I’m a sucker for real-time strategy games, so whenever I see a new title in the genre launch on Xbox, I have to dive in and try it. After a couple of months on PC, Endzone –  A World Apart arrives on console with the Survivor Edition. Developed by Gentlymad Studios and published by Assemble Entertainment, this version comes complete with the base game and Prosperity DLC. Sadly if you’re still in the last generation and gaming using any of the Xbox One series of machines, you’re out of luck. The PC port is only available to both Xbox Series X|S and PS5 slots into the catalogue alongside similar classics such as Frostpunk and Cities Skylines. Will this post-apocalyptic city building experience consume you for hours on end? Trust me, it will devour your free time and hours will feel like minutes.

Introduction

There is minimal introduction to the story surrounding Endzone – A World Apart, it stems from terrorists destroying nuclear power plants across the globe in 2021. 150 years on the only known survivors emerge from underground facilities known as Endzones. I’d suggest starting with the tutorial where you’ll learn the basics of how to negotiate the menus, building commands and how to access and monitor all the data that will be thrown at you. The premise is very simple and that is to use the small community that has survived and evolve to last into the future. You start your playthrough with literally nothing but a clapped out old minibus. You’ll be focusing on providing the essentials for your fellow humans and gathering resources such as water and food, to begin with, and then expanding as you go along.

The early game is all about building a habitable place whilst keeping in mind that areas still contain radiation absorbed into the ground. As you progress, you’ll have to combat difficult scenarios such as extreme climate change from sandstorms and droughts to contaminated rain. There is also the opportunity to send raiders out to scavenge abandoned areas in the game world and report back to camp. Every few seasons you’ll encounter bandits attempting to infiltrate and steal your resources, it is a game about constantly being on your toes and ensuring survival.

A Deep, Rich Gameplay Experience

Most strategy games have a huge learning process to plough through and Endzone – A World Apart is no different. Playing through that tutorial option is no short task and it took me a good ten hours at a slow pace to learn all the tools at my disposal. It isn’t all about resource management though, there is also the balancing of the economy, infrastructure, protecting stocks, education, maintaining population and more. Settlers can be educated at an on-site academy during early life, they can have children and pass away. I did find it a little morbid placing a cemetery down but we all die one day I suppose. Utilising your settlers’ skills is paramount as you’ll want to make the most of them whilst they are around. Educating them well can increase their productivity when they become adults.

You may think increasing the population sharply and quickly may be a good thing to allow the world to thrive again. The mistake I made early on was not balancing resources correctly and this super quick influx of new people drained my stocks resulting in hunger and thirst across my entire camp. The more that die, the less work that gets done resulting in a drastic fall in the ability to build your essentials back up. I started several playthroughs in the sandbox mode where I lasted only a few seasons before I reached the point of no return and I was back to a handful of settlers. I was quickly addicted to learning the processes and how attached I became to my little community. Weirdly it felt like a gut punch when I was responsible for the deaths of these settlers because of my actions. The experience was giving me emotions I had never felt in many games before, let alone a strategy title.

Control Scheme & Modes

There is always an aura of anxiety going into a strategy game on console. Will the PC port function well with a controller? Are the controls clunky? Does the game have the same fluidity as the PC version? These are all questions ask myself and I’m sure many of you do too. Instantly from the get-go, I was assured that this game has no issue with its control scheme and runs silky smooth on Xbox Series X. Placing buildings is a breeze with indicators of where you can and can’t place them. Panning the camera around is easy and zooming in and out sees no issues whatsoever. Getting to grips with the menus was a pleasant surprise, as some games in the genre can be daunting, I’m looking at you Stellaris. You’ll spend most of your time in the menus assigning workers to different tasks across your camp and this is a straightforward exercise. Nothing ever felt difficult or overwhelming when it came to navigating around these worlds with a controller. For those of you who have played and enjoyed Halo Wars 2, I’d liken the solid control system to this.

There is a huge abundance of different ways to play Endzone – A World Apart outside of the lengthy tutorial. Survival includes many scenarios to pick from. Choose from a variety of difficulty levels and try and last as long as possible. The hardest mode here is the maximum challenge where there are unfavourable conditions and unexpected twists and turns. You can also opt for a playthrough with no trees which means no access to any wood along with simple casual choices such as relax and discover for an easy-going adventure. Scenarios is the final section of the game where you can play through thirteen different versatile situations. These vary from surviving 250 seasons to withstanding harsh environments like continuous droughts. The overall package is impressive with maximum longevity offered throughout this game. Sadly there are no multiplayer or online portions of the game which I feel is a missed opportunity.

Graphics & Audio

As mentioned previously, you’ll only be able to play this on Xbox Series X|S or PlayStation 5 outside of PC. For this review, I played on Xbox Series X and was instantly intrigued at how the game would look on consoles after watching various videos on YouTube of PC gameplay. Visually Endzone – A World Apart is beautifully illustrated and mirrors what I’d seen on the PC platform. The level of detail on everything you can construct is nothing short of incredible. Those working in the art design team would have had to carefully craft everything with original ideas since everything you build is created from scrap, wood and metal. The day and night cycles bring excellent lighting mechanics which create a real atmosphere of living in an empty hollow world almost alone. Game worlds can be procedurally generated in a mixture of small, medium and large worlds and can be customised in the sandbox modes where you can decide how you want to play. Having the opportunity to decide whether you want more rivers, mountains and a feast of more options bring endless replayability to this game.

Audio is equally matched in its magnificence. The narration during the tutorial is clear and concise and the voice acted as well as displayed on the screen as text. I was very appreciative of the fact that you can actually listen as well as read for yourself. I have played so many strategy titles where it is constantly reading and at times you struggle to absorb all pieces of information. Endzone – A World Apart just ticks the boxes in the majority of areas with sound effects and the in-game music blends into the tense and unsure atmosphere.

In Conclusion

Endzone –  A World Apart quickly established itself as one of my favourite strategy games on a console. The game comes as a breath of fresh air when the genre is quite limited in terms of selection and watered down options of other titles. I’ve poured in excess of 30 hours into this title within a week and I have barely scratched the surface and this is without engaging with any of the scenario options. You can really make the experience as intense or casual as you want it to be and hardcore fans of strategy and resource building sims will be hooked to its addictive nature. There isn’t much the game gets wrong, but I was slightly disappointed to see it as a single-player only title. Being able to share the community building with friends online would have been an incredible feature. I would wholeheartedly recommend this game to anyone who adores games such as Cities Skylines and Frostpunk. Some may find the tutorial a bit overbearing in its size and the lack of constant combat won’t compare to RTS games like Command and Conquer for instance. But see this game for what it is and submerge yourself into the settlements you build and you’ll have an incredible infatuation with your community and may just have a rollercoaster of emotion like I did.