Surviving Mars: Relaunched Isn’t Just A Rework, It’s A Whole New Experience
Gabriel DobrevFounder, Haemimont Games
Summary
Surviving Mars: Relaunchedis a re-introduction to our colony builder, withupgraded graphics, a reworked UI, and more.
The game includes previous Surviving Mars expansions as base content for all players.
Surviving Mars: Relaunched launches today on Xbox Series X|S.
Are you ready to set foot on Mars for the very first time – again? Welcome to Surviving Mars: Relaunched, a new way to play our colony-building management game for a new generation of spacefaring strategists!
When we launched Surviving Mars originally, we wanted to give gamers an experience that was grounded in reality and science, easy to understand, and built towards an ambitious future, and that was what we delivered. The heart of the game remains the same as always: from initial surface scans and deployment of drones, you will start building the critical infrastructure needed to support human colonists, including water systems, supply extraction, and environmental domes.
Once people start showing up, you can undertake more complicated tasks and developments to expand and maintain your colony, until your colony is sustainable without aid from Earth.
Since then, Surviving Mars has explored a number of new ways to bring efficiency, change, and even cute animals to the red planet. We released expansions that added Terraforming (Green Planet), Subterranean Mining (Below and Beyond), and Rival Colonies (Space Race) to the game. When we made the decision to come back to Surviving Mars and begin developing even more ways to play, we realized that there was an opportunity not just to share our ideas with our original commanders, but with a whole new crew as well!
That’s what brought us to Surviving Mars: Relaunched, a new version of our game that gives everyone lots of new features to try. For starters, we’ve upgraded the graphics, reworked the UI, and improved controller support, all to ensure the game looks and plays its best, especially now that it’s coming to Xbox Series X|S.
Next, we’ve included everything that was ever added to the original game – so players of Relaunched get access to features like Terraforming and Trains that were originally DLC with the base game, which means we can deliver updates and content based around those features, going forward. We’re also adding new features that have never been included in any version of the game before now, including factions and political management for your colonies!
We’re also giving all Martian Managers access to new ways to expand and play our game created by other players, with in-game mod support. You’ll be able to browse and install mods without leaving the game, allowing you to add community-made buildings to your planet, or explore new end-game mysteries.
With the most comprehensive version of Surviving Mars in your hands, all of us at Haemimont will have an ideal launch pad to bring more new content to the game from here on out. We’re already working on a new expansion for early next year, “Feeding the Future,” which will add new production systems and food options for your colonists to help add to their comfort – and sanity! We have another expansion, “Machine Utopia,” in the works after that one as well, which will allow you to colonize, optimize, and industrialize. It’s exciting to get to work on what feels like an all-new game for us, and start bringing life to all the ideas we’ve had, and still have!
Whether you’re about to experience Surviving Mars for the first time or whether Relaunched is the next chapter in your journey to the stars, we’re excited to keep growing alongside you and your colony, starting today. See you on board the rockets!
See the Red Planet like never before, land for the first time all over again, and discover some brand-new secrets.
Welcome home! The award-winning sci-fi city builder is back – remastered, expanded, and more stunning than ever. Your mission: colonize Mars and survive the process, from exploration and infrastructure to welcoming human colonists and achieving long-term stability. There are new challenges to overcome, new strategies to plan, and now with an upgraded look and feel for a new generation of explorers.
All you need for this relaunched mission to create a thriving Martian settlement is a steady supply of resources, oxygen, decades of training, experience with sandstorms… and a curious attitude to discover the purpose of those weird black cubes that appeared out of nowhere. With a bit of sprucing up, this place is going to be awesome!
Surviving Mars: Relaunched brings together the original colony management game from Haemimont Games, its entire catalogue of expansions, improved and reworked, from major expansions to cosmetics and radio stations, as well as the all-new Martian Assembly update. Upgraded graphics together with updated UI will give veteran players the definitive Surviving Mars experience, and provide an ideal launch point for new commanders as well.
Are you ready? Mars is waiting for you.
