Floodland review: A fresh take on post-apocalyptic sim that leaves room for more

Floodland released in the middle of November (Image via Vile Monarch)
Floodland released in the middle of November (Image via Vile Monarch)

Floodland is an ambitious release in a genre that has become a favorite of mine in recent years. While I have never been much of a city-builder enthusiast to begin with, the scenario of an apocalypse is a different matter altogether. It's hard to pinpoint where my love started, but I blame Frostpunk for getting me hooked onto such games.

In many ways, Floodland reminds me of certain similarities despite a gap of more than five years between the two. Make no mistake - the game feels fresh and very different from the existing titles in the market.

While the inspiration is evident, the core gameplay has enough uniqueness to keep me engaged. Yet, certain areas left me hoping for more from the developers. These may not be poor in an overall sense, but they could have been executed differently.


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Floodland feels like a fresh take on a saturated genre, but it could easily have been much more

The context and backdrop of Floodland is pretty simple - climate change has wreaked havoc and much of the land as we know it is gone. Fortunately, or unfortunately, climate change has taken away much of the population and civilization as we know it is lost.

Here's where I went in, taking charge of one of the many clans available in the game. I played the role of re-establishing a society to the best of my abilities. This involved rescuing survivors and finding them a home to stay in and a place to work.

While old civilizations may have changed, the humans didn't. Very soon, advancements and job assignments weren't the only things that I was controlling. There was never a single decision that was well-accepted by my society.

Ultimately, I had a lot of fun maintaining peace and balance, and Floodland offered me the exact experience I wanted. Yet, I couldn't help but feel the need for more after the hours I put into the game.


Gameplay

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As with many games in the genre, Floodland doesn't have a strong story to tell. Yes, you get an introductory cutscene and a prologue to integrate yourself into the system. But calling it a campaign or story seems farfetched, and I am okay with it. The main USP of such games is the limitless potential they provide with their sandbox-based approach.

I loved what the developers have done with the game's exploration system in some areas. One of the essential things you must do is pick an area, and a portion of your workers will be dispatched to it. Discovering new places is the single most crucial task you will have to do.

After a new area gets discovered, you will have to use the resources that are available in it. I had to remember that discovery requires food and water, but the rewards are always worth it. Aside from more food and water in return, there will always be more resources. Some areas even contain survivors, huts, and more that can add much more value than mere resources.

Floodland gets the core survival loop well and keeps it simplistic. The issue for me was that it was overly simplistic. Yes, there are multiple resources that I have to keep in mind, but rubbish is the single most crucial one. I never saw a significant shortage, which kept my makeshift society running.


Early-game worries

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Ironically, I call the resource-gathering part of Floodland simple, but it's anything but that when someone starts a new save. The resources are limited in nature, and players will have to progress in a linear fashion. More flexibility in development choices will be more than welcome.

The game has done away with the typical path system, a staple of games like Frostpunk. It makes things simple in one way, but on the other, it can make them look very cluttered.The food and water resources at the beginning should be more, and the types of food should be more varied. Yes, I do understand that the world is lost, and this is after a major apocalypse.

However, I refuse to believe that I will live solely on berries, for starters, and there won't be multiple choices available to a post-apocalyptic human. Much of these issues got resolved as I moved more profoundly in my save, and the added complexity and challenge felt welcome.

A bland beginning, however, can create poor impressions in the minds of veterans who have played similar games in the past.


Presentation, sound, and graphics

Floodland's tech tree is presented in a wonderful way (Image via Floodland)
Floodland's tech tree is presented in a wonderful way (Image via Floodland)

For an indie game, Floodland's UI is surprisingly polished and defies the problems in other areas. While the sound is okay, the UI shines through and is an integral part of the title. I often had to spend most of my time in the tech tree, or tech circle in this case. A sub-optimal UI could have made things much more complex, so kudos to the developers for doing a great job.

The overall presentation and art style followed by Floodland feels fresh in specific ways, but it's let down by poor optimization. Despite having a 75 Hz refresh rate on my monitor and an RTX 3060 GPU, I never got over 50-55 FPS, irrespective of how I ran the game.

This is something that the developers will improve with future patches. Graphics might not be integral to such games, but playing an adequately optimized release never hurts.


In conclusion

Floodland reminds me that humans won't change even when the world around them will. I had to pay as much attention to the laws and whims of my makeshift society as I had to focus on ensuring their survival. The ability to coordinate the needs of the different clans gave a unique experience as far as the genre is concerned.

Unfortunately, optimization feels subpar even as I type, which ruins my experience. Moreover, I need to catch up on the complexity that I would've liked to find in the game. Don't get me wrong, Floodland is an excellent survival-cum-city-builder that hits several tick boxes. Yet, it has a long way to go to become a memorable name.

The early signs are positive, but developers must be proactive in today's times to satisfy the players and keep them engaged.


Floodland

Detailed scorecard (Image via Sportskeeda)
Detailed scorecard (Image via Sportskeeda)

Reviewed On: PC (Review code provided by Vile Monarch Studios)

Platform: Windows

Publisher: Ravenscourt

Developer: Vile Monarch Studios

Release Date: November 15, 2022

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Edited by Abu Amjad Khan
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