Surviving Mars: Relaunched

Surviving Mars is a fun game (Unrealistic and Zubrinist, but it's a mars colony sim, so you get what you signed up for), but Relaunched just doesn't carry enough new features to be worth it if you bought the original. I only got Green Planet and Rivals, so the Below and Beyond features are good, but it's just not there. The graphics aren't better (Sepia filter, basically), the interface is odd (buttons aren't aligned) and it has as many bugs as the original. It's a fine buy on its own, but the original with all DLC is better if you can get it, and Relaunched wasn't worth it for me. I paid 20% off during a sale for the Ultimate edition and then refunded it, so I did end up playing 1ish hour in game for free.

I do not recommend this game. I played original around 30 hours. A "relaunched" game with the same bugs is insane. Base game with previously considered DLC's okay thats fine. Would say that justifies the price also those who bought the first game got 50% off this one, neat. But you forgot that you "relaunched" ALL of the same bugs and more. Domes do not display colonists counts properly which is not allowing for there to be any new born... The shading is awful... You go underground and its pitch black and go to the surface and all built elements, rocks is like it is set to 1000% brightness. You place a building and it has a bugged lighting square/rectangle randomly around it. Unplayable. Do not buy.

Buy Surviving Mars. Wait until Paradox fixes it and finishes game mechanics. But then Paradox "Relaunches" the game, making you pay second time for the fixed game. No, I already paid for the game and I expected to get it finished and fixed, like what the Relaunched version is. This is getting ridiculous that customers are forced to pay multiple times for the same game. If car company fixes car's engine that is not working properly, you are not expected to pay full price of the car for the second time.

Surviving Mars: Relaunched is exactly what the name suggests: a remaster of the original game with all DLC included from the start. The biggest improvement is that everything actually works out of the box this time: no more relying on mods or fan patches just to make DLC features behave. You start with a single rocket on a dead planet and slowly build up the infrastructure needed to keep humans alive, expand your colony, and eventually terraform Mars. Actions have real consequences: neglect life support and colonists die, expand too slowly and rival colonies outpace you. You are always busy. Performance-wise, this version has been far more stable for me than the original. No crashes, no bizarre bugs like trains refusing to run. But it’s not flawless. As of patch 1.06 (and before the first new DLC), the underground and asteroid systems are… rough. They’re now part of the core gameplay, and honestly, they’re still not fun in their current state. The good news: Haemimont Games knows and is actively working on fixes. Should you buy it? YES: If you enjoy city builders, Civilization-style progression, or the fantasy of colonizing Mars. NO (for now): If you already own the original with all DLC and are happy with it. Even at 50% off, you’re basically buying the same game twice, and the improvements aren’t quite enough yet to justify that. I personally fall into the second group, but I do see the improvements already made and the potential ahead. So overall, my verdict is still a YES.

I love this game! But for a remaster/ re-release this game is to buggy. the one that made me stop and wait for more bug fixes was to do with biomes. Specifically that people don't move to other biomes where there are jobs. or they don't pick any jobs. Causing them to be unhappy and you get negatives from there. Whilst you cannot do anything about it. this bug or similar issues happened in the original game to. I'd expect this to have been fixed by now in short: I'd recommend this game if you don't have the first one, just be prepared its still not without game breaking bugs. fortunately not everyone gets these or not even the same ones appear each game you play. Else... wait for bug fixes.

Although this game scratched the deep itch that I had for a specific colony builder sim, there are some things that deserve being called out. I wouldn't say that I regret this purchase, but I was just lucky enough to ignore this game before it was relaunched on steam, invalidating previous version and forcing a purchase of the new version for all the people that had fun with this game before. Packaging all the DLCs in one, much higher price of a base game. It's just scammy approach. Apart from that, the game doesn't feel finished all the way through. UI is unpolished, almost zero QoL regarding management of drones, buildings, colonists (if you have a big enough colony, have fun micromanaging every change apart from upgrading buildings), fullscreen mode being misaligned with buttons and even game optimization (not sure if it's for my PC specs only or for everyone) where running the game on autosaves just shreds performance just after second autosave. And slow clap for the colonists AI, never have I thought the human stupidity, questionable choices and being late for the transport could be simulated so accurate. A rocket spent 5 sols waiting for tourists that wanted to go home but just refused to board it (would probably wait more if I hand't force the launch).

bugs, bugs, bugs, little ones here and there. restarted due to the icons on the map not showing and it was not the O button to show icons ( why did you change that keybind as well ) then things hit by a meteor broken, but when rebuilt the broken ones stayed under it? and destroying the rebuilt one did not destroy but gave the resources back. If this had been a DLC, it would be considered *BAD* but at least cho and others could patch it up with mods. but no real mods have come out from it. I might not get my money back after 12 hours but this is a warning, DO NOT BUY THIS!!! Go to GOG and get the original version which will work/has some support!