Calling all Astroneers. System Era Softworks, creators of Astroneer, return with STARSEEKER: Astroneer Expeditions, published by Devolver Digital. MKAU Gaming were recently invited to attend a hands-on preview ahead of the upcoming beta release, which launches on Steam this weekend. For those interested in signing up, I will leave some details at the end. For now, here are my first impressions from the hands-on event hosted by Veronica and Adam at System Era Softworks.

STARSEEKER is a new game set within the Astroneer universe with a heavy focus on discovery, cooperative expeditions, and camaraderie. Exploring deep space on the ESS Starseeker, players will need to work together with the entire crew of the space station to complete planet-wide objectives across a multitude of star systems using cutting-edge technology. Players will gain the ability to craft advanced sets of tools to tackle expeditions while they face off with the unknown perils of space, which come in the form of fascinating creatures, hazardous flora, and mysterious forces that await them.

Prior to joining the team aboard the ESS Starseeker, I had to play through a brief tutorial that outlined basic movement, climbing, scanning items, map scans, mining, and gadget crafting. For players who are making their way over from Astroneer, many of the basics feel very familiar, except now you have the added bonus of being able to throw items that you are carrying, which will help you subdue and sedate would-be attackers. I feel that new players who aren’t familiar with the Astroneer franchise will have no trouble at all learning the ropes, as the team has done an exceptional job setting players up for the challenges ahead on their expeditions.

Upon completion of the tutorial mission, you will board the ESS Starseeker. This is the main hub area where you’ll be able to take on missions from the various crew members, meet up with your friends and squad up, and most importantly, craft your gadgets in preparation for your next expedition.

The time for us to squad up with the devs had finally arrived. Before we broke off into our respective squads, led by Adam and Veronica, Adam gave us a brief tour of the Ess Starseeker and led us to pick up our first quests from one of the crew members and the captain.

One of the first things I noticed while playing around in the map menu was that not only could I see my objective to mine for various resources, but I could also see my teammates’ objectives and help them achieve their targets along the way. While Adam helped my media counterpart and me mine the resources we needed, we were in turn able to help Adam achieve his goal of scanning various plants around the planet.

Meanwhile, Veronica’s team also joined us on the planet, and had discovered an activity which saw the entire group working together to achieve the common goal of taking an object to the highest possible point that we could find and then returning the item back down to secure the ever valuable task points to return to the ESS Starseeker with. For me, this activity was the best way for the team to showcase the importance of great teamwork and the joy and chaos of pursuing the goal.

To be honest with you, we could have just walked slowly up the slippery path, but that would have not only taken away from the fun chaos factor, but we could have very well found ourselves without enough oxygen to get to an extraction location to head back to the ESS Starseeker.

It certainly came as no surprise to see a very similar Astroneer-like art style being implemented in this title. Though I did feel that the planet designs and character models were much smoother, which gave me a really good sense of the vast improvements made since the previous release. Another really big surprise was just how well the game performed right out of the box. I didn’t feel the need to change any settings at all, which spoke volumes to the care and attention the team are taking regarding performance optimisation.

The audio experience is a mighty fine blend of quirky sound effects, sci-fi sounding mining tools grinding and blasting away at terrain, and I’m sure there is even more glorious soundscape for me to explore and hear when the game launches later this year.

Before I sign off for another day, I’d like to say a big thanks to Veronica and Adam from System Era Softworks for taking the time out to show us the ropes. I’ve had an absolute blast. My first impressions of STARSEEKER: Astroneer Expeditions have left me truly excited for the full release. I am a massive fan of co-op titles, and this is certainly shaping up to be one that I see myself and my friends sinking many hours into. As promised, for those interested in signing up for the beta weekend, head over to starseeker.com, sign up and journey into the unknown this weekend.

Written by: Gary Nielsen