Terra Nil Review (Steam)

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For our Terra Nil Review, we play an intricate environmental strategy game about transforming a barren wasteland into a thriving, balanced ecosystem. Bring life back to a lifeless world by purifying soil, cleaning oceans, planting trees, and reintroducing wildlife, then leave without a trace.

Terra Nil Review Pros:

  • Decent graphics.
  • Download size.
  • 3 save slots.
  • Four gameplay presets – Custom, gardener, ecologist, and environmental engineer.
  • Graphics settings – resolution, v-sync, and fullscreen.
  • Gameplay settings – starting resources slider, base building cost percentage, recycling when out of resources, building unlock objectives, tutorials, Zen mode, and contextual hints.
  • Can rebind controls.
  • Opening tutorial then ongoing pop-ups.
  • A game where you are building structures and crafting the land so it can be rejuvenated and flourish in its own.
  • It has an almost puzzle game feel as you work out the most efficient way of achieving your goals as power grids only stretch so far then you need to be near a resource for other parts to work and so on.
  • World map level selects where it gives you an overall completion percentage.
  • You can replay levels.
  • Optional side tasks will generate within a location.
  • You can restart a location at any time and create a new random map.
  • Everything has its place so you need stones to place power, power to build fertilises to cleanse the land so it is then inhabitable for other structures.
  • Manipulate the land with structures and tools.
  • Watch the game play out by itself.
  • Leaves are the representation of currency as it were, You use these to buy the structures.
  • Unlocking the next entry in the build menu will show a progress bar and what needs to be done.
  • Zen mode takes away all the currency aspects and lets you just go on and on.
  • As you advance through the game you unlock new areas which bring new biomes and structures.
  • Create wildlife and watch as they live in your world.
  • At the end of a level you can go into an appreciative view and scan around watching your creation.
  • The animations are really good.
  • Gets very addictive.
  • A very laid-back experience.
  • The music is not as impactful but the sounds of the animals, the rain, and the thunder really bring it all to life.
  • Has you learning stuff without realizing it.
  • Simple controls along with shortcut keys on the keyboard.
  • Time just evaporates.
  • The grid system that appears around structures shows their radius and is clear and very handy when placing.
  • Play how you want.

Terra Nil Review Cons:

  • No controller support.
  • Not a loft graphics setting.
  • I found the main story loop to be really difficult as it bombarded me with information whereas Zen mode allowed me to take the game on at my own pace.
  • Feels a lot like I’m placing things to fill bars rather than how I want the world to be.
  • A checklist game is more than a creative game.
  • So much to take in.
  • I found I had to go out of the game a lot to find information.

Related Post: Beyond Contact Review (Steam) 

Terra Nil:

Official website.

Developer: Free Lives

Publisher: Devolver Digital Games

Store Links –

Steam

  • 8/10
    Graphics - 8/10
  • 7/10
    Sound - 7/10
  • 7/10
    Accessibility - 7/10
  • 8/10
    Length - 8/10
  • 8/10
    Fun Factor - 8/10
7.6/10

Summary

Initially, I thought this was a creative game much in the vein of Black and White or a nature version of Sim City. Terra Nill is neither and I honestly believe it’s more a checklist puzzle game than anything else. You need to bring life back to a decaying world and you do this by harvesting the natural resources such as water and land to then buy structures in order to advance. An example is you start by getting wind power or any power source, Then you would lay down a structure that cleanses the land and makes it safe. Finally add something to have on top like grass, Trees, or maybe sand or wetlands. As you progress the choices of what to build get bigger, The way each part mixes with the other causes a third element to happen. This is generally the flow and it is the same every time, All that really changes is the tools and structures. This is not to say the game is one note, far from it as it’s just such a deep rewarding game that can eventually let you play how you want. As I said I hated the game immensely at the start, It would have me just grinding through scenarios and tasks with little to no explanation, the flow was all over the place and I never felt informed or happy in what I was doing. Enter Zen mode and this takes away all the stress I was having Zen mode is basically a sandbox mode in a traditional sense as you have no set objectives or tasks to bombard me, Instead I’m just doing what I want and doing what needs to be done in order to unlock the next new toy, This allowed me to discover and understand the game at my own pace. Make no doubt about it though for as clever as the game is, It is still lacking in so much for I was constantly going elsewhere to learn about structures and how to create certain elements. It’s not a perfect game at any stretch and I always felt like I was placing things to just tick off a box and get the unlock rather than making it a bit more like I wanted. Overall it’s a good twist on the genre and with a  few updates, it could be something, but I still have my doubts more of my own ability than the game, but the games are not helping me!

Jim Smale

Gaming since the Atari 2600, I enjoy the weirdness in games counting Densha De Go and RC De Go as my favourite titles of all time. I prefer gaming of old where buying games from a shop was a thing, Being social in person was a thing. Join me as I attempt to adapt to this new digital age!