One day the inevitable will happen, and humanity be wiped out by an AI. I’ve seen enough science fiction to know that there is more than a little bit of truth to all this. But what if the AI in question is a bit of a tyrant and rather than simply destroy humanity, puts them all to work in some giant human sized hamster wheel? It’s a future far scarier. Thankfully then, Despotism 3k releasing today on Xbox has a bit of a sense of humour when it comes to the demise of humanity. A sick, twisted sense of humour but still, better than nothing.
Despots are nothing new in gaming, just check the likes of Far Cry or Tropico, depending on how you play. But these are human despots. In Despotism 3k, humanity is a tool that you have complete control over. You play as the AI dictating their lives, rather than the oppressed human who has no control over their actions. You may need them to generate energy by running in the hamster wheel or force them into reproducing, so you have a steady supply of more humans. And don’t worry if they become too ill to carry on, throw them in the Bioreactor and make some room for fresh meat.
Despotism 3k works as a resource management simulation mixed in with rogue-lite elements. You as the AI report into another higher being and must appease their requests or find yourself back at the beginning of the cycle. Throw in some random elements to keep you on your toes and plenty of pop culture references and Despotism 3k is shaping up to be a very silly and sadistic game. Our review should be able to tell you just how silly and sadistic very soon, stay tuned.
Fancy yourself as a future despot AI? It’s not something we’d really consider until now but sign us up for it! In the meantime, Despotism 3k is available now on the Xbox Store priced at £9.19 to act as a simulator for the real thing when our brains are placed into computers instead of skeletons. It’s going to happen one day, mark my words.
Game description:
Humanity is enslaved by an AI… which is awesome, because we’re on the right side of the conflict. Exploit puny humans to extract power and build your own empire! You’ll have to keep track of them to make sure they don’t succumb to exhaustion and hunger… although the weakest ones can always be thrown to the Bioreactor.
In other words, this is a resource management sim with rogue-lite elements, dramatic plot, and an abundance of pop culture references. Also, jokes. Slaughter has never been so fun!
