Publisher: Preferred Networks
Developer: Preferred Networks
Available On: PC (Steam), Mac OS
Crafting Redefined
Omega Crafter is an open-world survival game. Like games of the same genre, the player must find, harvest, and build a multitude of tables, shelter, and tools, to be able to survive. The player can explore and battle a variety of enemies, work with their friends, or just slowly build their own home and city.
But this is where the similarities to the genre end for Omega Crafter. In this game, the player is given a small robot friend that follows the player around, helps fight off enemies, and can be set to do tasks near the player (such as cutting down trees, harvesting crops, or other small tasks that do not take the robot too far from the player.) The robot also increases the efficiency of the harvesting process. With this small robot, the player can battle larger enemies earlier, by using the robot as a defensive barrier between the player and the enemy or setting the robot up to be the damage dealer and the player takes the damage. This can be done by a small RPG aspect to the game, where players can choose to upgrade their various stats, such as health, stamina, attack, special attacks, and even upgrade the robot’s stats too!
Even with this cool little robot, the game still separates itself from other games of the genre like Rust, Minecraft, or 7 Days to Die, because the player can add more robots within the settlement that the player creates. No longer do players have to run from crafting table to crafting table, taking time to create a bunch of smaller items to use when making larger tables, or having to wait while crafting new equipment or more arrows! These little robots can be programmed through a small coding window and will do multiple tasks, repeatedly, while the player is out exploring with their robot sidekick.
Levels like an RPG
While open-world survival games have a leveling system, Omega Crafter’s leveling is like that of an RPG. The player gets to choose what abilities to level up, which goes double for the little robot buddy. The leveling is very specific, such as damage, range, or special moves, and this means the player must choose wisely because, unlike other survival games, the game is not about what the player uses that will level up automatically, but rather what the player chooses to level up. There will be times when the player wishes to have more damage, but put the points into health, and vice versa, and then must wait until the proper points are found to level up the abilities later.
The next part of leveling in Omega Crafter is that of how levels are achieved. Where most survival games have an experience bar, in Omega Crafter the player must find little pieces around the world that are counted as points to level up the abilities. And like most RPGs when a level is purchased, the next level will cost more than the previous. So again, be careful as to what to level up, because the next level may cost a bit more than the player expects, meaning it will take that much longer to get that ability, and it may be a while before finding enough points again to gain a level in other abilities too.
Another aspect of leveling is the play area. This game has different areas of difficulty, and it is usually shown by the enemies changing. For example, players may fight small wolves and boars in the first area, but then once the player moves to the harder area, the player will be fighting snakes and bears. The overall scenery changes so that it is easier to know where the line of the harder area meets the easier area, this way players are not completely caught off guard.
My Robot Friends
As mentioned earlier, players are granted a small robot friend. This robot friend is an amazing little feature for this game because the robot can be programmed to do different tasks while within a certain radius of the player. For example, while harvesting trees for supplies, the player can task the robot to harvest stones, so that the robot will find stones in the area near the player, and break the stones so that the player can just gather the pieces between cutting down trees.
Not only does the player get the robot sidekick, but the player can also set up robots within the player’s city to do various tasks too. Like Pal World, the player is given small helpers throughout the game, and then able to put them to tasks in the city while the player and their sidekick are out adventuring. The big difference between Pal World and Omega Crafter is that all robots are blank slates to be coded to do different jobs, rather than having to find specific creatures to capture for specific tasks like in Pal World.
This brings up the next cool part of this game, which is the coding of the robots. It is not hard coding, and a player does not have to understand all the ins and outs of coding to be able to play (but it does help at times) because all the coding is pre-set lines of codes, that the player must fill in the blanks. This means that a player can set up a robot to do all sorts of tasks, one after another, on a consistent basis, for as long as the player wants to make the code. For example, a player can start simply by having a line of code for a robot say something like “pick up 1 item from Wood 1 box”. The robot will get the wood from the box, but then do nothing with it, until the player codes in something to do with that item. “Take to Work Bench 1, and craft Plank”. The pre-set wording would have “take to” then a blank followed by “and craft” and another blank. The player only needs to click on the blank part, then click on the place they want the robot to take the item, and then what the robot is to craft. After that the next line of code (because the robot will have a plank and not know what to do with it), will be “and place in” with a blank, and the player can choose a box for the robot to deposit the plank into, and if that is the end of the coding, the robot will just repeat this until it runs out of materials. But even if the robot runs out of materials, it will still go through the coded process of going to the first box, then to the workbench, and then to the second box, even if the robot is not carrying anything.