The Dream of Martian Independence
The new Martian Assembly brings an expanded endgame challenge never seen in the original. Shape your Martian society through laws. Balance the needs and demands of your colonists, keep the peace and develop a long-term plan for Mars – up to and including independence from Earth!
Realistic Sci-Fi City Building
Building a thriving colony on a planet not fit for human life brings its own challenges. Construct life-support systems, power grids, domes, and supply chains, and keep them running, because blackouts on a planet without oxygen are never a good idea. And you’re not alone. With the included ‘Space Race’ expansion, rival colonies backed by competing sponsors add even more pressure as you fight for resources and the future of Mars.
Manage Resources, Survive Mars
Balance critical resources like oxygen, water, power, and food to keep your colony alive. Drones build and maintain your infrastructure, while the revamped ‘Martian Express’ adds trains that move people and supplies across longer distances. Every colonist has their own needs and behaviors and smart management is essential for their survival.
Discover, Research, Expand
Advance your colony through a deep research system that unlocks new buildings, production methods, and essential upgrades. Discover breakthroughs, resources, and hidden secrets reaching ‘Below & Beyond’ the Martian surface. With randomized maps, varied sponsors, and unpredictable Mysteries, every playthrough offers new challenges, and every decision shapes your story of survival and growth on Mars.
The Future of the Red Planet is Green
Terraforming is no longer a distant dream, it’s your next challenge. With the included ‘Green Planet’ expansion, you can engineer Mars into a more habitable world. As the environment transforms, introduce animal life with ‘Project Laika’, bringing the first creatures to thrive alongside your colonists. The future of Mars isn’t just survival, it’s building a self-sustaining, living planet.
I never thought I'd catch myself missing Mars Base, those flickering red hallways and synth-wave beats, yet here I am feeling nostalgic for the greasy gearwork and hellfire that framed the modern saga, for the reassuring growl of the BFG muffled over a comm link. And still, as I carve through Doom: The Dark Ages, blade singing in a flickering torch-lit keep, a stupid grin spreads across my face. It's a brand-new monster: less cyberpunk, more spellbook; fewer tetrahedral demons, more horned warlords; less speed-metal, more mournful chants that cling to the walls like mildew. And that head-spinning tonal swap is the double-edged blade I keep attempting to tame.
The Forge of Worlds Awakens
Fire up Doom: The Dark Ages, and, sure, you think you know the ride ahead. You strap on virtual leather, grip the chainsaw, and leap into arenas bristling with howling demons. Except now those arenas are moss-covered crypts, wind-slashed castle keeps, and flagstone courtyards draped in shadow. The big guns have been scrapped for crooked crossbows and snorting hand cannons, and your old pals Pinky and the Cacodemon- have traded their skin for armored bastards and flame-breathing sentinels.
Yeah, it sounds wild. Still, the moment the first brutal guitar riff kicks in, soaring over thunderous drums, I feel that same electric tremor in my bones. The Dark Ages swapped out cyborg guts for glowing runes, but at heart, it's still DOOM: pure violence bottled up in sweaty palms and thundering heartbeats.
DOOM: The Dark Ages - A Genre Mash-Up That Defies Expectations
Scan the medieval FPS shelf, and Dark Ages slides into a strange little gap:
Chivalry 2 vs Mordhau: big-multiplayer brawls where every swing is a planned tango. Perfect for duelists and drunken tavern scraps, yet none deliver the stool-pushing single-player jolt.
Hellish Reign, a doomed wannabe, slotted Doom-style combat into a medieval world and fell flat-boring puzzles, copy-and-paste arenas, zero snap.
Doom: The Dark Ages doesn't just slap a helmet on the Slayer; it tweaks everything. Your shotgun shrinks to a hand cannon that punctures steel. The chainsaw becomes a greatsword that coats the floor in black ichor when you tear a foe in half. Movement feels heavy, yet quick-wall runs become vaults over barricades, and electric dashes swap for bright magic bursts from your gauntlets.
