So, We’re All Going to Make Dick-Shaped Fish, Right?
I imagine the pitch went like this: “Blue Planet meets Spore. We get our own David Attenborough and make a game out of it.” Enter Ecosystem. All jokes aside (for a moment), I don’t know how serious this game is supposed to be. The game mechanics are interesting. You create fish species with varying kinetic features in order to prepare it best for an undersea world. After that, it’s survival of the fittest. You can customize your creatures in color, size, and even the placement of their joints and fins. That being said, we are going to see some abominations.
Our creatures of the deep in real life are the products of millions of years of evolution. Here in Ecosystem, players are going to start from scratch, and it will definitely look like it. The fish in the trailer look like wacky-waving-inflatable-arm-flailing-tubemen. Their faces look like when single dads try to make smiley pancakes for the first breakfast of his kids’ visitation. You may look at this game and remember Maxis’ 2008 game Spore. You know, the creature creation game that resulting only in dick-creatures? I see a spiritual successor in Ecosystem.
Ecosystem also allows players to sculpt the ocean floor, not just the inhabitants. There is a terrain tool that can be used to make tunnels and caverns, as well as place different reefs and undersea plants that will no doubt affect a species longevity. Ecosystem will be entering Early Access on March 16th.
How does this game look to you? Let us know in the comments below.