I should preface this by saying that I already have played multiple hours of Satisfactory (Around 200-300) on EGS. This is a review of somebody who has seen everything the game has to offer at the moment, but still wants to play more of it which is clearly indicated by the 25 hours of playtime I already put into the Steam version. God, this is turning into an addiction. Anyway, on with the review:

First things first, stop calling this 3D Factorio. It's not that, and it simply leads to hundreds of people forming false expectations and complaining about the game not playing like Factorio. Really, you don't say? It's also important to understand that when deciding whether this is a game for you. If you're simply deciding based on you liking Factorio then be careful, this game play way different and has a different focus. So, consider yourself warned.

Okay, so what is Satisfactory? It's an open world factory building/exploration game. There is currently no precise end goal (more on that later), but the overarching objective is to automate gathering of resources and materials production by setting up networks of construction building that will allow you to produce materials you will need to unlock more buildings and ever more complicated materials to craft, which will lead to bigger and more complex building networks, and so on. Eventually you will be forced to expand your factory to really big sizes and transport resources from long distances away to keep up with the demand. It's the same basic formula as games like Factorio, but here it plays out a little bit different. I will focus on these since those are at the same time some of the game's biggest strengths, and the things that may put off those people who expected an experience more akin to Factorio, since so many people are overly fond of describing this game as "3D Factorio"...

First major difference is the map. There is a single map and no random map generation. Sucks right? Not really. The map is really, big. And I mean REALLY big. Big enough that you will not even explore a third of it on a normal playthrough, and you will expand to even less places. Also, it's a hand crafted, 3D map, which means it's infinitely times more interesting to explore and work with than any randomized map you could ever hope for. It;s also a 3D map, so there is elevation and multiple layers to work with, cave systems, huge mountains, all of this means there is an insane amount of space to explore and work with. And you are given 4 starting locations to work with, which easily translates to at least 4 unique playthroughs thanks to the sheer size and amount of things the map has to offer. This is in my opinion a huge improvement over randomly generated maps, that never really feel unique from one another after a single playthrough. The technology is not there yet.

Second major difference would be the focus on exploration. Unless you find yourself one of the popular "best" starting spots, you will have to very quickly start exploring and looking for more resources. Most places you will find will not give you enough nodes to supply enough throughput to run even an early game factory (unless you go really small), so you will have to look for more even early on. There are some biomes and spots that bend that rule to various degrees, but most novice players won't know about them, and I encourage to avoid them if it's your first playthrough. Aside from resources there are other very useful things to look for: there are collectibles such as various plants that heal you, power slugs that can be researched and turned into items that allow to overclock your production buildings (necessary if you want to go for maximum efficiency), wrecks that have a lot of free resources spread around them (sometimes really valuable and high tier ones) that also contain hard drives, which are essential items that let you unlock alternative recipes for materials for even more efficiency and possibilities. There are also roaming monsters that you can kill for their drops that can be later researched and used to make some unique items, and rare resources that are normally used to craft things later in the game, but if you find some of them earlier you can use them to make some really useful and powerful upgrades that will massively help you in both building your factory and exploration. So yes, exploration is a REALLY important aspect of the game, if you really dedicate yourself to it you could spend almost as much time on it as on building your factory. And thanks to the map being so big and hand crafted there is definitely a lot to explore.

Third major difference is how it plays. It's a very relaxing game, the only stress you'll experience is going to be moment to moment combat with roaming monsters, and getting stressed by trying to figure out why your factory is not working as it should and where is that one conveyor belt you forgot to connect. There is no immediate danger to your factory, there is no base defence from the enemies, there are no survival elements like food or water. It's a game purely focused on building and exploration, sprinkled with some combat when exploring or expanding into remote locations. Once kill all the monsters in the area, it's yours to explore and exploit, and if you build powered infrastructure then the monsters will stop respawning in the vicinity. And if you read this and think that it means it has less going on for it than the other games that have some kind of base defence elements, then you're wrong. As I already said, exploration is a major part of the game, something I haven't seen been done this well and to such extent in any games from this "factory builder" genre. Building your bases is also a much bigger and more involving task here. The third dimension is not simply just a gimmick. It's a major factor to consider when setting up your bases. Elevation plays a huge role and can be a real challenge to overcome. Sure, you can build everything on the ground like you would in a 2D game, but even then the ground is not flat. There are hills, valleys, natural obstacles, big rocks that you can't really get rid off, cliffs, water... the game really wants to make it as difficulty to build big bases on the ground. As you would expect from a random planet you were just dropped of on, it's not very well prepared for mass Industrialisation. That's why building vertically is such a big element of this game and the game gives you plenty of tools to accomplish this. Moreover, the game gives you a lot of things to spice up the building process and accomplish things that are simply not possible in a 2D game. Do you want to run multiple conveyor belts on top of one another? There are tools for that. Do you want to close off your factory with walls and roofs so you don't have to look at the horrible spaghetti you have made? No problem. Maybe you should now mounts those conveyor belts on the walls you just made? Or maybe through them? The game has a lot of tools to make the building process interesting and not feel like you're bound to the game's rules. There are always multiple ways to accomplish the same goal.

I could go on for a couple more paragraphs, but I ran out of characters. If you read through all of it, you already know if it's a game fr you or not. If you didn't, then just read the header and watch some gameplay to get the idea. If you have a specific question, you can comment under my review and I will try to answer. Hope you had a nice read, and if you decide to purchase the game, I hope you have as much fun as I do.

