based out of Melbourne. Beyond Contact utilizes a top-down viewing experience that I am not usually a fan of, but this game does it well. Survive by doing the usual mechanics of material gathering, researching, building, and monster fighting, all the while completing a campaign. I am a huge fan of survival games; I own over twenty-ish of these types of games, and others of similar types, so I am always keen on trying all new survival and survival adjacent games.

There are two game modes available: Story Mode and Conquest Mode. One follows the linear path of completing missions, whereas Conquest is more free-roam survival. The story follows Quinn Hicks, a member of the Space Corps’, and she, the rest of her crew, and the Captain are tasked to assist in the evacuation of the Brachylon, the native inhabitants of Ketern. When they arrive at their destination, their ship is met with an unstable planet and an asteroid field that damages their ship, forcing them to crash land on the planet. Waking up next to your escape pod, you must locate your crew, uncover the mysteries of the planet, and most importantly, survive the harsh environments of the dying planet.

Conquest Mode takes the story out of it and adds some new features like territory capture and defense, and a world corruption system. This is the free play mode where you are free to do what you like, as long as you don’t let corruption take over. Both modes also include multiplayer capabilities, allowing up to four people to play together, and I managed to get a friend to join me in trying out this welcomed mode.

I have played similar games that didn’t have multiplayer, and they would be so much better if they did. Beyond Contact does this, and it was a whole lot of fun, but there was an issue with joining the game. If I was to invite her to the game, or she invite me, it would load and then immediately kick us from the game. We solved this by making a public game and joined that, so it worked out, but it might be something for Playcorp Studios to look at.

Beyond Contact uses the usual mechanics to gather material, research new technologies and structures, creating bases with power sources, farms, defenses, weapons, and equipment, but there is a level system in Beyond Contact that gives passive bonuses and character-specific skills as you level. When finding new materials, you must scan them to identify what they can be used for.

canning and gathering materials also gives you data, of which there are three types; bio, mineral, and crystal. You use the data collected to research new technologies. Collecting data and materials is both fun and time-consuming, and you will quickly run out of everything faster than you will probably realize early on. The thing I like most about this game specifically is that I found it hard to get bored of the grind. I didn’t get sick of mining or collecting plants.

You’ll get to make some weapons and traps to go hunting, and then test your skills against the tougher monsters. When you get tired of that, go complete the quests from the Brachylon and create items to explore the hazardous areas. There is always something to keep you busy. I am getting more comfortable with the keyboard and mouse, though if you prefer, you can use a controller, I am preferring a keyboard/mouse more so.

I love the visuals of this game. Each biome is unique. The plains are bright and colorful, the murky jungle is dark and foggy, the lava pits are lava-y, and snowy tundra snowy. Each area offers new materials and new dangers, and creating new gear for those areas, once equipped, also changes your character’s appearance. My favorite is the hazmat suit, which makes it look like you are wearing Space Rangers battle armor.

All of the cutscenes at the start are fully voiced, just like in the game, and the still art looks so pristine that I could see this as a successful comic series. The voice acting is great, but then again, if a game is fully voiced, even if the writing isn’t super strong, it is still a plus in my book. Beyond Contact does a great job with this as I found myself repeating or quoting lines that Quinn uses.

Playcorp did a very good job with this game, and there isn’t a lot that I can fault. One thing that would be nice is if one player uncovers an area, it uncovers it for your team member. This was not a big issue at all, but it’d be fun to have a cartography table or something, where you upload your map and other players can add to theirs by using it.

I’m having a lot of fun with this and will continue to play with my friend on days we are both available. We’re already pretty far along, but I want to complete the whole thing. Beyond Contact is currently pretty cheap in the Steam store, so make sure you give it a look. If you have any interest in survival games, it is a definite must-have.

Written by: Adam Brasher