“And for centuries, Humanity thrived. Until it didn’t.” - an actual line of dialogue that a writer was paid to create, which was subsequently approved and added to a AAA game.

This game just disgusts me. I hate it with a fervent passion, and I barely even played it, experiencing all of it first-hand through my friend who was there every step of the way of this disaster of a lifecycle, and the fall of one of the greatest developers ever. The Bungie we have now isn’t even a husk of what was, it’s not even a company anymore, it’s just a wing of Activision, and remains as such even with their return to independence.

Impossible to review properly, as it is an ongoing open-source project that is constantly changing, but the core experience of Cataclysm is incredibly robust and unparalleled in any other similar title.

Like the similarly complex Dwarf Fortress or Rimworld, Cataclysm's main draw is depth. Instead of focusing on large scale system interaction like those colony sims, Cataclysm is focused on one individual person and the absolutely massive list of places they can visit, things they can do, items they can find, vehicles they can build, encounters they can have, and all the emergent stories that come with that. Everything in the game can be broken down and built into something new (if you have the knowhow), which presents near infinite options for every moment. With excellent difficulty controls you can tailor your apocalypse however you want. It speaks to the strength of the game that playing without enemies is still fun!

The vehicle building system is especially fun and probably the point where the game hooks most people who are going to be hooked. Your first deathmobile is a Cataclysm rite of passage. Long, successful Cataclysm runs are the kind that stick with you.

I love to check back in every few months and see what new things I have to learn again (there is a very helpful keybindings menu now!) and what new systems might draw me back into another game.