Mars Attract is Nostalgia Done Right [First Impressions]
Mars Attracts is a game that makes me so happy to be an indie game reviewer. Never in my wildest imagination did I believe there would be a park simulation game based on the 1996 cult classic film Mars Attacks. Even stranger is how well it embodies the long past days of management games from the 1990s and 2000s such as Theme Hospital and Zoo Tycoon. The game successfully walks a comfortable line between complexity and simplicity; engaging the player without overwhelming them. The result? An experience in line with the black humor of the movie it's based on that’s also cozy and nostalgic.
The game thrust me into the boots of a martian running the Red Planet’s first-ever human zoo. There's a bit of a balancing act here familiar to anyone having played the Zoo Tycoons— the humans must be tended to, the guests' needs must be met, and the park must remain profitable. After complicated games like City Skylines and Planet Zoo where it feels like every menu has a menu, this feels like a refreshing return to the basics.
The human exhibits are broken up into different time periods, including Ancient Rome and The Wild West, which is quite silly but in a good way. Each habitat has special items to enhance it, and I found myself having a good time watching them come to life. One thing I didn't like was having to pay tons of money to go on expeditions to obtain the items to put in — I would have preferred finding an item to unlock it in a menu I could shop from instead, and then being free to build the exhibit as I wanted.
Something I found strangely enjoyable was experimenting on humans to obtain research points. I'm a gentle soul, and I thought I would hate this feature. That said the game approaches it with a sense of humor and very Theme Hospital-like graphics, and it's surprisingly fun to watch robots perform what is essentially human torture.
The research in this game also boasts a nice sense of progression, with multiple systems expanding as I played. First, I was able to unlock new parks across multiple historical periods. Then there’s the management tasks like reducing operating costs and installing new attractions and rides for the martian parkgoers. I always felt like I was working toward something new.
While the core gameplay is engaging – this game definitely has the fun-game sauce – it did sometimes remind me that it’s in the alpha stage. What's here is still rough, and with that there are a few problems. The most notable to me was the economy. Everything feels too expensive, and it feels a little too hard to turn a profit while making progress at a good pace. There were multiple instances where I just had to sit and wait to earn money before doing more interesting things.
Additionally there were a few smaller but annoying issues. Some things I needed to click on required to complete the tutorial were not very intuitive, and I was haplessly clicking on random buttons until I found the info I needed. The UI, while passable, could use some improvement. I was also really thrown off by not being able to rotate objects with my mouse. Finally I experienced some graphical issues, most notably was screen tearing when I moved around the map.
Despite those issues, I feel comfortable saying there really isn't much out here that's quite like Mars Attracts. It's a unique, well-executed concept that mimics a type of game we don't really see anymore. While there's still work to be done I'm cautiously optimistic, and think there's definitely potential here.
BONUS. Watch me play the first 45 minutes or so here!