Medieval-fighting fans will love the way Dark Ages grafts DOOMs speed onto their favorite weapons, finally sending heavy swings flying instead of waiting for wonky timers. Die-hard DOOM addicts who started their shooter life with DOOM (2016) still eye it warily: where is my glory kill on that Mancubus?
Why a Classic DOOM Fan Should Care
The Ritual of Violence
DOOM is kinetic; you charge, you mow down, you glory kill, and Dark Ages keeps that rhythm inside fire-lit stone halls. Every dash, vault, or slice has the same snap as strafing and rocket-jumping. Combat flows like lava, dousing enemies before they can catch their breath.
The Weight Behind the Blade
There is a rare kind of thrill that rolls up your spine the moment you grip a sword so heavy it looks like it could bisect a golem. Each swing rattles your controller, while the crisp, clear ring of metal followed by the meaty crack of bone- gives every pixel of blood a reason to spill.
A New Kind of Arsenal
Think back to the agony of cornering an Archvile in classic DOOM made for players who buy PS5 shooter games. Now imagine that same foe dressed as a necromancer in tattered robes, calling skeletons to block your path while you nail him with burning crossbow bolts. Then you pull out the rune cannon: a semi-auto pistol that swaps fire, frost, or lightning with a flick of the thumb. Picture the Devil’s shotgun rebuilt for this age, and you'll have roughly the right idea.
Fresh Level Design Dreams
Instead of rusted labs and magma chasms, DOOM: The Dark Ages drops you into twisting citadels, skyward spires, and hidden sunken shrines. Chase down rune shards and unlock new moves-wall-slams, ground-shock waves, and even a brief takeover by your own summoned demon. That single question lies behind that crumbling arch?-is answered far more satisfyingly here than in any sterile research complex.
A Soundtrack That Haunts the Rampage
Mick Gordon's gritty industrial riffs have been traded for booming orchestral layers -thundering drums, roaring horns, and eerie chants. The guitars remain, yet they twist into a sound primal and tribal. It's less headbanging and more war dance, but my fists still pump in time.
Creative Leap or Risky Sidestep?
I'll admit part of me felt betrayed. I booted the game expecting DOOM, but more medieval yet landed on DOOM meets The Witcher, complete with side quests about peasant witches and demon-haunted villages. Where are the infinite ammo codes? The litanies of skull tokens? And why am I rescuing villagers instead of smashing everything in my path?
Yet, as the hours rolled on, I grew hooked. DOOM: The Dark Ages pauses its relentless assault to let quiet dread creep into a single torch-lit corridor, the distant howl of a demon hound. Those brief lulls make the next outbreak of violence feel electric.
Is it flawless? Far from it. The plot stumbles into a familiar territory-betrayed prince, vengeful cleric, lost artifact-and I found myself missing the bare-bones charm of the original DOOM lore. A few hunts drag on: grab three totems so I can call up the Demon Lord's anger. Several boss encounters lean hard on predictable scripts, melting the open, chaotic violence DOOM fans live for.
Yet for every slip, a glory moment arrives: finding a hidden vault and dropping a dragon-red demon with nothing but gauntlet uppercuts or clearing a moonlit courtyard while a ghostly choir screams overhead. Those scenes loop in my mind, pure DOOM, even as they bring fresh ideas.
Feature
Chivalry 2 / Mordhau
Warhammer 40K: Space Marine
Doom: The Dark Ages
Combat Fluidity
Medium
High
Very High
Weapon Variety
Swords, Spears, Bows
Bolter, Power Sword
Runes, Hand Cannons, Swords
Pacing
Tactical duels
Action set pieces
Non-stop brutality
Single-Player Focus
Low
Medium
Very High
Level Design
Arena / Open maps
Corridor + Battlefield
Organic castles + Catacombs
Soundtrack
Authentic medieval
Orchestral rock
Hybrid choir + riff assault
A Conflicted Heart Finds Its Beat
Look, just because I still spin Dark Force's vinyl doesn't mean I'll skip a DOOM night to learn about The Dark Ages. At their cores, both games feed the same wild hunger: sidestepping hell teeth, nailing that split-second glory kill, and roaring forward like an armored freight train.
