Stranded: Alien Dawn Robots and Guardians DLC review

Developed by Haemimont Games and published by Frontier Foundry, Stranded: Alien Dawn is a single-player survival/simulation game that continues to evolve. After enjoying the game and covering numerous developments, the first DLC - Robots and Guardians is finally here. It adds a plethora of things to the base game, namely robots.

This DLC is the culmination of everything I've come to love about the game and its ability to have multiple dynamic layers. As such, Stranded: Alien Dawn Robots and Guardians DLC builds upon the foundation and gives you more ways to colonize and conquer new frontiers.

Stranded: Alien Dawn Robots and Guardians DLC - Hope is all we have

Unlike the previous updates and scenarios, namely "Sow And Sell" and the Trading and Military Outpost scenarios, this one is fully fleshed out DLC. The storyline is as simple as it gets - a group of survivors liberate 'Hope,' which happens to be an android.

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While this android is intelligent, it is not yet sentient, so its skills are limited. As the player, it's your job to babysit this android until it becomes a productive member of society. If you're new to the game, I would not recommend you dive into this DLC without at least a few hours spent in the base game.

Coming back to ‘Hope,’ given that it was 'liberated' without permission, as you may have guessed by now, you are being hunted. From time to time, Hunter Robots will make landfall to try and recover their property. Thankfully, new means of defense come with the Stranded: Alien Dawn Robots and Guardians DLC.

Hope taking a stroll next to the mellow patch (Image via Frontier Foundry/Stranded: Alien Dawn)

As the player, you are not left at the mercy of mechs. You can build powerful weapons and fixed defenses to fight back the waves of robots. Once defeated, you can even salvage their parts to use elsewhere—truly an immersive survival experience.

There are even Service Bots, Battles Drones, Mobile Turrets, Laser Swords, and even Surgical Automation to keep your survivors alive. While this may seem overkill, you will need them to stay alive with the advancement of time.

For those focusing on building, there are new options available as well. This includes multistory facilities with a balcony, various roof shapes, ladders, and even elevators. But enough about that, it's time to talk about my experience in Stranded: Alien Dawn Robots and Guardians DLC.

First impressions and gameplay

Hunter Robots making landfall (Image via Frontier Foundry/Stranded: Alien Dawn)

The opening cinematic was rather dramatic. A shuttle carrying a bunch of survivors and 'Hope' is being pursued by hostile gunships. Then, an EMP is triggered in a brilliant tactical maneuver, the shuttle makes landfalls, and my playthrough begins.

Given that I've had plenty of time to learn the base game, it didn't take long to start observing plants/resources and get to work on building a settlement. Unfortunately for me, 'Hope' is not the most useful survivor. The android cannot wield a weapon and is incapable of many of the tasks that other survivors can do. That's just the start of the many woes.

Throughout my playthrough, I had to ensure a steady supply of food for my survivors and a supply of Silica Energel for my android. Although Liquid Fuel does do the job, it can be put to better use elsewhere. However, I had a lot of fun helping 'Hope' develop and learn new skills, bringing me to the next part of my playthrough.

One small step for Android-kind (Image via Frontier Foundry/Stranded: Alien Dawn)

Over time, I would get random pop-ups notifying me of my android's development. At times, I could choose new skills or improve an existing one. This process is slow and takes time, but it is worthwhile as 'Hope' improves at specific tasks. Probably, the best thing about having an android is that it didn't need to sleep - this allowed me to get extra work done.

Moving on from 'Hope,' I found Battle Drones and Defense Bots very useful when fighting off the enemy. Although nothing can replace the devastating impact of the Railgun Sniper, they add a lot of firepower to the mix. They are helpful when defending and clearing out Nests.

Moving on from weapons and bots, Surgical Automation is a life-saver in the truest sense. Instead of waiting for survivors to heal each other, this bed gets the job done. Although it is a late-game item, getting it as soon as possible is brilliant.

Hope taking a midnight stroll (Image via Frontier Foundry/Stranded: Alien Dawn)

Another addition to the game comes in the form of new building features. I'm yet to utilize this to the fullest, but I did enjoy being able to build balconies. They are useful as vantage points in an instant and can substitute towers if needed. However, my adventure in the Stranded: Alien Dawn Robots and Guardians DLC was cut short.

I eventually ran out of food for 'Hope,' and she slowly faded into the endless void. My Guardians scenario was cut short, but I did have a lot of fun while things lasted. As is always the case with micromanagement, I ignored my Liquid Fuel and Silica reserves. As such, I could not create Silica Energel and had to call it quits.

Performance and Sound

I played Stranded: Alien Dawn Robots and Guardians DLC on a system with the following configuration:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
GPU: RTX 3070 8GB
RAM: 32 GB

After having played multiple builds of the game over the past few months, this version was by far the steadiest yet. Load Times have become nominal, and there are no performance issues. The sounds and animations for everything currently in-game work perfectly as well. As such, the Stranded: Alien Dawn Robots and Guardians DLC is perfect.

In conclusion

Did I enjoy Stranded: Alien Dawn Robots and Guardians DLC? Absolutely, but I wish there was more added into the resource pool or more to do aside from fighting off robots and giving ‘Hope’ a bright future. Nevertheless, the DLC builds up the base game, and for those who have been playing for some time - this is a treat in itself.

The ability to create and command an automaton army is nothing short of brilliant. While upkeep will bleed you dry in the long run, it's not impossible to sustain things with a bit of micromanagement.

Hunter Robots on the prowl (Image via Frontier Foundry/Stranded: Alien Dawn)

I really had fun fighting off the waves of robots that came by my settlement, but more so, it was a new experience having an army of androids at my disposal. That being said, I wish there were more new things to do.

Other than that, the new technologies and items at my disposal were nifty. I loved the fact that houses can be multistory now. It adds a lot of dynamic to the game and gives it a feeling of realism.

On that note, while my adventure with 'Hope' ended on a bad note, I do intend to start over and get things right the second time around. I also look forward to what else the developers have in mind for Stranded: Alien Dawn moving forward.