The impact of the escape pod was unexpectedly violent. Sparks danced through the air, arching and flitting across every surface; crimson light thrummed overhead and basking the small enclosure in an eerie glow. A groan parts your lips, taking a moment to gain your bearings before un-clipping your harness and pulling yourself from the seat. Steam hissed from the doors control panel: The impact damaged just about every internal system onboard, not like you’d be in need of them much longer. This was a one way trip. Left with no other choice, you pull the energy jettison latch, the doors ruptured outward with an unceremonious BANG, clambering on the exterior metal floor before you.

This place… is dead. Looking across the horizon, you cant help put feel a small sense of remorse and disdain. Half crumbled towers, skyscrapers and other buildings towering above, their bases vanishing amidst a haze of green Dust, a toxic layer of corrosive gas that cloaked the entirety of the planets surface. The creak and squeal of the metal giants battered by the wind was near deafening. All that was soon forgotten as you slump forward, a suffocating cough wracking your body. You were sent here to find the pathogens vital to your survival- to the survival of the whole human race. But the clock is ticking... your symptoms are only getting worse. Catching your breath, you stand, feet planted with renewed determination. There's hope yet- and no time like the present. 

Welcome to what's left....

Forever Skies is and open world base-building survival craft developed and published by Far From Home Studio. After crash landing in your escape pod, gain your bearings, gain altitude, and take flight as you customize your very own mobile base: An Airship. Taking the Base Building genre to new heights (pun intended), manage the size, shape and kit for your ship. Everything you need is at your fingertips, as your base simply moves with you location to location. While independent exploration is still mandatory, reprieve is only as far away from you as your ship is. Survival elements are present, but not suffocating, and never overshadow the real treat of delving deep into the beautiful atmospherically dense narrative Forever Skies provides.

Forever Skies is beautiful and eerie in a way I haven't seen done in other similar titles.

Graphically, Forever Skies is absolutely gorgeous. While other titles may use dark depths to obscure the unknown, you're left to explore a vast horizon, Dust swirling mercilessly below you. Neon greens, blues, and vibrant reds really are eye-catching, giving a new take on the typical genre approach. That is not to say there isn't a tradeoff: Presently, I wouldn't say optimization is ideal, and while stunning, the more you see, the heavier the load becomes. Already limited to being optimized at 1920 x 1080, I really didn't get a chance to take full advantage of my monitor, though I imagine the toll on my system would have made it less than enjoyable. Higher end setups will absolutely be able to enjoy every stunning detail of the world, while more mid range systems may need to turn down some of the less vital settings. Even after modifying the setting, the world of Forever Skies is stunning, gritty and will be any post-apocalypse fans dream. That said, when it comes to structures visible above the Dust, players will likely note some unceremoniously bad pop-in (of wildly large structures), and will quickly notices a lack of variance of some of the most common Points of Interest. There's absolutely some room from improvement, but it's far from the worst thing that I've seen.

Some structures are an absolute visual treat- the most stand out being story related POIs.

Building is simple and straightforward, offering quite a large variety of customization. Your only real limits are weight capacity, and resources. Through exploration and data pads, you will find a whole slew of tools and decorations to craft, allowing you to make your Home in the Sky a functional and welcoming place. There are fun little novelty items you can find scattered throughout the world (my own personal one being a plush Capybara) you can use to add a bit more flair to your space, and it really just adds a little something special to the otherwise drab floors and walls (which are also able to be upgrades with one click, not needing to deconstruct and reconstruct- a wonder quality of life addition). Controls for crafting are absolutely standard, and while I wish there was a more through rotational ability, you can usually position yourself in a way where you can "get it where you'd like it with a little fandangling".  Not only will you need to make your space within the ship functional, but the space outside of it. Add engines and turbines to impact how fast you can go, as well as your altitude. Keep in mind, you will need to keep those engines fueled! Luckily, outside of rare materials, most core materials are, quite literally, at your fingertips, making sure you're never really in a position to be stranded.

Customization is absolutely endless, as long as you have the space, materials and weight capacity. 

One thing that potentially feels like an elephant in the room, is how similar Forever Skies feels to Subnautica.  Some may view this a a pro, and others a con. While Subnautica clearly revolves around watery depths, this game is the exact opposite. So, how is it they manage to feel so similar, you may ask? From the female voice that narrates most of you alerts, to how building functions, you will very quickly find yourself in a haze of déjà vu. Vastly different, but wildly the same in some respect, players will most likely find either a sense of comfort in the comparison, or perhaps a sense of mild frustration. Generally I found myself feeling unbothered, as Forever Skies has it's own direction-though some of the striking similarities are rather hard to ignore. Overall, I think it holds it's own, with the ability to build your own airship really being a huge differentiating factors that most players will absolutely love.

Even the Flora can be....aggressive.

Overall, Forever Skies is a welcome addition the the Open-World Survival Craft genre, bringing a fairly familiar yet fresh spin to the table. It's easy to get lost amongst the skies, and deep within the layers of Dust, with beautiful graphics and stunning visuals. Hopefully with time, optimization will be improved, but for it's current state, it's still overwhelmingly enjoyable. Both players familiar with the genre, and newcomers alike will most likely fall in love with this beautiful introductory title by Far From Home Studios, as Forever Skies has an overwhelmingly intriguing story that shows a huge passion by the team. This is an absolute must for players loving base customization, progressional problem solving, and grungy post apocalyptic sci-fi settings.

Forever Skies is available in Early Access on the Steam Marketplace.