When you get the chance to play a game that is set on Mars, you’d assume that you would be fighting aliens on the Red Planet. If not that, it would focus on travelling around in spacecraft, exploring the world and taking in an epic adventure. What you may not expect to be doing is being thrown into a little workshop fixing the machines that go out there to allow for all that fun exploring stuff. But on the back of some success with the likes of PC Building Simulator and Car Mechanic Simulator, it’s time to talk about Rover Mechanic Simulator.
This is a game for those who need to know how things work, and when they understand that, how to then put things together. In fact, I’d go as far as say that if you are one of those who never questions why something is what it is, or what makes the thing you’re driving work, then you might just struggle with this game. Then again, maybe it might unlock the hidden mechanic inside you…
You play a mechanic, who is on Mars in a colony working for NASA. Your home from home is a large workshop space and your job is to keep a fleet of Mars Rover vehicles up to scratch and in good nick, all so they can keep on doing their work and allowing exploration of the planet.
I’ll admit, the first hour or so of Rover Mechanic Simulator is a bit overwhelming, but after that, you’ll start to settle into a rhythm. From there, you may well discover that this is quite a relaxing game – even when the orders and tasks start piling up. Thankfully there is a tutorial that will take you through the basics of the game and what to do next. The main idea is that all the Mars Rovers need some love and attention, as they look to perform their important work. You get an ‘order’ request come through to your workshop and it’s up to you to fulfill that order. Simple, eh!?
In the workshop, you first have to access the crane that allows you the chance to move the Rover to your workbench for attention. It starts simple and might just be a wheel that needs cleaning or repairing. It’s here where you scan your Rover and try to work out which element is wrong. You can see from the colour of the scan (red being broken, green being good) which bits need looking at. There’s also ‘brown’ and this will mean that something needs a good clean and then another scan.
From there, it’s a case of taking the sections of the wheel apart, all by undoing screws, and then – if you need a new one – printing it out on your 3D printer and replacing it. Sometimes you need to clean or resolder elements, whilst at others it’s all about the replacing. When the job is done you get experience points, some money, and then it’s on to the next order – a next order which gets more complex as the game progresses.
You can level up and unlock more Rovers as you progress and further skills can be accessed in a skill tree; like the ability to scan for faults faster, or building and repairing things quicker, something which is handy as some contracts are time-sensitive. The problem is, the controls are far too fiddly at times and as in most of these types of games, it’s safe to say that using a mouse and keyboard would be a ton easier. It’s nice that there are some little distractions to help pass the time though; in your workshop there is an arcade machine for when you’re in downtime, letting you play the classics, Snake and Pong.
Visually and Rover Mechanic Simulator is all about you looking closely at a variety of components and parts of the Mars Rovers in your workshop. I’m assuming these are all accurate, but I’m a humble man and have to admit to not being totally up to speed on the designs of these machines. They look the real deal though. The menus and setup are all clearly designed and easy to navigate too, yet the audio is very minimal; never a focus for the game. There’s a radio station to listen to if you get bored, but I’d highly recommend loading up your own playlists and playing your own music while you work.
If you’re a sucker for the many other ‘mechanic’ and ‘simulator’ games on the market, there’s a chance you’ll get along with Rover Mechanic Simulator. It’s relaxing at times, but you’ll need to love taking things apart – and putting them back together again – in order to get the most from it. If that’s your bag, you’ll have a great time in the air-tight workshop on Mars.
Rover Mechanic Simulator is available from the Xbox Store