Hardspace: Shipbreaker is an open sandbox, space simulation in which you are working as a salvage technician tasked with breaking down and recovering valuable materials from decommissioned spaceships. Published by Focus Entertainment and developed by Blackbird Entertainment, HardSpace: Shipbreaker is a vision of what the future will be like for mankind and how the average Joe will make a living.

The largest corporation in the world is LYNX Corp and most would sell their souls to work for them. That’s precisely what happens as working for them means you’ll be in massive financial debt. The luxury of using their Everwork Asset Replacement technology means you will never die, but you’ll also have to pay each time you are revived. You basically get locked into working for them because your financial debt is so large, that you’ll probably never pay it off.

Anyways, like most sim games, there is a tutorial to get you situated with the controls and how to play the game. Hardspace: Shipbreaker seems pretty simple, but really isn’t. Space physics is what’s going to make this real challenge and how to maneuver in a 3D environment with no gravity. Also which tools to use for what materials and how to transport those where they need to go. You don’t really need to worry about dying, but dying surely doesn’t help you reduce your debt.

Aside from the “work”, you also get a room you stay in called the HAB. Here is where you can rest up, customize your gear, get your email messages and missions, and more. It’s basically your living space that you can make your own while you’re away from your home and family.

While I’ve only just scratched the surface of what Hardspace: Shipbreaker has to offer, I can already see that this is going to be a really demanding game in terms of time and just overall getting better at your trade. Navigating a zero-g environment isn’t easy and it’s even harder when you have to do it while cutting apart a ship and then hauling that material to where it needs to go. It seems like it’s a very deep game with lots to do as you try and perfect the craft of ship breaking.

Graphically, the game looks and feels amazing as it does really feel like you’re in space. They did a good job of showing you the difficulties of both living and working in space by yourself.

Hardspace: Shipbreaker is out of Early Access and is available now as a retail 1.0 release. It does seem like the team is still actively working on it to add more content and improvements. What I like about the game is how immersive it feels. Shipbreaking isn’t easy and you start to appreciate just how difficult salvaging a whole ship can be, as well as how dangerous it is. In terms of simulation, it’s very good and for the most part, exactly how I imagined salvaging a spacecraft would be like.

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Disclaimer: Received game from developer and/or publisher for coverage purposes.

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