Factorio. A game developed and published by Wube Software LTD.

I wasn't sure i'd enjoy Factorio when first getting into it and establishing myself within its world. Over time in the early hours this became more and more readily apparent with every passing hour, Until about 25-30 hours into the gameplay where things began to unravel and make far more sense. Where i wasn't simply just building a factory anymore but i was optimising layouts, designing new arrays and an entire assortment of different things as the hours went by.
The end result? Horrible. It was a spaghetti nexus of conveyor belts and construction zones, Riddled with inefficiencies and flaws. But in that i discovered even more ways to optimise everything to where i am now. Honestly, still pretty bad, but understanding is the first step here, the first step to uncovering something truly wondrous and amazing.
Ladies and Gentlemen. Factorio.

Starting off this review strong with a nearly empty category. Factorio doesn't really have a story, thankfully thats not where Factorio's strengths lie. The little story there is basically unfurls like this, you (Unknown) crash land on an unmarked and seemingly peaceful planet. Your immediate priority becomes developing technology enough to escape the planet. With the growing industry you procure from the vast sources of valuable minerals across the planets surface, you begin to emit the one thing that all life despises above all else, Pollution. So the planet begins to strike back, Swarms of alien "bug" like creatures begin to pour forth from the planet and declare an active war against you and all that you are striving towards. By this point you are either prepared or you are not and your story either continues or ends abruptly. Ideally the former. The end, essentially. Launch the rocket and escape. Those are your "goals".

+ Customisation: Factorio in its very essence is a game designed on creativity and ingenuity. The more creative and ingenious the better, actually. The very fabric of a good Factory here is how you design it, how meticulously you prepare it, and how effectively you optimise it. However this is not the only way to play, Making an actual mess of belts and pickers, and machinery was extremely exciting and creating convoluted methods to increase efficiencies by 0.1% was actually quite invigorating.
+ Items: The vast quantity of items in Factorio is actually almost overwhelming for a beginner to the game, there is so much to take in, even from the very beginning that it can be quite confusing to understand the mechanics and some of the necessities, but as you progress through the game and begin to understand the method to their utility, everything becomes a little easier and as more and more time passes each new item will be an exciting new addition to your roster rather than another chore you have to implement.
+ Enemies: While the alien species inhabiting the planet you have crash landed on aren't in any way a technological race, seemingly forcing their own evolutions as they see fit and require. They are a relatively considerable force, Unchecked they can destroy all your hard work in the space of minutes and leave your factory as a wreckage. The only tip i can provide here is to prepare early, because by end game they aren't a concern even in the slightest.
+ Movement: Movement here is pretty crucial as you will spend a large majority of the game running around with no means of transportation at all. How you move also determines how well you can build your factory around you and thankfully again, Factorio has done an amazing job here in designing your ability to move and continue moving whilst also getting what you need to, done.
+ Tutorial: There wasn't much of a tutorial in the game when i had first started playing Factorio. Since then however much has changed and there is now a very active and useful Tutorial system implemented. It will teach you the fundamentals, show you how to start off on the planet and even show you some tips on how to improve your own efficiency as you proceed with playing.
+ Research Tree: With all these amazing technologies you need to be able to discover more, and this is unveiled through a seemingly endless technology tree, you begin with very basic research, learning very simple contraptions, miners and robotic arms used for picking up items, all the way to extremely convoluted items such as oil refineries and train networks.

Whilst nobody could say that Factorio is the most beautiful game ever conceived, Nobody could argue the opposite either. Factorio still despite its top down and relatively old school design choices still looks extremely captivating on its own. Running at a steady 59.9 UPS the entire time through play, (UPS replaces FPS here as its not so much frames when you have over 1000 items moving on the screen at once, UPS means Updates Per Second and essentially refers to the tick rate of the game world) until you are very extremely over populated in the very late game you likely won't see this drop below 59.9 even on some older machines at maximum settings. Once invested with a large scale factory this games true colours begin to shine through, and the beauty of the world and the design becomes almost immediately apparent. It's extremely hard to fault the visuals here even though they are outdated in style.

There is something captivating about the game sounds here, The world is beautifully detailed with its audio quality, even with no machinery in your vicinity, you can hear the gust of wind in your ears and the rustling of trees around you. Then you add the machinery on top, every piece offering a new beat or layer to the cacophony of instrumental sounds that illuminate your every step. All completely brought together by the perfectly serene background music that will likely captivate you from the moment you launch the game. This game is truly an artform in terms of its audio quality and i truly find it hard to fault it. Check it out below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6OZrUbLJ1M

Factorio has entranced me unlike any game before it and very likely unlike any game ever will again. It's perfection comes from its almost elegant simplicity that becomes as deep as the most unfathomable ocean. It's one of those rare experiences in gaming where you start at 2pm and when you look at the clock again its 11:31pm. There is beauty in all designs and creativity in this game, even the "worst" designed factories have a hint of the person who designed it within its very layout, and i think that is something truly exceptional. This game is a must play for anyone who loves using their creativity, or for people who want to unlock their creativity. Worth every penny, even at full price. It's only failing point is its lack of story but that can be completely negated by how much sheer joy you will get from this game.

