Welcome to our review of Endzone: A World Apart, a post-apocalyptic micromanagement game of the Sim genre.
In 2021, a group of terrorists blew up nuclear power plants around the world and plunged the world into chaos. Only a few were able to escape into underground facilities called “Endzones”. 150 years later, mankind returns to the surface – under your command! In an extremely hostile environment full of radioactivity, contaminated rain, and extreme climate change, you’ll have to prove you’re worth as a leader.
Build a settlement on the hostile surface of the earth with over 70 different buildings and take care of your men, women, and children. Gather & refine many different resources and manage your economy by building an efficient infrastructure with streets and depositories. Experience dynamically simulated, believable environments! Every ground cell in the game has its own humidity and radiation values. Survive in a world of constant threats including radioactively contaminated ground, droughts, toxic rain, and sandstorms. Send expeditions to forgotten places and make meaningful decisions that change the fate of your people. And many more features…
In the current gaming landscape, it is very hard to bring something new to us gamers. Endzone: A World Apart tries to set itself apart by the atmosphere of being post-apocalyptic in nature, but at its core, it is another sim game. A decent one, to say the least, but in its deepest core, this is basically micro-management at its best.
I started my gameplay by following the tutorial, which made it clear I could not play it by a controller, but by mouse. This is a good thing, as it gives you more freedom in movement and more accuracy. As I have a more than potent gaming laptop, I went all out and played the game in full 4K resolution on my OLED and this is when I came to my first caveat in playing Endzone: A World Apart. The text in some parts of the screen is really tiny and if I wasn’t right in front of my 55 inch TV, I was unable to read parts of the commands.
Commands that are clearly easy when you see what is needed next, but yeah, they are tiny. Once you get past this, you start your enclave of survivors by following the on-screen commands. They will go from making a water source to making sure you have survivors procuring fish, scraps, and wood at first. You get full control of everything you do and that is in my book the impressive part of this game.
The micro-management aspect, though it is not my personal cup of tea, is very impressively expansive. I had tripled my resident survivors within the first hour of play, adding houses, tailors, a school, … I had dedicated builders, scrap gatherers, … Everything just fit the picture at first and everything went fine for me. I think me prioritizing food and clothing really helped me out here. I remember one test, I had purposely ignored the encampment and everyone just outright died.
I do not feel this is a game that is for everyone, but I do recommend giving it a try if you are in the market for a sim game. Sure, the market is flooded with sim clones, but I do feel Endzone: A World Apart could be well worthy of your money, simply by its approach of being all about survival after the disasters that struck. The micromanagement part however is something you will like or love, so don’t go saying we did not warn you!
In conclusion, I am sure that I barely got to the top of the iceberg in the water, but Endzone: A World Apart is a game that left me impressed by its varied approach to a genre that is honestly nothing I normally play. I may not be sure if I ever really will end up playing games of this genre, but if I plan to invest a long time game session in this genre, I am certain this one will be the one.
