Satisfactory (Xbox) Review

I’d heard a lot about Satisfactory before picking up this game for review, and all of it was incredibly positive. I was warned about how much of my life this game would consume in advance. Personally, these games don’t tend to tickle my fancy, simply because of the considerable commitment required. A lot of my gaming friends have invested thousands of hours into Ark: Survival Evolved, and I just can’t get into it. This game has several similarities, so I was wary that I may not enjoy it as much as the masses. Instead, I was surprised at how much this reeled me in and provided me with enjoyment for endless hours.

Gameplay

Satisfactory on Xbox Series X has an addictive gameplay loop, which is gently introduced from the start. In the early stages of gameplay, you’ll be learning how to gather resources and craft the basics before really fleshing out your own creations. If you don’t fancy going it alone, you can play with up to three friends on the same server. Sadly, though, the game doesn’t support crossplay functionality largely due to the PC build having mod support and the console versions not having this option currently.

I did appreciate that the first few hours of the game serve as a tutorial, allowing you to get to grips with everything from navigating and scavenging resources to slaying off enemies and building blueprints. Exploring a vast world is intriguing, and I lost count of how many times I found myself carrying out a task only to venture off track. The enjoyment I got from going off and gathering enough material to build the next big piece of the jigsaw for my factory to then unlock the next one to grind for is both rewarding and forgiving. Before you know it, you have a spaghetti junction of production chains and conveyor belts pumping out all manner of goods.

A Fine PC Port

Part of me was a little wary of how this would work with an Xbox controller. I’m happy to report that the control scheme, along with radial menus, is extremely well done and feels completely natural to play. The sandbox-style experience essentially has no endgame, and instead, you create your own objectives. Whilst playing alone, I focused on learning, exploring and gradually building, whereas as a group, I found there was a lot more imagination, creativity and discussion amongst my friends. It is a bit of a learning curve trying to construct the perfect megafactory, but it’s bloody good fun trying!

Visuals & Audio

Satisfactory looks incredible on Xbox Series X with bright colours, clear textures and a full and atmospheric world. Distant landscapes and forests load in swiftly with a great draw distance. Movement and construction mechanics are carried out with fluidity for the most part. There can, however, be some frame-rate drops when the screen becomes busy with massive factories. When it happens, it is a brief occurrence and doesn’t hinder the gameplay whatsoever. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by how well the game performs on Xbox Series X. With a performance mode that targets 60fps, it hits the mark the majority of the time. There are other display options to tinker around with if you’re after visuals that suit you.

The audio design is equally excellent. With ambient environmental sounds and the mechanical volume of a busy factory humming away, is satisfying. As your factory becomes bigger, the feedback of noise is noticeable in a good way. Sound effects for crafting, building and interacting with the world all sound great too.

Final Thoughts

Satisfactory is a superb port from PC to Console. Quite often, games within this genre don’t always perform well on the Xbox family of machines. This has to be the most polished version of a PC original I’ve clapped eyes on. If you’re a fan of the grind of materials and resources with a view to crafting and building giant, sprawling, efficient factories, then you’ll love it. It can be a slow start, but once you get to grips with how everything functions logistically, it becomes an addiction. One of those games where you have every intention of jumping off, only to do one more little bit. Before you know it, a few more hours have passed. For the price point, it is well worth buying, and I’ll be dipping into this one for years to come.