What this means is that the player, being savvy enough for it, can have the robots create all sorts of things by going through long lists of code to make higher-level items. For example, the robot doesn’t have to deposit the planks into the second box, but take the plank to another workbench, and create another box to set down, or to build another workbench, or go to the tool bench and make a sword or pickaxe, or even to build a house. Again, the limits are up to the player’s imagination for this coding part of the game.
Another cool part of the coding is that players can make the robots repeat certain tasks multiple times, then move on to another task. Remember the first robot that finished making the plank? The player can keep the whole process going by having a little tree farm, and the robot can go plant a seed for a tree, cut down a different tree, and then go build another plank! The vast amounts of possibilities will blow the player’s mind!
But to ensure that not too much is given away by this article, let’s get down to the real part of this game: the pros and cons.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
Omega Crafter has solid graphics and runs smoothly. No clipping, no stuttering, and everything seems simple but fun.
The number of possibilities for add-ons and to keep players having abilities to level up further and further in the game are endless. New parts of the world can be added, new level caps and more content can always be incorporated for those players at higher levels.
Plenty of playable time and content. Only scraping the very top of the content took many hours just to be able to write this article. This writer will be playing more and more of the game.
Will be even more fun to play with others. Though the writer was unable to play with friends because the game is not released yet, there is so much that friends can add on to this game that will make it even more fun to play with buddies because they will add a new dimension as well as new ideas for ways to play!
Simple but complex game mechanics. While the game is straightforward, there are plenty of things that can absolutely be gone to in much more depth and detail when more time is spent playing the game. Like the coding aspect, the adventuring aspect, and the leveling aspect. Each one of these has layers of possibilities that it is hard not to get lost and even a bit intimidated by, the vast number of possibilities.
Cons:
Very similar to other games of the same genre, to the point that playing this game almost feels like a knock-off version of other games, such as Pal World. But the game is different enough that players will still be able to see the differences and enjoy the game.
Almost too easy, and levels are vastly different. At the beginning, fighting enemies seems too easy, and while it is the beginning, it still could use a small buffing of the enemies to make it slightly more difficult at the start. On the other hand, when moving on to new areas, the levels needed to move on seem a bit of a jump, because players will need to go fight for a while longer in the lower levels to level up quite a few levels, even after beating the boss, to be able to handle the new enemies in higher level areas.
Simple graphics. For the time we live in, these graphics, while great, are still very simplistic. The game is aimed towards a certain audience, and not towards gamers looking for high-end, graphics-heavy, games. The game is absolutely geared towards gamers just looking for simple fun, but nothing that will bog down their computers.
The tutorial lacks complex things while dragging on for things that are otherwise straightforward. The tutorial could be more information about how the game differs (such as the coding part) rather than focusing on buildings to build and harvesting. Some of the simpler aspects are needed, of course, but the little time spent on the coding portion leaves the player in need of a bit of help at times.
The last con would be for the leveling of the character and sidekick robot. The leveling, while simple and easy, could use some more complexity too. This would add depth to the game to really customize the player's character for their playstyle. That way when playing with friends, not everyone does the same thing and has the same levels of the same attributes. If there were more choices that players could level up, then players would be able to work in concert with their friends, and their sidekick robots, to really stand out. This does not mean the leveling system is bad, just that it would be nice to be able to customize individual playstyles.
Final Thoughts
While could use some tweaking and fine-tuning, Omega Crafter is an amazing open-world adventure to play by yourself or with friends. The lower graphics are forgotten compared to the vast fun of coding robots and exploring through expansive maps, finding treasures, and fighting huge bosses! Omega Crafter is fun and has plenty of content even before released as a full game. It can only get better as the developers make final touch-ups. The endless possibility for additional content makes players truly want to keep playing to see what new and fun adventures await.
Come and join me in the thrilling atmosphere of the game that is going on run 3. This is a really popular game, and it is not difficult to join the community surrounding it.