Earth From Another Sun (which we will call from now on EFAS) is an ambitious project of the independent development studio Multiverse. The game is structured as a RPG sandbox open world with FPS/Strategic elements in Sci-Fi settings. Currently in Alpha, the study provides a period of Early Access from the second quarter of 2022 and an official launch at the end of 2022. The project, really interesting, is just as complex: the goal of Multiverse is to create the "Ultimate Sandbox", that is a video-ludic eco-system capable of self-determination and regulating, in which the lives of the players are interwoven, with every decision to shape the EFAS universe. Inspired strongly to titles such as No Man's Sky, Warhammer 40k and Borderlands, EFAS is currently playable in single-player mode, while the multi-player mode, which we assume will become the predominant game mode of the title, is still under testing. But what is actually the EFAS gaming experience in the current state?
We will take command of a faction, our personal faction, choosing the design of our banner. Guided by a sagacious Artificial Intelligence that we call our "Second Consciousness", we will be guided in our first galactic steps in the tutorial that has been recently added by developers. We will then have to build a space fleet worthy of that name, hired mercenaries of every race and buying battleships. We will therefore face the first clashes with Space Pirates that threaten the peace and serenity of civil and commercial outposts, mostly inhabited by unscrupulous merchants. By completing the missions we will be assigned we will get rewards useful to repel the ranks of our army, which will inevitably suffer losses during battles, and improve our equipment. The game includes a very deep character growth system, with the unlocking of armor options and increasingly performing weapons and a tree of unlockable skills as we progress in our adventure.
Similarly, our faction will also gain more and more authority in intergalactic society, allowing us to conquer planets, take control of commercial routes and, why not, get what we desire with force. It is also possible to draw alliances between players and NPCs, so as to make our progress faster, but always look at your shoulders, in space nobody can hear you scream (semi-cit).
What we have most appreciated about the game, in addition to the beautiful settings that characterize the various planets, are the battles. Up to 1,000 units can compete in battles at the last blood in which we will act as commanders on the field. By flowing alien blood we can acquire control of outposts, spatial bases or even entire planets. If you are more prepared for a peaceful approach, diplomacy always remains an effective choice, remember that you can influence the life and decisions of every NPC, and in this way the entire universe of EFAS.
The premises of EFAS certainly make it a title worthy of attention, a mastodontic project that could prove to be an epochal game or a disastrous failure (every reference to Star Citizen is purely random). At present we can honestly say that the title is still in a rather embryonic and gross state, it suffers from rather important technical flaws (bug, crash etc...) and is uncertain even from the point of view of the gameplay. When you leave so much freedom to the player there is the risk that this feels dismayed and almost intimidated by the vastness of the game itself, and it is exactly what happened during the first minutes of play, when we found ourselves wandering without destination in the deep space and then come "saved" by a crash that has abruptly brought us back to the reality of our desktop.
So, concluding, a title to be taken into consideration, especially if the genre inspires you, with the awareness however that most of the features mentioned are, in the present state, nothing but a promise, that we highly hope Multiverse is able to maintain to allow players to fully enjoy what with EFAS are imagining to create.
