Abiotic Factor has cured my survival crafting malaise

My relationship with survival crafting games is like one you may have with an appetizing but bad-tasting food — think black licorice. You might think, “My taste has changed a lot in the last few years, I bet this is really going to do it for me now!” only to take a bite and twist your face in revulsion. That’s me and survival games.

I keep trying games in the genre, and I keep glazing over and quitting in mere hours (as do my frustrated friends, to whom I always hastily recommend said game). But Abiotic Factor is, so far, a much different story.

To me, the world in which I’m being asked to survive is just as important as the survival mechanics themselves. I’ve survived in so many forests, caves, and even oceans that, at this point, I’m just sort of sick of the usual suspects. I don’t want to make a mattress out of logs and leaves – I want to repurpose an ugly sofa into a bed. I refuse to distill any more rainwater – I’d rather collect it from water coolers in hallways. Pens as crossbow bolts. Chair cushions as makeshift armor. Vending machines as hunting grounds, rich with a variety of salty and sugary species. That’s Abiotic Factor.

Taking place entirely in a simulacrum of Half Life 1’s Black Mesa, you play as a pencil-pushing scientist that you’ll customize both aesthetically and mechanically through a very Project Zomboid-style perk and class selection. The hand-crafted map, even in Early Access, is massive and stunningly detailed, with unique resources and surprises hiding around every questionably-ca🔯rpeted corner.

Trees, rocks, and streams suit the naturalism typical in other survival games, but it’s so satisfying to walk into an industrial, prebuilt space, flick on the tactile light switches, and rummage through some filing cabinets. It’s my favorite genre of survival: something I call “Pick-’em-Up” games. Prey (2017) is the shining example of this. Now that was a good Pick-’em-Up – you could even break down whole rooms into little cubes of material to hoover up into your inventory. Abiotic Factor nails this feel, as you smash apart whole computer terminals into an explosive confetti of various bits and bobs you’ll snatch from the ground like a starving animal.

There’s combat, of course, and while beating a hostile alien hound to death with a metal pipe feels surprisingly good, it’s best approached in a more thoughtful manner. Crafted traps, explosives, and ranged weapons make use of the game’s interlocking, nearly immersive-sim level systems. Just don’t forget to carve their corpses up with a chef’s knife for parts.

From baiting enemies into spinning saw traps to warming yourself up by a makeshift heater while the power shuts down for the night, there’s a very immersive sense of physicality to the affair that I feel many titles lack. You can watch the temperature change in real time, using your digital watch, as you move from room to room. Your character will complain about cold or hunger in that quintessential Half Life scientist cadence. And while hunger and thirst don’t gnaw to the point of annoyance, it can be pretty tricky to figure out how to squeeze resources out of a concrete bunker filled with hostile lifeforms.

Along with temperature, things like radiation, “dryness,” and other elements will affect your character’s frail body. It is, once again, very reminiscent of Project Zomboid’s survival systems that approached Dwarf Fortress levels of thoughtfulness. Aprons can prevent you from being coated in fluids, while more protective threads can shield you from radiation. You’ll always have your little scientists’ presence in the world in the back of your mind, and it makes sneaking around and resource gathering feel even more tense.

And, of course, the multiplayer shines fantastically. With up to five of your friends you can delegate tasks, choose different “builds,” and conquer the GATE facility level by level. If you need any more motivation to ask a buddy to join, I present this image of my friend coming to heal me with our only syringe after a long day of exploring:

Abiotic Factor just feels like one of those classic labors of love. Steam players, like truffle-hunting pigs scouting their next prize, have honed in on the title, skyrocketing its player count to over 15,000 concurrently and reviews to a 97% “Overwhelmingly Positive” rating. After the creator Geoff Keene’s unfortunate experience of being “Among Us before Among Us” with his last title, Unfortunate Spacemen, it’s a deserved, if belated, blowup.