Kerbal Space Program 2, the preview of a small masterpiece that grows ...
Kerbal Space Program 2
Kerbal Space Program is one of the most important video games of recent years. Yet few, too few, unjustly few know him. Before understanding why, and then finally talking about Kerbal Space Program 2 in our preview, it is better to explain what this undisputed relevance is due to.Humble origins
Kerbal Space Program 2: the new engine improves the graphics consistently, we hope it will do the same also for what concerns the most important aspect of all, that is the physics Released in 2011, but on sale only on the official page, and arrived on Steam two years later , Kerbal Space Program is a very special product because it tries and succeeds in combining play and learning. Stop there, we are not talking about an edutaiment for the little ones, this is not Piccolo Pippo Cub Scout, much less a Brain Training stuff of the evil Doctor Kawashima. Kerbal Space Program is really fun, it does not serve to keep the memory trained and it does not insist on being pedagogically relevant at any cost, but for the most curious who are usually also the most intelligent, it opens doors that give access to what could become a unstoppable passion, concepts that are difficult to come across if you do not have a specific preparation.An example? Before playing Kerbal, I knew nothing of apogee and perigee, two orbital parameters essential to navigate and operate in space, and consequently essential elements to enter the second phase of this game. But of course there is much more to learn and it is undoubtedly useful to retrace what happened with the different space programs that in reality, as you well know, took us to Mars. Although at the moment only through remotely operated rovers.
Beyond the sky above ...
Kerbal Space Program 2: there is something magical about this game, and after so much effort to land for the first time on a planet other than that of Kerbal gives emotions that have no equal in the world of video games. But usually it is precisely at this moment that you remember not having the slightest idea how to go back ... But how did we get so far? Thanks to so many courageous people on the verge of unconsciousness, people who often gave their lives just to allow us to take an extra step towards the stars. Then thanks to the enlightened brains who have imagined all this, convincing politics to invest a lot of money on it, often also for purely propaganda reasons. Net of the political implications, Kerbal Space Program tries to simulate all this, replacing humans with small kerbal, aliens who live in a solar system very similar to ours.The game is essentially composed of two different editors that allow you to build in total freedom and based on the unlocked technologies rockets, aircraft, satellites and rovers with which to explore space and different planets. To guide the trajectories and reactions of our inventions we find a physics that, although simplified, knows how to replicate within this small software what we would see in reality. There are missions, if you choose the career mode, and scientific advances that allow you to use more and more advanced components, even if this is not enough on its own, but must first be understood and used in the right way and context.
Impossible? No, challenging
Kerbal Space Program 2: the new galaxy includes many new planets and, for the first time in kerbal history, cute aliens will even be able to explore new systems Kerbal Space Program is not an easy game, yet it is not never really punitive. Kerbal is a continuous test and retry, if something goes wrong then you can always go back to the hangar with a click, to change propulsion, balance the weights, touch up the aerodynamics; in some cases, however, it is better to keep the results and accept the loss of a spacecraft, or even worse of one of the astronauts at our disposal.Progress in the game goes hand in hand with the results achieved, and a lot depends on our intuitions if not our stubbornness. Like us in the 1950s, kerbal aliens also start practically from scratch and only after several launches into the atmosphere, simple collections of high-altitude data and maps of the planet, experimenting with the most rudimentary guidance systems, will they be able to start thinking a little. 'bigger, pushing further and further.
But how far can you get? Starting from very simple rockets from antiquated engines, Kerbal Space Program allows you to create extremely complex spacecraft, able to contain articulated mechanical arms and means of transport in their holds. But to feel fulfilled it is not necessary to achieve such results: many players are destined to spend hundreds of hours just to reach the so-called Mun, the Moon of the Kerbal, others will never get there, while only the most rigorous will be able to discover how deep the l universe of the game.
ESA AND NASA
Kerbal Space Program 2: This sequel will offer new challenges based on emerging gameplay and pre-established missions. Even in the company of other players, Kerbal Space Program is a masterpiece of independent development, which has attracted the attention of the international scientific community, allowing it several important partnerships such as that with NASA and ESA, but not only. However, it has a limitation common to all new generation simulators that cannot count on the support and know-how of a large publisher: no matter how hard it tries, it is not friendly enough in the interface, in the explanations, not even in the graphics that for what well done, it certainly cannot compete with other more famous games. But it is above all its being so not very user friendly the biggest worry of a game that would like to ignite the passion for space travel in the widest possible audience. And this is where Take 2 and the new Kerbal Space Program 2 come into play, expected for PC and console in 2022 (there are a lot of two, here!).An untouchable cult
Kerbal Space Program 2: space colonies will be an essential step to extend explorable space. Furthermore, their presence will allow automatisms designed to eliminate or almost the repetition of the same missions. Kerbal Space Program 2 is a sequel in all respects, but it will not replace the progenitor who has now earned the status of an untouchable cult, to which hundreds of fundamental mods are dedicated. The first game will continue to be managed entirely by Squad, the team that created it, and which in recent months is supporting the guys from the Private Division in the development of this new product to make sure that it is faithful and up to the prequel.These are not small details: it means that Kerbal 2 will not be one of those sequels built around a famous title, but totally emptied of the original spirit, the classic empty body purchased for gold by the great publisher . On the contrary, the new Kerbal will be able to do what most independent masterpieces can only dream of: remaining himself, improving right where these games are usually lacking. In a nutshell, Kerbal Space Program will be able to aspire to finally be a product for everyone, with a friendly interface, an in-depth tutorial and a graphic engine that does not scream its poverty from the rooftops.
One friendly galaxy
Kerbal Space Program 2: one small step for a kerbal, one big step for human ... kerbality? The Private Division's interest in Kerbal arises precisely from the desire to enhance a product that already as it is managed to sell over four million copies. But Kerbal Space Program 2 will not be just a copy with a richer budget of the previous game / simulator, as it also wants to expand the gameplay mechanics and enlarge the explorable universe. For the first time, the brave kerbals will be able to go far beyond their own solar system, which will already include new planets, satellites, gas giants, binary bodies and many other surprises.In addition, the space colonies will play a much more important role than before, with the possibility of building refineries and factories "outside the world", or even real orbital yards with which to assemble the largest spaceships, advanced and complex. The experience of the new development team is setting up much more interesting and peculiar challenges than can be found in the first Kerbal Space Program, also to make sure to give unique characteristics to each mission, to each celestial body that we will try to reach and explore. In addition, this new game can also be played in company, working side by side with friends.
Hand in hand
Kerbal Space Progra 2: the new game will introduce totally new technologies, much more modern, allowing you to build huge spaceships directly in space. As we have already anticipated, a lot of attention has been paid to the new tutorials, often accompanied by animated sequences that will try to describe the most difficult concepts using simple and fun language. The first Kerbal practically did not have any kind of tutorial if not in the very last years of life, but those finally implemented in the game are neither captivating enough nor numerically sufficient to attract the attention of the casual player. In short, what Private Division is trying to do is to transform a masterpiece for a few into a masterpiece for everyone.If they succeed in the enterprise we will see some good ones, also because a title like this, finally produced with a worthy budget, can cause disasters among the streamers. