The Alters Review: A Captivating Game About Inner Dialogue

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Have you ever thought about the correctness of your life choices? We are not talking about small things, but about those decisions that have had a significant impact on your destiny and determined its direction. How would you change if, for example, you chose a different university, chose a different major, met different people or visited different countries?

And here is a question that can provoke a lot of reflection: what would you do if you encountered an alternative version of yourself? There would be a person with a completely different experience, set of qualities, skills and knowledge. What words would you say to them? And how might they respond to you?

The novel "The Alters" offers answers to these questions, immersing the reader in a world of fantasy through the experiences of the protagonist. He is given a unique opportunity to meet alternative versions of himself. This gives him a chance to realize how his life could have developed if he had shown more courage or, conversely, been more careful in his actions.

The main character of this story is a space explorer named Jan Dolsky. He and a small group of like-minded individuals embark on an expedition to a remote planet where, according to scientists, a mysterious resource called rapidium may be found. This substance possesses a remarkable property, allowing it to significantly accelerate the growth of living organisms—tens and even hundreds of times. Because of this, it has been dubbed "an element capable of time travel," although in fact, rapidium has nothing to do with actual time travel. Ally Corp, the company that initiated the expedition, aims to use rapidium to quickly solve the existing problem of resource shortages on Earth. Despite months of preparation for the risky operation, the mission participants were unable to avoid serious difficulties. Upon landing on the remote planet, Dolsky was the only survivor; the rest of the team perished when the life support systems in their shuttles shut down for unknown reasons. Jan must figure out what happened, but first and foremost, he must focus on survival. Furthermore, he must try to obtain as much rapidium as possible, as the mission's objectives remain valid even after the tragic death of almost all expedition members.

The tasks facing the protagonist are quite complex. Soon after landing, he reaches the mobile base—a high-tech structure resembling a giant wheel, housing various departments, including a communications room. Dolsky manages to establish contact with an Ally Corp representative and learns that dawn will break on the planet in a few days. Since the local star is significantly more powerful than the Sun, its rays will almost certainly destroy all life within the affected area, and those objects that survive will receive a critical dose of radiation. The solution proposed is to start the mobile base's engines and move it to an area where there will still be shadow. However, managing this gigantic structure alone turns out to be impossible, and one of the systems has failed and requires urgent repairs.

A company representative puts forward the only viable solution to the problem - to discover reserves of rapidium and then use this amazing resource to create an alternative version of Ian, who can help in managing the base. However, using Rapidium for such a purpose right away could be risky, so Dolsky first decides to experiment with sheep DNA. In a special chamber he calls the "Womb," he produces a new animal in just a few minutes.

The next step involves using Yan's DNA to create an alternate version of himself. However, calling this cloning would be a misnomer: although the physical body will be identical, his thoughts, life experiences, memories, and personality traits will be completely different. Dolsky is essentially creating an alternative interpretation of himself. Using a quantum computer installed at the base, he can explore various possible paths for his life. The primary path is the one chosen by the original Yan Dolsky, but it has numerous offshoots, driven by significant changes in his life. For example, if Yan had shown more courage in his conflict with his abusive father as a teenager, deciding to fight back during an argument and kick him out of the house, his life would have turned out completely differently. He would likely not have gone to university, would have stayed in his hometown to care for his sick mother, and would have taken a job as an engineer at a local factory, and...

At the moment, the mobile base is acutely short of engineers—it is with their support that the main character is able to activate the base, evade dawn, and continue his adventure. It won't be long before another Yan joins the team, and then another... and more…

These challenges are certainly not the end-all-be-all, as The Alters is primarily a game about surviving in harsh conditions. However, it differs from open-world games like Valheim and The Forest. In The Alters, players must also gather resources and build new compartments for their mobile base. However, all elements related to survival exist within a limited ecosystem and compete for attention with other key aspects of the game—the story and dialogue.

Nevertheless, survival in The Alters is a core element. The threat to the protagonist and his alternate selves is not limited to the morning hours, when they must hide from danger. Risks also include magnetic storms that pose a threat to equipment and individual sectors of the base, periodic radiation surges on the planet's surface, and various anomalies that complicate resource gathering and exploration of the mobile camp's surroundings.

Furthermore, Dolsky's team regularly encounters difficulties that hinder their progress toward new rapidium deposits and the evacuation site, where Ally Corp promises to send a rescue team. In the first act, an obstacle in the form of a lava river arises—to cross it, a plan for building a bridge must be developed. In the second act, a powerful gravitational anomaly threatens the mobile base. And what happens in the third act? Spoilers ahead.

The key to achieving success in this situation is to effectively manage all aspects: workforce, resources and internal processes of the mobile base. Each act can be divided into three main stages. During the first phase, when dawn is still far away, characters can go about their business in relative peace. Then comes the intermediate phase, when the stakes begin to rise. In the final phase, when the star's radiation draws ever closer, the race against time becomes extremely intense, forcing everyone to perform at their limits.