[h2] No, this is not 3D Factorio. It's a similar game focused on building and exploration. Yes, it already has enough content to play it for more than a hundred hours, even if only by doing a single playthorugh. Yes, it's already worth the price if you are into this kind of gameplay. If you want more details, read the rest of the review. [/h2] I should preface this by saying that I already have played multiple hours of Satisfactory (Around 200-300) on EGS. This is a review of somebody who has seen everything the game has to offer at the moment, but still wants to play more of it which is clearly indicated by the 25 hours of playtime I already put into the Steam version. God, this is turning into an addiction. Anyway, on with the review: First things first, stop calling this 3D Factorio. It's not that, and it simply leads to hundreds of people forming false expectations and complaining about the game not playing like Factorio. Really, you don't say? It's also important to understand that when deciding whether this is a game for you. If you're simply deciding based on you liking Factorio then be careful, this game play way different and has a different focus. So, consider yourself warned. Okay, so what is Satisfactory? It's an open world factory building/exploration game. There is currently no precise end goal (more on that later), but the overarching objective is to automate gathering of resources and materials production by setting up networks of construction building that will allow you to produce materials you will need to unlock more buildings and ever more complicated materials to craft, which will lead to bigger and more complex building networks, and so on. Eventually you will be forced to expand your factory to really big sizes and transport resources from long distances away to keep up with the demand. It's the same basic formula as games like Factorio, but here it plays out a little bit different. I will focus on these since those are at the same time some of the game's biggest strengths, and the things that may put off those people who expected an experience more akin to Factorio, since so many people are overly fond of describing this game as "3D Factorio"... First major difference is the map. There is a single map and no random map generation. Sucks right? Not really. The map is really, big. And I mean REALLY big. Big enough that you will not even explore a third of it on a normal playthrough, and you will expand to even less places. Also, it's a hand crafted, 3D map, which means it's infinitely times more interesting to explore and work with than any randomized map you could ever hope for. It;s also a 3D map, so there is elevation and multiple layers to work with, cave systems, huge mountains, all of this means there is an insane amount of space to explore and work with. And you are given 4 starting locations to work with, which easily translates to at least 4 unique playthroughs thanks to the sheer size and amount of things the map has to offer. This is in my opinion a huge improvement over randomly generated maps, that never really feel unique from one another after a single playthrough. The technology is not there yet. Second major difference would be the focus on exploration. Unless you find yourself one of the popular "best" starting spots, you will have to very quickly start exploring and looking for more resources. Most places you will find will not give you enough nodes to supply enough throughput to run even an early game factory (unless you go really small), so you will have to look for more even early on. There are some biomes and spots that bend that rule to various degrees, but most novice players won't know about them, and I encourage to avoid them if it's your first playthrough. Aside from resources there are other very useful things to look for: there are collectibles such as various plants that heal you, power slugs that can be researched and turned into items that allow to overclock your production buildings (necessary if you want to go for maximum efficiency), wrecks that have a lot of free resources spread around them (sometimes really valuable and high tier ones) that also contain hard drives, which are essential items that let you unlock alternative recipes for materials for even more efficiency and possibilities. There are also roaming monsters that you can kill for their drops that can be later researched and used to make some unique items, and rare resources that are normally used to craft things later in the game, but if you find some of them earlier you can use them to make some really useful and powerful upgrades that will massively help you in both building your factory and exploration. So yes, exploration is a REALLY important aspect of the game, if you really dedicate yourself to it you could spend almost as much time on it as on building your factory. And thanks to the map being so big and hand crafted there is definitely a lot to explore. Third major difference is how it plays. It's a very relaxing game, the only stress you'll experience is going to be moment to moment combat with roaming monsters, and getting stressed by trying to figure out why your factory is not working as it should and where is that one conveyor belt you forgot to connect. There is no immediate danger to your factory, there is no base defence from the enemies, there are no survival elements like food or water. It's a game purely focused on building and exploration, sprinkled with some combat when exploring or expanding into remote locations. Once kill all the monsters in the area, it's yours to explore and exploit, and if you build powered infrastructure then the monsters will stop respawning in the vicinity. And if you read this and think that it means it has less going on for it than the other games that have some kind of base defence elements, then you're wrong. As I already said, exploration is a major part of the game, something I haven't seen been done this well and to such extent in any games from this "factory builder" genre. Building your bases is also a much bigger and more involving task here. The third dimension is not simply just a gimmick. It's a major factor to consider when setting up your bases. Elevation plays a huge role and can be a real challenge to overcome. Sure, you can build everything on the ground like you would in a 2D game, but even then the ground is not flat. There are hills, valleys, natural obstacles, big rocks that you can't really get rid off, cliffs, water... the game really wants to make it as difficulty to build big bases on the ground. As you would expect from a random planet you were just dropped of on, it's not very well prepared for mass Industrialisation. That's why building vertically is such a big element of this game and the game gives you plenty of tools to accomplish this. Moreover, the game gives you a lot of things to spice up the building process and accomplish things that are simply not possible in a 2D game. Do you want to run multiple conveyor belts on top of one another? There are tools for that. Do you want to close off your factory with walls and roofs so you don't have to look at the horrible spaghetti you have made? No problem. Maybe you should now mounts those conveyor belts on the walls you just made? Or maybe through them? The game has a lot of tools to make the building process interesting and not feel like you're bound to the game's rules. There are always multiple ways to accomplish the same goal. I could go on for a couple more paragraphs, but I ran out of characters. If you read through all of it, you already know if it's a game fr you or not. If you didn't, then just read the header and watch some gameplay to get the idea. If you have a specific question, you can comment under my review and I will try to answer. Hope you had a nice read, and if you decide to purchase the game, I hope you have as much fun as I do.