Drawing inspiration the best ocean survival crafting games | CBT Review - Driftopia
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✨Overview
Recently, I had the opportunity to play a bit of the Driftopia Beta Test, a survival crafting game set on an alien ocean planet, waiting to be explored and discovered. Driftopia, though still in beta on Android, attempts to merge the best elements of oceanic survival games.
📖Story and Premise
Driftopia involve players being part of an expedition to explore alien worlds and habitable planets. As a passenger on the “Great Yu Starship”, complications during atmospheric entry lead to a crash landing on an alien ocean planet. The group becomes scattered, and supplies are spread across the vast ocean-laden world. Players must navigate the challenges of this new environment, repairing their starting Raft's main engine, and embark on a journey of survival, exploration, and discovery.
🎨Visuals and Art
The graphics are decent—nothing too fancy for a mobile survival crafting game. However, the art direction is fantastic. I love the design of the world and the backdrop of the gas giant in the background. Outer Space is simply beautiful and the game made sure to showcase that. The sound design though is noticeably lacking for now, and the game is often dead silent at times.
🎮Gameplay
Driftopia introduces a gameplay dynamic that merges the sea exploration of Raft with the depths of survival crafting seen in Subnautica. The core experience centers on exploring the ocean, visiting islands and wrecks, and salvaging floating scraps. There is a fun fishing mechanic that allows you to fish for scraps with a rope and drag them to you, no need to swim. The game is co-op/online, although 100% of my experience has been solo and I haven’t encountered any players actually in this test.
Starting my playthrough is the Character Creation which is still Barebones, only Females are allowed for now. After a brief introduction, I was left to my own devices with the main task of repairing the engine on my starting Raft. No tutorial was in place yet, so I had to figure out the mechanics on my own. Fortunately, it all seemed familiar, following the typical formula of survival crafting games. The enjoyment lies in traveling by sea, discovering an island, looting it, and then moving on to the next island or wreckage.
On land, the game follows the typical survival crafting formula, where you gather resources like wood, scrap, and fruits to build and survive. Build workstations, platforms, improve your Raft, and gather food to eat. There are different tiers of structures, items, and appliances that you can progress and build. From basic rafts to advanced workstations, players are encouraged to continuously upgrade and expand their capabilities.
As of this current beta, looting and gathering materials take a bit too long for my tastes. Imagine spending 20 seconds gathering a single tree, and building a simple workstation taking 30 or more seconds. Like most aspects of the game, the controls are a bit barebones. There’s no way to customize them, the left stick is place a little too high, and movement is clunky.
📊Technical Performance
Performance-wise, it is absolutely horrible for my Snapdragon 888 device (ROG Phone). It started decently, but the performance took a nosedive on the second map, making it almost unplayable. There was no way to tweak the graphics or even the controls, so I was stuck playing with something that I didn’t find particularly comfortable.
Due to these technical issues, I could not play as much as I wanted. Overall, the setup is interesting, but in this beta testing phase, all the systems are very rudimentary—more like a proof of concept.
⚖️Conclusion
Driftopia, in its current beta form, presents an intriguing premise and a promising gameplay concept, drawing inspiration from successful titles in the ocean survival crafting genre and having a unique spin of its own. However, that’s all it is for now — a proof of concept — showcasing potential rather than an enjoyable gaming experience. This game needs serious work to realize that potential upon its release.
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