Factorio. A game developed and published by Wube Software LTD. I wasn't sure i'd enjoy Factorio when first getting into it and establishing myself within its world. Over time in the early hours this became more and more readily apparent with every passing hour, Until about 25-30 hours into the gameplay where things began to unravel and make far more sense. Where i wasn't simply just building a factory anymore but i was optimising layouts, designing new arrays and an entire assortment of different things as the hours went by. The end result? Horrible. It was a spaghetti nexus of conveyor belts and construction zones, Riddled with inefficiencies and flaws. But in that i discovered even more ways to optimise everything to where i am now. Honestly, still pretty bad, but understanding is the first step here, the first step to uncovering something truly wondrous and amazing. Ladies and Gentlemen. Factorio. [h1]Story:[/h1] Starting off this review strong with a nearly empty category. Factorio doesn't really have a story, thankfully thats not where Factorio's strengths lie. The little story there is basically unfurls like this, you (Unknown) crash land on an unmarked and seemingly peaceful planet. Your immediate priority becomes developing technology enough to escape the planet. With the growing industry you procure from the vast sources of valuable minerals across the planets surface, you begin to emit the one thing that all life despises above all else, Pollution. So the planet begins to strike back, Swarms of alien "bug" like creatures begin to pour forth from the planet and declare an active war against you and all that you are striving towards. By this point you are either prepared or you are not and your story either continues or ends abruptly. Ideally the former. The end, essentially. Launch the rocket and escape. Those are your "goals". [h1]Gameplay:[/h1] [b]+ Customisation:[/b] Factorio in its very essence is a game designed on creativity and ingenuity. The more creative and ingenious the better, actually. The very fabric of a good Factory here is how you design it, how meticulously you prepare it, and how effectively you optimise it. However this is not the only way to play, Making an actual mess of belts and pickers, and machinery was extremely exciting and creating convoluted methods to increase efficiencies by 0.1% was actually quite invigorating. [b]+ Items:[/b] The vast quantity of items in Factorio is actually almost overwhelming for a beginner to the game, there is so much to take in, even from the very beginning that it can be quite confusing to understand the mechanics and some of the necessities, but as you progress through the game and begin to understand the method to their utility, everything becomes a little easier and as more and more time passes each new item will be an exciting new addition to your roster rather than another chore you have to implement. [b]+ Enemies:[/b] While the alien species inhabiting the planet you have crash landed on aren't in any way a technological race, seemingly forcing their own evolutions as they see fit and require. They are a relatively considerable force, Unchecked they can destroy all your hard work in the space of minutes and leave your factory as a wreckage. The only tip i can provide here is to prepare early, because by end game they aren't a concern even in the slightest. [b]+ Movement:[/b] Movement here is pretty crucial as you will spend a large majority of the game running around with no means of transportation at all. How you move also determines how well you can build your factory around you and thankfully again, Factorio has done an amazing job here in designing your ability to move and continue moving whilst also getting what you need to, done. [b]+ Tutorial:[/b] There wasn't much of a tutorial in the game when i had first started playing Factorio. Since then however much has changed and there is now a very active and useful Tutorial system implemented. It will teach you the fundamentals, show you how to start off on the planet and even show you some tips on how to improve your own efficiency as you proceed with playing. [b]+ Research Tree:[/b] With all these amazing technologies you need to be able to discover more, and this is unveiled through a seemingly endless technology tree, you begin with very basic research, learning very simple contraptions, miners and robotic arms used for picking up items, all the way to extremely convoluted items such as oil refineries and train networks. [h1]Visuals:[/h1] Whilst nobody could say that Factorio is the most beautiful game ever conceived, Nobody could argue the opposite either. Factorio still despite its top down and relatively old school design choices still looks extremely captivating on its own. Running at a steady 59.9 UPS the entire time through play, (UPS replaces FPS here as its not so much frames when you have over 1000 items moving on the screen at once, UPS means Updates Per Second and essentially refers to the tick rate of the game world) until you are very extremely over populated in the very late game you likely won't see this drop below 59.9 even on some older machines at maximum settings. Once invested with a large scale factory this games true colours begin to shine through, and the beauty of the world and the design becomes almost immediately apparent. It's extremely hard to fault the visuals here even though they are outdated in style. [h1]Audio:[/h1] There is something captivating about the game sounds here, The world is beautifully detailed with its audio quality, even with no machinery in your vicinity, you can hear the gust of wind in your ears and the rustling of trees around you. Then you add the machinery on top, every piece offering a new beat or layer to the cacophony of instrumental sounds that illuminate your every step. All completely brought together by the perfectly serene background music that will likely captivate you from the moment you launch the game. This game is truly an artform in terms of its audio quality and i truly find it hard to fault it. Check it out below https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6OZrUbLJ1M [h1]Final Thoughts "Excellent"[/h1] Factorio has entranced me unlike any game before it and very likely unlike any game ever will again. It's perfection comes from its almost elegant simplicity that becomes as deep as the most unfathomable ocean. It's one of those rare experiences in gaming where you start at 2pm and when you look at the clock again its 11:31pm. There is beauty in all designs and creativity in this game, even the "worst" designed factories have a hint of the person who designed it within its very layout, and i think that is something truly exceptional. This game is a must play for anyone who loves using their creativity, or for people who want to unlock their creativity. Worth every penny, even at full price. It's only failing point is its lack of story but that can be completely negated by how much sheer joy you will get from this game.