Earlier this year, publisher Paradox Interactive announced that Surviving Mars would resume development, Dutch studio Abstraction taking over and working on the title’s first expansion in over two years. That expansion now has a name, Below and Beyond, as well as a release date, slated for early September.
Surviving Mars: Below and Beyond tasks players with building subterranean bases underneath the Red Planet’s surface as well as exploiting passing asteroids for their valuable resources.
Both ventures involve an element of risk. Cave-ins can wreck your underground bases while failing to return to Mars before the asteroids you’re mining leave orbit will result in losing both the buildings on the visiting space rock and any colonists required to operate them.
Here’s a list of Surviving Mars: Below and Beyond features, as detailed by the publisher:
- Back to the Bases - Expand your colony into caves and lava tubes under the surface. Players can use existing structures, or underground-specific buildings to build a base for exploration. Expand with caution, potential cave-ins can destroy everything.
- Mine Your Own Business - Players can now go below the surface and beyond the red planet for resource mining. Construct special rocket-propelled buildings to mine resources, including exotic minerals and Data Samples, on passing asteroids. Don’t stick around too long or else the Asteroid will drift away with your stuff!
- Branching Paths - The Recon and Expansion research tree unlock additional buildings, vehicles, upgrades, and locales. They will also unlock asteroid mining and tunnel colonization.
The Mars Lifestyle Radio Pack accompanies the expansion as a separate DLC. It features 16 original tracks from four different artists, which make up “70 minutes of chill roving tunes” to softly drown out the screams of colonists getting crushed by rocks. It will set you back $3.99/ €3.99/£2.89 GBP.
Additionally, the Surviving Mars OST vinyl is also available for pre-order until the DLC lands.
Surviving Mars: Below and Beyond’s release date is slated for September 7, which is when you can pick it up on PC, Xbox One, and PS4 for the price of $19.99/ €19.99/£15.49 or your regional equivalent.
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