I never realised how fun it can be to launch rockets. Next Space Rebels is a space construction game with social elements. It was developed and published by Humble Games. It was recently released on Game Pass and I loved the look of it.
What is a Next Space Rebel
The Next Space Rebels are a movement to take back space from the wealthy. At the beginning of the game, you construct rockets out of DIY materials such as PVC and scrap. By the end of the game, you have access to space-age materials.
The main focus is to build rockets. In order to get more parts, you need to interact with various individuals who have their own agendas. Some simply want to profit off of your rockets. Others have noble goals such as making eco-friendly rockets or using scrap.
Once you’ve used a rocket, you can then upload the footage to a YouTube-like platform. Depending on what tags you get for the footage, you can then select the ones you want to use. If you use tags from a similar category they will create combos. By having high ranking combos will result in more views and more subscribers. Once you hit a specific milestone, you receive a partnership with the platform which equals money. Which can then be spent on more parts.
The individuals you interact with will give you parts and challenges. By completing challenges you receive more points which allow you to make bigger and more complex rockets. The challenges themselves are varied and make the game far more interesting. Very rarely will the individuals ask you for simple things such as getting as high as you can. Some challenges restrict the categories of the parts you use. Some even don’t want a rocket but want you to use the parts you have. This certainly makes the game far more fun. And the sense of achievement for some of the challenges is very high.
How Does Next Space Rebels Feel?
The interface is very clear and concise. The YouTube-Like website looks very similar and works well. The rest of the websites are easy on the eye and the staging area also improves as you get to higher ranks. The only downside is that both on Xbox and PC it can hang. Once that happens you have to boot back to the dashboard/desktop to then close it and reopen it to continue. Luckily the game does save regularly, however, it is frustrating.
After you have designed your rocket, you progress to a staging area. The location of the staging changes depending on the challenge. The environment looks straight out of Google Streets. The ships themselves are highly detailed. When launching your ship you can view it from different viewpoints depending on how high it goes. The viewpoints when hitting the outer atmosphere are beautiful and amazing to look at.
After you have completed specific challenges or ranked up you receive a video from the Next Space Rebels. These are live-action videos with CGI rockets. The acting would be cringy if it wasn’t acted so well. They are definitely worth watching all the way through. And the humour of them really adds to the charm of the game.
It’s So Addicting
The fact that the progress is transferable between platforms on Game Pass makes it addicting. I have an Xbox One in the living room. And a PC upstairs. Being able to play on both platforms and constantly making new rockets makes this my new addiction. I didn’t imagine upon booting it up I would have so much fun.
With more parts come bigger and more powerful rockets. I’m happy to deviate from the challenges to create my own designs. Then go back to them to acquire more parts. There are also various parts that don’t pertain to rockets such as kinetic devices. These can move parts of your ship using the keyboard during launch. To fireworks that detonate at a time set by the player.
Since the challenges are many and varied, some really do feel like a game on their own. One challenge requires you to create a rocket that uses limbs to move. Seems straightforward but you are not allowed to use any rocket boosters or engines. This challenge alone had me stumped for at least an hour. But I figured it out and was released I could progress to the next ones.
Final Thoughts
It has become one of my favourite games of the year so far. It will be on my weekly rotation of games I will play between other game titles. The excitement of improving previous experiments or beating a challenge is huge. I just didn’t expect it which is a welcome addition.
I would recommend anyone to play this especially if they enjoy experimenting. And they love rockets. It can be easy to lose track of time and is a great addition to Game Pass.