Factorio is a logistics/resource management base building tower defense game. Crash landing on an alien world, a lone engineer must use his ability to create and maintain factories to thrive. Combining elements from many genres, players are tasked with constructing enormous, interwoven factories either alone or in a group, all while surviving the ever-evolving alien menace that seeks to end your progress and your lives.

POSITIVES:

1) Intricately deep and rewarding logistics management.

Games of this type are more common now than they were, but as far as I've played, this is one of the most streamlined and accessible. Its simple top-down perspective makes building enormous factories a breeze, coupled with its outstanding blueprint system, it makes for an easy to get into but hard to master system crucial for any addictive management game. With a little bit of math and an understanding of basic concepts such as throughput and ratios, being able to organically create an efficient factory is extremely rewarding in and of itself. Of course, being a certified spaghetti chef is still remarkably viable.

2) An engrossing combination of progression curves and expanding possibilities.

Tech in this game is a little different than in other games; you combine various products into a science juice that is consumed in science labs. A lot of your time will be dedicated to creating efficient logistics to maximize science output. This is essential to your progression, to the point that massive megabases are analyzed and judged by their science packs per second/minute output (as well as their aesthetic design). That effort, however, is always rewarded handsomely with dozens of new research options, ranging from advances in energy generation, oil pumping and refining, new military hardware, locomotives, and a lot more, culminating in a sense that you are always gaining something for your efforts. By the end of the technology tree, rogue nuclear weapons, massive spider bots, enormous robot networks, and unfathomable destructive power is at your fingertips. Combined with a well-implemented multiplayer mechanic that allows you to play with your friends in giant several hundred man goon squads bringing late stage capitalism to a backwater world, it makes for one of the most satisfying progression curves of its genre.

3) A flourishing and dedicated modding scene.

Factorio is host to an ensemble of thousands of fantastic mods that is continuously updated, adding an element of replayability in the same vein as Skyrim. From total conversion mods to simple convenience features, almost any issue you have with the game can be solved and expanded with mods, just like with any such game. Mod support is also compatible with multiplayer, which is just as chaotic as it sounds.

4) A determined developing scene.

Factorio's developers have improved and expanded the game for nearly 10 years now, starting from a very basic concept to the game that it is today. Even so, the developers have spoken about full fledged expansions to the game, citing a desire not to sully the game with sequels or tiny, insubstantial DLCs as seen with Paradox titles. However, what is already in the game is absolutely worth the 30 dollar purchase price, and with the addition of a free demo, is the cherry on top of a fantastic product.

CONS

1) A lack of interesting variety in the native aliens.

With the inclusion of hostile alien nests determined to destroy your factory for the pollution it makes, with only two types of aliens and static defenses, they quickly become insignificant in normal runs, only proving to be a challenge to unprepared players or players participating in a death world. While Factorio's focus in not on combat, it still begs the question why the aliens are as underdeveloped as they are. Mods can fix this, of course, but from a purely vanilla standpoint, the biters are distinctly underwhelming as their only real late-game tactic is zerg rushing and numbers. A neat concept that wasn't handled to its full potential.

2) Odd gaps in the game's research, buildings, and progression.

While certainly not a huge gripe, it earns its mention with the simple fact that I have felt it strange that the progression is sometimes muddled with odd gaps. For example: there are only two types of mining structures in the game, while there are three types of furnaces. The only resource that requires any unique action to acquire is uranium, which requires sulfuric acid to be pumped into the miners, but beyond that, there is little logistical intrigue in these fundamental components. While upping the logistical requirement to the same level as is seen with manufacturing would be detrimental to the game, the issue stems more from aforementioned gaps such as that. There is hardly any use for rocket fuel (created with light oil, the most abundant type created from refined crude oil) aside from the end-game rocket and nuclear fuel, as well as solid fuel blocks and that's it. All other uses involve turning it into another type of oil. Additionally, heavy oil is only ever used to make lubricant and fuel blocks. I could go on but I feel the point is across. While this certainly isn't a prevalent issue, it is one that I have noticed over my few hundred hours with the game and are things I think that need to be addressed with any DLC expansion.

VERDICT

Putting it on a 1-10 chart, I would easily place the game at a very high 8 at its current state. It only escapes a 9 for me because of the few negatives I have noted, but for many this is a non-issue and for them, this is a 9, maybe even a 10, especially with mods. The perfect rising of complexity, streamlined progression curve, intricate mechanics, and modding capacity makes it stand out among its peers in an ever-growing subgenre of logistics management games. Other games to consider in this genre include Satisfactory, Dyson Sphere Program, and smaller titles such as Hydroneer and Factory Town. Absolutely worth a buy if you have any desire to get into the genre, or are already big fans of the aforementioned games.