HomeReviewsΔV: Rings of Saturn
ΔV: Rings Of Saturn review: turns asteroid mining lead into space game goldFor some of mankind
For some of mankind
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Kodera Software
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Kodera Software
I can’t remember the last time I struggled so much to get through a game.
You misunderstand. I’m not sayingΔV: Rings Of Saturnis a chore or grind. I found it hard because any time I boot it up, I can get lost for hours justplayingit. Not trying to win, not following the story, not looking for (ugh) “progression”. Just mining, exploring, idly drifting through the void. It is a game I don’t want to exhaust because I’m enjoying it too much. I went back in “for a quick dive” twice during this intro.
It doesn’t have Content. It’s not one of those compulsive, manipulative forever games. You could barge efficiently through it, finding probably all its secrets and items as fast as possible. That wouldn’t be wrong, exactly, but it’s missing the point: this is a game to be savoured, not consumed.
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Kodera Software
You’re a ring miner, captaining a chunky ship that’s little more than a glorified bucket, built for one thing: plunging anywhere into the titular rings of Saturn. Deeper dives demand more time and fuel to get back, and are riskier, as friendly miners become rarer than outlaws with secrets and radical ideas, some of whom once called me “collaborator”.
So, you’ll stick to the shallows at first, any time you want an easy ride or to test a new configuration. There are fancier ships and heaps of equipment options, but many are sidegrades. The fundamentals are cracking open asteroids with a mass driver, then thrusting up and catching them in the cargo bay - and spilling them out again if you brake before it closes. Save up and you can microwave or laser (invisible until they intersect a resulting vapour cloud) spacerocks open instead. Retrieval drones and an endearingly wonky manipulator arm can be installed to pull the ores to you, but even these are only aids. This isn’t levelling up, it’s just another option, because they all operate imperfectly. Your tools work with you, not for you.
You might think that sticking mostly with the humble starter ship is me being my usual stubbornflint-axe wielding, never-seen-the-map-in-Skyrimself, but it’s not. The ship that works for you is the best ship. The gear you like the feel of is the best gear. The way you like to mine, or eschew mining for its few side activities, is the best way to mine. Or, uh, eschew.
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Kodera Software
There are secrets out there. Derelict ships, escape pods, pirates to be a space cop at (who can be paid off, some even explain their motives). Your crew analyse ores, repair, and track ever-shifting points of interest, and occasionally turn up a micro-story you can follow in place of a single main plot. There are tensions with the unexplained anarchists, but it’s not sidequests waiting in a list, not lore waiting to be put into your wiki. Rings of Saturn is, overwhelmingly, about the vibe.
Most equipment can be tweaked, partly to take advantage of its physics simulation and cool technical systems, but also to experiment - to customise, not optimise. There are multiple installable HUDs on top of the starter one that boots up on launch like an 80s computer, but is too busy for me. The OCP-209’s parts rotate into position instead, but its circular cargo display and translucent sensor readouts are style over function - gimme that opacity, damn it. Another reflects objects, and wobbles when you spin too hard. The fancy flashy ones are, well, they’re someone’s thing.
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Kodera Software
NPC ships don’t make a sound unless they hit you with something. Crew will exchange vague, private messages with ships you hail (repeating some lines way too often, sadly). One pilot smuggled a cat on board. I salvaged one ship with a set of RA-K44 thrusters and double microwave beams, which proved so powerful it was impossible to mine with because I couldn’t hold the damn thing steady. Despite its realistic physics and the intimidating numbers, so much of Rings is in the feel of a ship. You don’t calculate; you steer. You don’t automate away the basics, you choose the assists you enjoy