First and foremost, you need to focus on extracting valuable resources such as metals, minerals, organic matter, and, of course, rapidium. Small deposits of these materials can be found in the immediate vicinity of your base—simply approach and collect them. However, for significant amounts of resources, you'll need to organize mining operations at specialized deposits. To do this, you'll need to build an outpost equipped with a drill, and then establish a connection to your base using specialized pylons. Don't get too excited: the outpost must always be staffed with resource extraction workers, at least until you complete research into automated drills, which can free your team from manual labor.

Among other tasks, it's crucial to organize the base's vital processes. After a workshop where you can craft items vital for survival, you should build a greenhouse for growing vegetables and a kitchen for preparing high-quality food. A medical bay for treating the sick and injured is also essential. Additional warehouses for storing resources and auxiliary systems, such as a bay that automatically produces organic materials, should also be considered. And, of course, Ian and his alternate selves aren't machines, so they need to be given space to sleep, rest, and exercise.

Basically, that's the fundamental gameplay of The Alters. Layered on top of that base layer are some additional aspects, like managing your base's supply of radiation filters. If they are depleted, radiation can penetrate inside, threatening the lives of the entire team. However, overall, the mechanics related to the survival process are not very numerous. The game does not burden you with a complex economic system, does not impose excessive demands on resource management, and is slow to punish mistakes, providing the opportunity to correct them even a third time.

Nevertheless, to achieve success and reach the endgame, it is crucial to carefully manage the most valuable resource in this game: time. It is always in short supply, but it is required for almost all actions: resource extraction, crafting items and food, healing team members, as well as rest and entertainment. In most cases, time is spent literally: you approach, for example, a drilling rig at an oil field (or a workbench in a workshop, or a kitchen table), press a button to perform an action, and time begins to rapidly slip away from you.

The only way to cheat time is to perform several tasks simultaneously. The question of how to implement this is clear—it's only possible thanks to alternate versions of the protagonist. However, a team isn't just about increasing manpower. Each version of Jan possesses a unique ability, crucial to survival on a remote planet. For example, after the engineer, Jan the scientist is perhaps the most valuable, as he's the one capable of researching new technologies vital to advancing the story. Jan the doctor is more effective at keeping his comrades healthy, Jan the botanist grows vegetables significantly faster in his greenhouse, Jan the miner is unrivaled in resource extraction, and Jan the psychologist knows how to find the right words to calm any team member, and so on.

The game features ten different versions of Jan Dolsky, but only six can be selected in a single playthrough. This is probably due to the need to maintain game balance.

Yang's characters not only have their own unique abilities, but also many other differences. The writers from 11 Bit Studios managed to make each of them truly fascinating and memorable. It's not just the characters themselves—they truly differ greatly. For example, Jan the engineer, whose rudeness conceals a vulnerable nature, repeatedly clashes in tense discussions with Jan the scientist, who at times resembles Sheldon Cooper. For this interpretation of the character, scientific discoveries prove far more important than displays of emotion.

Each Jan faces his own unique challenges, and ignoring these difficulties can have serious consequences. For example, Jan, a miner, at some point in his non-existent life, got a job at a mine where an explosion occurred, resulting in the loss of his arm. However, his creation was based on the DNA of the real Jan Dolski, so upon entering the "Womb," the miner is surprised to discover that both his arms are intact. This greatly frightens him, but the real problem is that he soon begins to experience phantom pain in his missing arm, and he turns to the protagonist, asking first for powerful painkillers (which can lead to addiction), and then for amputation surgery. And rest assured, this problem should not be ignored!

The second significant component of The Alters is, so to speak, "managing" the alternate versions of the protagonist. The player must carefully monitor their emotional state and mood, take their wishes into account, engage in dialogue, help solve various problems, and generally show humanity to them, even to those who do not consider such treatment worthy. Each of the Jans has their own quest, the completion of which helps strengthen the bonds in the team.

Of course, this concept could easily have turned into something resembling a circus if the script and dialogue were not up to par. However, the team responsible for writing The Alters demonstrated remarkable skill—and, frankly, exceeded all expectations. The game's plot could easily take its place in the pages of a high-quality science fiction novel: it grips from the very first moment and doesn't let go until the very end, constantly filling with new details, meanings, and contexts.

Special recognition goes to English actor Alex Jordan, who voiced all of Jan Dolski's interpretations himself. This is a truly impressive achievement: each character has their own unique voice, but that's only part of the success. More significantly, each Jan's voice conveys his or her individuality and character, driving the story forward as effectively as a masterfully written script.

The story provides no information on whether Alex Jordan created alternate versions of himself to voice characters in The Alters.

Ultimately, The Alters presents itself as a gripping fantasy narrative, and only then as a game focused on survival in a remote space world. If you are confused by its genre classification, don't let that be a reason to skip this project, especially if you are interested in its unique world. While resource management and other survival-related aspects certainly play a significant role in the gameplay, it's the well-developed storyline that truly captures players' attention.