Volcanoids Preview (Steam Early Access)

by ·

For this Volcanoids Preview, where we check out a base-building open-world survival shooter that replaces your typical base with a giant drill. Alone or with friends, explore an island plagued by eruptions, upgrade your drill, and fight robots to uncover what’s been hiding beneath the surface.

Volcanoids Preview Pros:

  • Decent graphics.
  • 5.61GB Download size.
  • Steam achievements.
  • Full controller support.
  • Graphics settings – resolution, window mode, refresh rate, quality profile, anti-aliasing, v-sync, fps limit, render quality, texture resolution, shadows, shadow quality, ambient occlusion, bloom quality, level of detail slider, grass density, and soft particles.
  • Can rebind controls for both keyboard and controller buttons.
  • Can Invert axis and sensitivity sliders for both the controller and the mouse.
  • A field of view slider.
  • Game settings – language, autosave timer, toggle sprint/crouch/zoom, input hints, show Hud, show help, show fps, Fahrenheit temp option, pick up notifications, and Hud scale slider.
  • Full mode support with Steam Workshop.
  • Four ways to play – Single player, public mp, friends-only mp, and custom mp.
  • Four difficulties – Easy, normal, hard, and custom.
  • 12 save slots and 3 quicksave slots.
  • Hand-drawn art cutscenes for the story.
  • Decent loading times.
  • Photo mode.
  • First-person view.
  • Survival gameplay.
  • Hotbar used for quick swapping of items and weapons.
  • Harvest resources and as you do the said resource point will shrink and then disappear.
  • Mission selection menu and handy on-screen mission markers.
  • Fantastic-looking locations.
  • Familiar controls and gameplay.
  • If you’ve played Minecraft or Terraria then you will pick this up quicker than those that haven’t.
  • Work tables can craft upgrades, ammo, component, tool, module, devices, and structures.
  • Loot chests and crates with a quick loot all button.
  • As you get closer to a farmable resource an icon will show.
  • No annoying durability bars for weapons and tools.
  • You need specific tools for farming specific resources like pick axe for rocks and axes for trees.
  • With the controller, you can hold down the button to repeatedly hit the resource.
  • Photo mode.
  • Lootable objects have a highlighted outline.
  • Cogs are enemies you get into gunfights with.
  • First-person view.
  • A fully 3D world with 360 camera control.
  • Stumble across complete towns and devastated villages, you can loot and break down doors.
  • A real sense of adventure.
  • In Single Player, the game actually praises when you pause.
  • Stamina-based system for running and fighting.
  • Drill ships can dig underground and move around.
  • Claim or steal drillships.
  • The drillships need to be maintained by fixing holes) damage and replacing new sections.
  • Your drill ship is like your house as you have space to put down structures, beds, and storage.
  • Upgrade and expand your drill ship.
  • The volcano plays a huge part, you get a timer in between eruptions and after an eruption, the land transforms and is usually torched.
  • Underground is its own biome in a way with many inhabitants and secrets to find.
  • You get info on temperature and weather.
  • The game can be played any way you want to and if you want a more structured game then the game dishes out quests to keep you on track.
  • Has so much to do.
  • Handles well from the movement to Farming resources and shooting.
  • Plays so much better in Co-op but is still highly playable in single-player.
  • Your drillship has a periscope so you can scan the land before leaving the safety.
  • The way and size you can build a drillship is nothing short of mind-boggling.
  • You have a constant threat of enemy attacks at any time.

Volcanoids Preview Cons:

  • Hard and custom difficulties are locked.
  • No benchmark test for graphics.
  • The text and pop-ups are really small.
  • Being able to slide the Hud scale slider is hit-and-miss.
  • So much to take in.
  • It takes a while for it all to get going.
  • There are so many systems especially crafting that are not as straightforward.
  • When repairing or doing anything precise it didn’t that easy with a controller.
  • The tutorial is not as clear and prominent as it should be.
  • The first use of the drill shop is a nightmare as it’s so easy to start a new movement.

Related Post: Mechabellum Preview (Steam Early Access)

Volcanoids:

Official website.

Developer:

Publisher:

Store Links –

Steam Early Access

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!