Creating Life Instead Of Taking It
My partner, who isn’t a gamer, often comes into the living room while I’m playing games and asks, “Are you killing things again?” Most of the time, I haven’t got an answer, because the nature of games usually involves attacking aliens, monsters, gods or humans in fierce battles. There’s nothing wrong with that, and it’s fun, but from the outside, it can look quite psychopathic.
There are, however, games where it’s not about the action or the death, but about creating life instead of taking it away. One of those games is BioEden, and here’s why it’s a nice change of pace.
This is one of those games that I like to relax with for an hour at a time. A game where it’s all about concentration, balance and trying not to destroy a world’s ecosystem. All in a day’s work. In the campaign mode, you play a sort of eco-warrior working for an organisation called the Comic Collective. You are a Keeper, and your task is to bring life back to a dead planet following a catastrophic event – the Great Unravelling.
Choosing Your Guild
There are competing guilds within the Collective, and it’s up to you to pick a side at the beginning. The Technology Guild is all about quick fixes, gathering materials and building. The Mystics Guild is looking for what the planet has to offer in terms of mystical secrets. The Explorers Guild is focused on discovering what the planet’s different regions have to offer, while the Reconstruction Guild is all about recycling. Then there is the one I initially chose, the Nature Guild, which takes a more thoughtful approach to regenerating the planet.
Building A Balanced Ecosystem
You start by trying to make the planet habitable for humans again, but in order to do that, it’s all about balance. You’re essentially building a world from scratch without allowing pollution levels to reach a critical point. You start with a dome, which has certain requirements that need to be met before a species can come into the world and flourish. For example, you might have an animal that needs particular plants and fauna to survive. You build these and place them near the dome, and then the process begins. The dome produces a den for the animals, and out they come into the world. The happier they are with their surroundings and requirements, the more they will breed, leaving you with a thriving population of animals in their little domes. The new animals you can unlock along the way are superb.
The controls are straightforward enough to use, with the ability to zoom in and out of the map, helped along by simple instructions throughout the useful tutorial. Sometimes the menus can be a little tricky to get used to, but you’ll soon get the hang of them. As always with these types of games though, I think using a mouse and keyboard is the best way to play, but the controls on console aren’t bad by any means.
Cleaning Up The World
That’s what happens inside the domes of life, where you’re creating new ecosystems. Outside the domes, your job is to clean up the polluted planet, build new structures to help with the process and research new technology to make things easier. You clean up water, restore power and get the world working again. You can recycle old ruins and mine for resources too. All of this can seem overwhelming at first, but there isn’t any time pressure or deadlines in BioEden, which makes the whole experience much more relaxing.
You still need to keep that pollution in check, though, because you don’t want to reach a critical level and undo all your hard work. Once you feel confident with your world, you can release your animals from their domes and let them into the wild. It’s a casual game that remains engaging and fun to play, and the different guilds offer varying gameplay options and ways to approach the game, which gives you plenty more to do beyond the main campaign.
Visually, BioEden looks good, with a colourful, stylised and animated art style. The animal designs are great and discovering new species along the way is one of the pleasures of the game. The map itself works well, although I would have liked larger icons in the UI and slightly bigger text in places. The soundtrack has a looping, ambient feel that is perfect for a game like this. It doesn’t get in the way, but instead quietly supports the gameplay.
BioEden Is A Relaxing Sim With Plenty Of Life
I’ve really enjoyed my time with BioEden. I particularly loved everything within the dome, creating the perfect environments for all the different types of animals you nurture. I liked that each species has different requirements that need to be monitored, making the process of creating a thriving ecosystem feel rewarding. That said, I found the work outside the domes, particularly the building and management elements, a little more overwhelming and frustrating, especially after the tutorial, which feels a bit too lengthy.
Overall, though, BioEden is a welcome addition to the sim market, delivering a substantial and relaxing gaming experience.
Important Links
Build, Restore And Rewild A Dead Planet In BioEden – https://www.thexboxhub.com/build-restore-and-rewild-a-dead-planet-in-bioeden/
Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/bioeden/9nv2v77xx8ln
