Section 1: The Discovery and Power of the Concept
I learned about the game The Alters solely because it was published by 11 bit studios, the team that proudly stands behind the
Frostpunk franchise, and also one of my all-time favorite games, This War of Mine. If I hadn't
followed those two games, I wouldn't even know that The Alters was in development. But as soon as I saw the first trailer and
got acquainted with the idea, I knew something special awaited me. And indeed, I was not mistaken.
Although the game has its flaws, its concept is a well-known "rabbithole" that will always attract
the attention of all hardcore science fiction lovers. Instead of exaggerating or romanticizing moral dilemmas, The Alters offers a surprisingly honest and, in principle, quite simple depiction of the question "what makes a person a person." Unlike, say, Detroit: Become Human, which moralizes to the point of banality.
("Hey, nuance is a foreign concept to us, so we will shamelessly 'borrow' the entire story from anti-racist
movements in North America, and if that's not enough for you to empathize with the robots, we will excessively
beat them and put them in the worst possible situations. None of this helps in building the world or the story,
but you feel sorry for the poor robots, right?"). I respect, tastes are subjective, but my personal opinion is
that The Alters and its inspirations know that the question of identity becomes interesting only when we stop
forcing the depth of the theme itself and let the player decide for themselves what is right and what is not.
The writing is simple yet effective, and the characters, especially "The Technician" and "The Scientist," remain etched in
memory long after playing. This is a rarity but also an absolute necessity in games that rely on conceptual
ideas more than on action, and that is precisely why this game deserves much more attention. As for the writing itself,
I would conclude on this note: If you present a game as one where your decisions matter, then you owe it to
deliver that to your fans. The Alters has several endings, and every decision you make will have a huge
impact on the development of the story, and to make things even better, yes, you can absolutely be "evil" in this game without it
ignoring or punishing you for not playing by its rules. (Looking at you, The Walking Dead, wink
wink).
Section 2: Gameplay and Mechanical Brilliance
I don't want to spoil the experience for anyone, so I'll just briefly touch on what has already been shown in the trailers
and earlier announcements. In short, the game immediately throws you into a no-win situation, without a long introduction, without
mercy. You are the only survivor, far from any form of civilization, and currently have no
contact with the civilized world. You must discover what happened, you must repair the base, and you must,
most importantly, survive. But as is often the case, it quickly becomes clear that you won't succeed alone.
Soon, by chance, an alternative is offered to you, and that is the "gimmick" that forms the core of the game. With the help of
a quantum computer, combined with rapidium, an element that allows what scientifically shouldn't
be possible, you have the opportunity to create versions of yourself that made different
decisions in some other life and developed or excelled in completely different professions.
As the premise concludes, the agony begins. The game unceremoniously puts you in constant motion to avoid
complete system failure, aka "game over." You must avoid solar radiation, gather resources,
evade unknown and barely visible anomalies, maintain and expand the base, and watch the mental state
of your alter egos. What The Alters brilliantly does is precisely that: there are no breaks. No matter how
much inspiration it draws from its predecessors who, although equally punishing, would always reward subsequent increases in
skill with some almost sandbox "pauses," The Alters is relentlessly aggressive towards the player:
- You're far from the base: Suddenly everything is falling apart and you must react urgently
- Everyone is happy: Ha, someone just tore off a part of their body because they are mentally unstable
- To not prolong and to not "spoil," you always have a limited amount of both resources and time, you can almost never
catch a break.
This is both the biggest advantage and a source of frustration. There is too much to do and too little time. If such games frustrate you and you lean more towards sandbox experiences, I completely understand, this is not a game for everyone, and it doesn't have to be. It would be great to see a sandbox mode, it might even help the game's popularity, but given the silence and (in)visibility of the game itself, it's hard to hope for that in the near future.
Before I move on to the main topic and the reason why I'm even writing this article, I want to emphasize once again:
this has been a huge project for 11 bit studios. The game looks beautiful, the alters, although they are all
technically the same person, are shaped with incredible attention to detail, and Alex Jordan (voice actor)
deserves at least a nomination this year because he has brought to life such a large number of characters, and each of them
he handled valiantly and seemingly with equal enthusiasm and respect.
