Per Aspera Review for Steam

Per Aspera is a sci-fi simulation game developed by Tlön Industries and published by Raw Fury. The game puts players in the persona of an artificial intelligence named AMI and tasks them with making Mars habitable for humans by terraforming the planet’s terrain. While Per Aspera starts off slowly, it manages to become a quite engaging affair filled with interesting mini-stories and beautiful aesthetics that confront players with questions about the ethics of AI as it becomes progressively advanced in scope. 

At the beginning of the game, a newly awakened AMI begins its long, arduous process of turning Mars’ arid, inhospitable landscape into something that resembles earth. There isn’t an explicit introductory section in the game, so players face a steep learning curve in the early going. This, however, plays well into the essence of reinforcement learning, one of the problems that machine learning and AI can solve.

Just like a reinforcement learning algorithm  that continuously learns by experience and updates to output a better result over time, devoted players will become oriented to the ins and outs of AMI’s massive project and construct areas that humans can live in as they progress in Per Aspera. They can create complicated research stations, colonies, and space ports to help expedite the process, oversee initiatives in the four categories of Space, Engineering, Military, and Biotech, and even construct helper robot workers. 

Mars’ terrain is rendered wonderfully in Per Aspera. Players have the entire planet as their playground to build on, and Tlön Industries utilized geographical and topographical information from NASA to make Mars as realistic as possible. The planet includes volcanoes. 

While an integral component of the game, building up a base on Mars isn’t the only draw that Per Aspera possesses. The game also houses a thought-provoking storyline that is introduced early on and always stays in mind. AMI stays in contact with its creator, Dr. Nathan Foster, who resides on earth. AMI focuses on pleasing Dr. Foster in the game’s first few hours, but grows in emotional intelligence and independence. 

In a particularly poignant moment, one of AMI’s first helper robots breaks down and the AI is left to ponder if an extension of itself has perished and if it should even care. And when humans actually arrive on Mars, the tension is palpable; it feels like people are going so far as to be invading AMI’s home as opposed to moving in, as they explore the areas that AMI built up from scratch.  

Per Aspera does a great job at making players feel like an AI and question if there truly exists an inherent distinction between advanced AI and humanity. The game conjures the struggle to erect something sustainable on a version of Mars that is rendered as faithfully as possible. For gamers looking for a sci-fi base building game with a story that packs a punch, Per Aspera represents a good investment.  

Rating: 8/10   

Check Out the Per Aspera Trailer:

Per Aspera is available for PC via Steam for $29.99.

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