Barotrauma Game Preview

Set hundreds of years in the future, Barotrauma transports users to the underwater realm of Europa, a moon of Jupiter. The planet has been colonised due to humanity’s achievements in space travel, which has allowed humans to jet through the solar system. However, the challenges of Jupiter’s terrain have still gone unconquered, as the surface is uninhabitable, which leads to the population establishing itself under one of the moon’s ice sheets. Beneath the sheet is an oasis of colonies, transportation shafts, creatures, cave structures, and resources spread throughout the ocean.

The two-dimensional gameplay feeds into its charm, separating it from its inspiration Space Station 13. Upon opening a game, users are allocated tasks which require specific gear or resources to complete the mission. To achieve completion, the crew contends with the elements of the ocean that their voyage presents, whether it be pursuing aggressive underwater wildlife, transporting cargo from one colony to another, or discovering unknown relics. When selecting Quest Mode from the different game types, users are challenged to design, build, and preserve a submarine. The entire game is centered around keeping yourself and the crew alive while navigating the treacherous waters of Europa’s ocean.

Challenges in the game are usually types of perils that can endanger the success of a submarine’s expedition, whether it be interior or exterior factors. Some of the ship’s motor functions can go haywire and must be properly maintained. There are mutinies within the crews and parasite outbreaks. In the waters, the undersea creatures can be deadly, either by damaging the ship or its crew by sabotage. Water often floods the submarines, stagnating user movement and making them susceptible to suffocating or being crushed by barotrauma, the game’s namesake. The submarine itself is a living, breathing thing that holds the success and failure of a crew by its haunches.

The most in-depth feature is the register of tools and other items used to interact and maintain the submarine through the GUI, especially the in-game shop in Mission Mode. The shop offers users purchasing options employing credits, a type of currency salaried to users upon completing tasks efficaciously. Users can purchase a myriad of items, like ammo, electrical modules, even new crew members or installations. The inventory has 17 slots, each designated for specific tools, clothing, cards, or hands. Specific apparatuses and equipment require space from multiple slots, depending on their size.

The game’s strengths are in its emphasis on emergent gameplay and human interaction. It’s major emphasis on crisis management is the cornerstone driving the game between loving or loathing, as it can be pleasantly frustrating keeping the vessel functional. Users sometimes find themselves almost inviting the danger, as the challenges become more complex and harder to manage. How users implement their job services to steer through catastrophe, at their own risk, will determine which side of the line they fall on.

Barotrauma is a full immersion into the intricacies of facing peril at every turn. It will test users under pressure, separating the survivors from the failures. Certainly worth the test it presents, the realistic elements of keeping the submarines operational are enough to give it a go. It was not by accident it was named “Best Hardcore Game” at Game Connection Europe 2018. One plunge into the waters of Europa and users will find out why.