The Alters, A Review

There isn't a person who hasn't at least once in their life asked that unanswerable yet seemingly simple question, "What if I was...". This question comes in the late hours, in a store queue, in front of school entrance doors, or a local bank waiting room... 

Regardless of where and when it appears, we've all thought the same, just with different nuances. What if you hadn't taken your current job, dropped out of college, or stayed with your first crush? How much would your life change, and how much would play out the same as in the scenario you're currently living?

The Alters is a title that deals with precisely this question in all its elements, and it does so in a very provocative and refreshing way.

If you are looking to play another unique game, check out our Tainted Grail review!

What is The Alters All About

The stratification and re-examination of the main character, Jan Dolski, in The Alters, will be transferred to the player. It's a fantastic indicator of the interactive power of video games as a medium. Each of us has our hidden unwritten texts and movies that play out in parallel worlds where we did or didn't do things differently, and it's precisely this impossibility of repetition that makes life so precious and unique.

During gameplay and interaction with Jan, I stopped several times and thought about myself as the leading player in my own life. Did I make the right decisions? Did I even have a choice? I don't have the answers, but the mere fact that a video game made me think like this speaks volumes.

The gameplay loop of The Alters is minimal and sometimes frustrating; however, the base-building and management mechanics are solid, but nothing more than that. Despite this, the game is pulled off by its fantastic story. Although simply executed, the narrative is incredibly complex, to the point where I found myself thinking more about it than the game itself. If you give Jan, Jan, and Jan a chance, The Alters could become one of those titles you'll always talk about with friends.

The Story

The protagonist, Jan Dolski, is stranded on an inhospitable planet as the sole surviving member of his crew. To avoid certain death, Jan must activate and operate a massive space station that will take him off the planet, but this isn't simple. Apart from lacking the necessary knowledge to run his base, Jan doesn't have enough people, and a mystical substance called rapidium saves him from this desperate situation, allowing him to clone himself.

By combining rapidium with sci-fi technologies, Jan manages to create multiple copies of himself, but these aren't identical clones; they're alternative versions that have decided to live differently, with different origins and characters.

This way, Jan gets the personnel he desperately needs to maintain a complex base: from doctors, scientists, and mechanics to botanists, miners, and security guards. And this is where The Alters shines: each Jan is, in a way, your original Jan, but at the same time, they're a completely different person. Therefore, not all of them will react the same way to their creation and your idea of cloning yourself.

Each Jan is, in a way, your original Jan, but at the same time, they're a completely different person.

The complex and diverse interactions between Jan and his alternative versions are by far the best segment of The Alters. Each Jan is different, meaning you can have people with an addiction, aggressors, optimists, philosophers, and narcissists in your crew, and the original Jan realizes during gameplay that he must accept that all these traits are his, even though they belong to strangers. 

An additional aspect that adds charm is that the same voice actor lends his voice to each Jan, and despite the challenging task, he manages to create approximately ten distinct versions of the same voice.

The Gameplay of The Alters

When not dealing with profound existential questions, The Alters is a combination of survival and base-building games. The base-building and crew management aspects are handled decently and will likely be familiar to players who have played This War of Mine. You need to upgrade your station with materials found on the terrain constantly. Still, each addition requires additional space and resources to maintain, so it's always a matter of striking a good balance. The same can be said for your Jans (Jan?). Apart from ensuring they're continuously fed and warm, you need to take care of their accommodation, hobbies, general mood, and work habits.

Gameplay outside the base is the weakest part of the package for me. Here, you'll mine various ores to upgrade your base, escape from space-time anomalies that can irradiate you in an instant, and solve spatial puzzles that, although not difficult, can be tedious and unnecessarily time-consuming. The main idea of the collecting part of the game is that you need to spend time outside the base to progress, but you should never stay out too long to avoid excessive radiation exposure.

To extract ores and precious rapidium, you need to navigate through a natural labyrinth and find a suitable location to build wells and other functional structures that protect against radiation or fast travel to your base. Traveling in your bulky space rover, you'll encounter environments that are diverse enough not to be boring but still recognizable as belonging to an uninhabited and inhospitable planet.

Is The Repetition Fun?

Each action consumes energy that is replenished through sleep. Still, since you need to escape the planet within a specific period or risk being incinerated by the sun, sleep isn't unlimited. Therefore, you must always be tactical and diligent. It's worth mentioning that there's no action in the game, and apart from your clones and one sheep, there are almost no other living beings so that you can forget about space battles. The main enemy will be resources, time constantly running out, and your bipolar friends who sometimes claim they're fine and then fall into suicidal moods.

The Alters is a game that relies on multiple repetitions of certain sections and even the entire game. For example, in one playthrough, you can't unlock all available variations of your Jan, so keep in mind that the initial 20-hour playtime can be significantly longer. Furthermore, in the main menu, you can always select a saved position by days, which allows you to correct some decisions you regretted – and there will be some!

Each Jan comes with their own set of advantages and disadvantages, so you always need to ensure that workers work, mechanics repair, and scientists ponder and mix test tubes in the lab. Apart from their professions, they all have their personalities and demands that you need to balance.

From my experience, it's impossible for every Jan to be happy, so the key to success lies in constantly evaluating which Jan to shortchange and which to reward. Caring for your friends isn't cosmetic. If you neglect their needs, it can lead to verbal and physical altercations, sabotage, and extreme cases where not everyone will survive.

The Look And Feel

Graphically speaking, The Alters looks and sounds satisfactory. A lower production level is evident primarily in how the story is presented: almost everything, except for conversations between our Jan and another Jan, is conveyed through frozen images or blurry monitors, with only sound effects accompanying them. That is why we used our XP-Panther-C headphones to maximize our focus!

 Still, the game deserves praise for its use of light and shadow, both in the base and on the desolate space wasteland. The landscapes, although empty, can be beautiful, and the same can be said for the design of your station. To be clear, The Alters doesn't look bad, but the graphics aren't what will stay in memory.

Technically speaking, apart from a few harmless bugs, we didn't encounter any difficulties with the PC version, and a significant patch was released before the game's launch, which certainly fine-tuned the game further.

In Conclusion

If you're still unsure whether The Alters is worth your time... be grateful for it because Jan has doubts every moment... Apologies for the bad jokes and humor aside: for those in doubt, The Alters will be available from day one as part of Game Pass.

For me, The Alters is an excellent title that deserves your attention. Presentation and gameplay mechanics are good enough to keep you engaged. Still, The Alters will benefit those craving a good and tense sci-fi story with timely questions about choice, free will, and identity.

Rating: 8.5/10. 

The game got this grade due to its engaging narrative, complex characters, and thought-provoking themes despite some limitations in gameplay mechanics.

Recommended age: 16+. 

I recommend this game to players aged 16 and above due to its mature themes, complex storyline, and decision-making mechanics that appeal more to older players.