Dysterra: An Indie Sci-Fi Survival FPS good for a live stream, but with limited options

“Dysterra” is a sci-fi-themed online survival FPS developed by Korean indie company Reality MagiQ Inc. and published by Kakao Games.

Like most games of the genre, “Dysterra” focuses on collecting resources to survive, creating different types of items, facilities, equipment, and everything you need to face the threats that may arise.

Due to a catastrophic event, Earth has become almost uninhabitable but still contains the resources that humanity needs to be able to survive in space facilities. Because of this, “Dysterra” is played by a criminal who was condemned to go to Earth and who, in exchange for his eventual freedom, needs to hunt the resources that humanity needs.

“Dysterra”: An early access game

“Dysterra” is a survival FPS, with gameplay and movement similar to other games of the genre. It uses a life system (if it reaches zero, you die), a hunger system (you need to eat to not lose life), and an energy system (power that is used to gain access to some extra abilities).

You control your character directly, who has access to a variety of resources to build: firearms, melee weapons, clothing, supplies, ammunition, vehicles, and establishments (such as bases for you to sleep at).

The game’s graphics are stunning; when played at higher settings, all scenery and models are breathtaking. The sound design doesn’t stand out, but it’s not bad. Unfortunately, there is still no ambient music, so I recommend that you live stream it with a free-copyright playlist prepared beforehand.

There are currently 3 modes to play:
Campaign mode: where you play alone and complete small missions in a basic survival game tutorial, and in this mode it is possible to edit some settings, such as the frequency with which items appear on the map, the amount of life, the amount of damage, the amount of enemies and so on. If you want to play solo on a live stream, this is the mode to use.
Official Server: Same as the previous one, but without the option to edit the settings and with the addition of being able to find other players.
Private Server: Same as above, but only the player and whoever he invites have access to the map.

The game is in “Early Access.” That’s why it has a lot of limitations on what you have to do in the game.
It currently has a map, several bases and locations to look for resources, and enemies to face, but that’s basically it.

The limitations for games that are in this early access phase are quite common, but they bring some small problems.

The game’s main focus is the Online factor, but currently the player base is almost nil. Despite the many server options, the game had a total of 16 players when I wrote this review, spread across the servers (none of which were on the local server).

And, most likely because it’s in early access, the game is a little poorly optimized. It was necessary to put the game on the minimum settings in order to be able to play it during the live stream, and one of the main selling points of “Dysterra” is its beautiful graphics. You can see the difference below (prints taken directly on the PC):

It is possible to live stream, but the options are limited

For this review, the PC version was analyzed.

“Dysterra” is a high-spec game. It needs a powerful setup to be able to live stream it. Even with an RTX 2060 Super and 16Gb I had to play with everything on minimum settings.

The Campaign mode is the most suitable for live streaming, as you have access to the configuration options, thus being able to increase or decrease everything as you see fit, especially the resources. In addition to being a great game to keep talking to the public while performing the tasks that the game provides.

If you can play with a friend or your audience, both the official and private servers are options. And cooperative gameplays always generate a lot of public interest because they can create a lot of fun and/or funny moments.

And the lack of a soundtrack can be fixed with a Free-Copyright playlist so as not to make the gameplay monotonous, both for you and for the audience.

Alexandre Gaara

Anime lover, Specialized Reviewer and Game Platinator