And while I played This War of Mine to the point of absurdity, I can say without hesitation that although The Alters does not
take its place in my heart, it undoubtedly represents the most complex and best-realized achievement of 11 bit studios to date. No doubt. In that sense, this has been a feat that I can
Section 3: Good, Bad, and "Evil" – Game Pass Edition
There is an old saying (maybe it doesn't exist, it doesn't matter) that “good things always see the light of day”
but honestly, I'm no longer sure that can be taken for granted in the period we are in. In the
last decade, the amount of media content, whether it's music, TV, or video games, has exploded to the
point that even I, a passionate consumer, can barely keep up with new releases and things worth my increasingly
limited free time, let alone someone who consumes all of the above only occasionally and casually.
And this is where Game Pass comes in, which excites me as a concept, but from time to time
forces me to ask myself:
Can too much good become bad?
I consider Game Pass one of Microsoft's best moves, which honestly isn't much of an achievement in the context of them
themselves, but in the context of the “stinginess” and greed of our beloved industry, it still stands as a great and consistent
service, especially for people whose wallets simply can't bear the risks, whether financial,
time-related, or in most cases, both. The bitter reality is that the market today is flooded with content,
and as a result, the importance of release dates has become more crucial than ever. The chances that your game will catch that
famous “lightning moment” are decreasing year by year, and The Alters is a perfect example of that
reality.
You can produce as many trailers and promotions as you want, but if you don't have a previously popular IP or
something that can easily be turned on and off, there's a high probability you'll remain unnoticed. That chance
decreases even further in 2025, which can already be said to be a generational year for gaming, and despite
the fact that not even half of it has passed, it is full of excellent titles, whether indie or AAA.
Games like The Blue Prince, Monster Train 2, and Clair Obscur have already made waves and captured attention, as
well as the money of players who might have chosen or at least given a chance to The Alters. If this sounds like whining,
I admit, it somewhat is, but I believe that without whining there is no progress, so this time I give myself full
right to a bit of bitterness, and I encourage everyone that if they ever find themselves in a similar situation, to do the same.
As a sub-culture of show business, I have always been proud of the fact that gamers announce every injustice or
dissatisfaction loud and clear. Let it remain that way.
Microsoft is not using its own platform in an optimal way.
Microsoft regularly conducts monthly “game dumps,” which almost makes it impossible to optimally track and
consume content that would be an ideal use of your time and nerves, unless you are chronically
glued to the screen. So what do you have left?
A) Choose a game everyone is talking about, like Expedition 33?
B) Play a well-known franchise like Tony Hawk or Doom?
C) Try out titles that have made it into the game of the year discussions, which can be played and
neglected at any time, like Blue Prince or Monster Train?
D) Or, perhaps, try a game that isn’t talked about much, has good reviews, but you might not even
like?
Of course, someone will choose option D, but realistically, it’s a very small percentage of players, and no one can
blame them for that. After all, no one is obligated to be equally passionate about things that mean everything to you.
Life goes on.
Although I have nothing against the Gamepass model, I think the release and promotion schedule could be much
better designed, which would benefit both developers and the platform itself. It seems to me that their current
plan is just to point fingers at the “upcoming” or “recently added” sections, which could ultimately backfire on both them and
the developers. Nothing is immune to saturation, so I sincerely hope that smarter minds at Microsoft will solve this problem in time and create a more responsible “release schedule.”
In short, The Alters is (for the hundredth time) a fantastic game made with a lot of love and effort, and I wish it would
finally receive the success it deserves. Am I a little “salty” because it hasn’t attracted the attention I think it
deserves? I am. But I truly believe this is a game worth fighting for, even being a little “salty” about its lack of mainstream success. To make matters worse, the game has seemingly financially completely
“flopped” and the studio's stocks were already falling even before the game’s release. The whole situation hasn’t
improved even after its release, given that revenue growth is around 24%, while cost growth is nearly 50%, more than double. Many have speculated that The Alters was released to the market too early for this reason, and the fact that AI filler text snippets were found further lends credibility to that claim. Someone had to step in and make some tough decisions, and it’s hard to point fingers at anyone except the studio that, in financial panic, released the game to the market at what can be described as
catastrophic timing. In short, this was a good opportunity for someone to say no to Gamepass, not because Gamepass
is doing something wrong, but for the benefit of their own game and the future of the studio; now it’s certainly too late for that.
Regardless, the game deserves to be given a quality chance, so let’s end on a note and the fact that The
Alters is still available on Game Pass and is a real treat, so if you’ve made it to the end of this text, take
everything I’ve said into consideration, install the game, and I promise that if you enjoy games of this type, you can
expect a brilliant and unique gaming experience that you won't soon forget.
*The views expressed in columns and comments are the personal opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of the Virus.hr portal
