Early Access Preview - From The Depths

From The Depths

Now Available on Steam Early Access

Developed by Brilliant Skies Ltd.

Most of us recognize the block-by-block building style to be a relaxing and more casual concept from previously popular titles, but for many who grew out of that phase finding the next step to a more advanced style of crafting and building has been on our minds for awhile. Something more complicated that takes into account real-world physics and engineering has always been a dream on the horizon but never quite executed properly or with lasting appeal, not until From the Depths.

Starting out in From the Depths can be a discouraging experience, the amount there is to learn may seem overwhelming but is met with some of the most rewarding results I've come across in the vehicle crafting sandbox genre. This is a game that requires patience to be put in but gives back in copious amounts, learning the usage of every tool is key to creating the most enjoyable experience as you'll have plenty to use at your disposal.

First and foremost, every player from the curious new builders to the most seasoned of engineers will want to delve into the playable tutorials and building guides supplied by the game as you'll quickly find the learning curve is no joke. Although it may seem tedious at first the more patient of players will begin to slowly learn important hotkeys and shortcut tools such as copying and reusing large sections of previously created vehicles that will make your building endeavors quick, seamless, and enjoyable.

Creating vehicles is way more than just their visual appearance and basic form, you'll have to get into the guts of each machine and engineer their inner-workings putting you in full control of everything from connecting series of logic up to thrusters, distributing equal amounts of power evenly across your ship, to creating your own missiles and ammunition as well as defining their behavior. The limits in From the Depths are determined solely by your own creative capacity.

Aside from the vehicle creation and building mode, there are some ambitious features to battle it out in including a progressive campaign that expands with each update and quick skirmishes you can set up for testing your new creations in the heat of battle. Terrain in the game varies from sea, to land, to air/space giving you lots of types of traversable landscape to consider when creating your specific dream vehicle.

The campaign itself is impressively large and involving for those well versed in the mechanics of the game throwing you into the world with a starting base to gather resources from and expand off of as you fight for survival and bountiful territories. This campaign mode is already very addictive and continues to grow rapidly with each update, promising the addition of more enemies, factions and objectives to spice up your survival in this free-form sandbox adventure.

Currently in development is the story based mission mode but it already features a couple of the basic starting missions which I found to be some of my most exhilarating moments with the game. The few story missions we have already do a great job of setting you up with some pre-determined scenarios, getting you into a pre-made vehicle and dropping you into the midst of a full scale battle. These missions are a really excellent way to get a glimpse at what all out war looks like in From the Depths.

Considering the complexity of what you can do and the scope of freedom you have doing it, From the Depths is a game I feel deserves way more attention and hype from sandbox and crafting enthusiasts. For me it's certainly the next biggest sandbox game on the market and one I've already put more time into than KSP or Space Engineers, and the prospects shown from constant updates and a very close relationship between the developer and the community make it even more important to get involved early to watch something already engrossing turn into something huge.