Take on Mars

Take on Mars is a PC simulation from Bohemia Interactive that puts you in control of unmanned rover and lander missions before eventually transitioning you to a first-person survival phase on the Martian surface. The structure is unusual: early gameplay is methodical and science-driven, asking you to position cameras, deploy instruments, and collect soil samples across accurately modeled Martian terrain. Later, the game shifts into base-building and human survival territory, where you manage oxygen, power, water, and structural integrity against the brutal Red Planet environment. That tonal split is both the most interesting thing about it and its biggest source of friction. For players who love systems-driven sims, the early rover phase has real appeal. Driving a lander or a wheeled rover across terrain that genuinely references real Mars geography scratches an itch that almost nothing else on PC touches. The science mechanics, collecting atmospheric data, analyzing soil composition, deploying solar panels to extend mission range, have enough granularity to feel meaningful rather than decorative. If you have ever watched a NASA press conference and thought "I want to do that," this phase delivers a low-key version of that fantasy. The problems start accumulating in the survival and base-building phase. AI behavior is unreliable, pathfinding for automated units frustrates more than it helps, and the tutorial coverage gets noticeably thinner as the complexity ramps up. The game launched in Early Access for several years before its 2017 full release, and that development history shows in the seams: some systems feel polished while others feel half-finished and under-documented. The 55 percent positive rating on Steam and a 62 on Metacritic reflect a game that clearly found a passionate niche audience but left a larger group feeling like beta testers. Who is this actually for? If you are a simulation enthusiast with patience for rough edges, a genuine interest in space exploration, and a tolerance for occasional bugs that require reloading saves, Take on Mars offers something genuinely rare. The mod ecosystem exists but is small, and the community has thinned out since launch, which limits your support options when things go wrong. This is not a game you pick up casually. The decision-making depth in resource management during the survival phase is real, but it comes packaged with interface friction that will send less committed players to the menu screen for good. Approached correctly, meaning with low expectations for polish and high curiosity about the subject matter, there are 20 to 40 hours of genuinely interesting sim gameplay in here. Just do not expect Bohemia to patch anything at this point, and keep a manual save habit from day one.

Diego · Scout Team

Strategy & simulation

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