Terra Nil PC Preview

If the recent pandemic told us something as a species is that sometimes Earth needs a break from us. Back in 2020, when the whole planet stood still during quarantine, Earth began to heal and nature reclaimed some space, from turquoise beaches to wildlife roaming freely in city streets. That is precisely the idea behind Terra Nil, a game that can only be described as a reverse city-builder in which our main objective is to transform barren wastelands into thriving ecosystems full of life and without human intervention. It is time to give Mother Nature something back.

 

The primes all by itself is disruptive and genre-bending, as it poses the idea not to build and develop a city but instead turn a patch of wasteland and bring it back to life. In this scenario we will not be turning grassy areas into zoos, theme parks, or cities; instead, we want nature to take over once we are done. All of our efforts and resources will be returned to nature and, once we are done, we will need to recycle every single one of our buildings to let the nature be, without any further interference. That might be a rather simplistic goal on paper, but it might just be the first glimpse into a future that will stray further away from fiction with each passing year.

According to Devolver Digital, the studio behind Terra Nil, “(the game) presents players with a task of global environmental rejuvenation. The open-ended strategy progresses through multiple stages of restoration, including cultivating biodiversity, fixing the climate, and even recycling the buildings players used to get there. Traverse the planet, restoring different geographical regions, each with their unique challenges, flora, and fauna.”

After you receive your patch of wasteland, the first thing you need to do is to create sustainable sources of energy, such as wind turbines, which will help you power your buildings and different technologies needed to procure a steady income of clean water and nutrients to the soil. Once waters run and the scenery turns green, animals will start to populate the area and, by doing so, the ecosystem will be complete and ready to work on its own. It is a process of terraforming the place but instead of trying to colonize Mars, we are trying to restore our home planet. One of the highlights of this is that you're always going to start on a randomly generated wasteland every time you start a new game. This gives a sense of freshness and requires a new set of planning before proceeding towards building the green city.

 

The experience feels intimate and a bit introspective, and this especially true thanks to the superb soundtrack accompanying the game. The instrumentation deep and relaxing, enough to make you forget about your worries and focus on your task at hand. But it also manages to transmit a sense of melancholy, a bittersweet sentiment that you will probably experience along the way several times. For example, the first time you need to scorch the earth for trees to grow or the first time your land, once a barren wasteland devoid of all life, is visited by an animal, like a bear. Or, in the end, when your job is done, and you are tasked with destroying all evidence humans once interfered with.

Terra Nil is just the game we need for the times we live in and, a must-play for any fan of the city building/tycoon genre. The art design is colorful and beautiful, as it truly encapsulates that sense of wonder and satisfaction once a piece of land stops being brown and starts being green. On the other hand, the animations are very fluid and fun to watch. And while it might not be the best-looking game in the genre it does accomplish to create an atmosphere and that is all that matters in this case.

 

Terra Nil is currently in development and its release date is yet to be disclosed but you can play the free demo via Steam starting June 16th.

 

Sarwar Ron, NoobFeed
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