Still, I wince at the shiny new skin-it feels like swapping a beat-up leather jacket for a polished suit of plate. All that clean sci-fi slaughter now wears scrollwork and capes, and the cold corridors I loved have given way to torchlit halls. I miss them, yet the heavier foes are a blast demon knight who splinters your block with one cut and an undead archer showering bone bolts from the rafters.
So yeah, part of me craves a lean sword-and-sorcery sim with real RPG weight, while the other half just wants to blast imp skulls at point-blank range. Dark Ages tries to sit between those stools, often lingering on lore and then retreating to chaos too quick. Yet every time I complain, I end up charging back in, blades humming and groans bouncing off stone walls.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, Doom: The Dark Ages isn't quite a straight DOOM title, and it's definitely not your usual sword-and-bow shooter; it's a fresh twist that grabs bits from both worlds. As with any mash-up, the mix can get sloppy, yet on rare occasions, it turns into something unforgettable. If you love DOOM, you'll spot familiar speed, blood, and a hurricane of motion- but they're layered over ruins, secrets, and a pace that pushes you to stop and breathe. Instead of floating hallways, this time, you wander castles, trade spells, and collect rusty lore that makes the air feel colder and older than any spaceship corridor.
So, if you're ready to drop one setting and yet carry its spirit forward, Dark Ages will probably grab you by the helm and drag you uphill. You're not losing a legacy; you're folding a new route into it, and that climb carries its own rewards. Gunpowder and magic collide, your name will echo off the stone, and you'll discover that sometimes the sweetest brand of hell looks a lot like a weather-beaten keep.
I'm thrilled to announce that I recently received a free Steam key for Bastide through Keymailer, a platform connecting creators with game developers. Although I haven't played it yet, I'm eager to explore its medieval world and will share my experiences in an upcoming post.
Introducing Bastide
Bastide is a city-building strategy game set in the 13th century. Players lead a village of peasants, guiding them to overcome challenges like rival villages, bandits, hunger, disease, and harsh winters, aiming to transform the settlement into a fortified town.
Key Features
Procedurally Generated Maps: Each game session offers a unique experience with randomly generated maps, ensuring no two playthroughs are alike.
Dynamic Seasons and Day-Night Cycle: The game features multiple seasons and a day-night cycle, adding layers of strategy as players adapt to changing conditions.
Diverse Peasant Roles: Assign various jobs to your peasants, such as hunting for meat, wool, and hides, or farming to ensure a steady food supply. Effective management of these roles is crucial for survival and growth.
Survival Challenges: Beyond resource management, protect your village from external threats like rival settlements and bandits, and internal challenges such as disease and the cold.
Town Building and Expansion: Start with a small village and construct various buildings to expand your settlement. Assign jobs to increase resource production, fostering growth and ensuring your villagers' survival.
Development and Community Engagement
Launched in Early Access on February 26, 2020, Bastide is actively developed by MedievalNexus. The developers value community feedback, with plans for future updates including trading with neighboring villages, mod support, and exploration features. Regular updates are released, addressing bugs and introducing new content.
System Requirements
To run Bastide, your system should meet the following minimum requirements:
OS: Windows 10 or higher
Processor: AMD Ryzen 3 2200G
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce 750 Ti or higher
Storage: 3 GB available space
Final Thoughts
Bastide presents an intriguing blend of strategy, survival, and city-building elements set in a richly detailed medieval world. Its procedurally generated maps, dynamic seasons, and diverse gameplay mechanics offer both challenges and rewards. As I delve into the game, I look forward to sharing my insights and experiences in a forthcoming playthrough.
Stay Connected
If you're interested in Bastide, consider adding it to your wishlist on Steam. Keep an eye out for my upcoming playthrough, where I'll delve deeper into the gameplay, mechanics, and overall experience.
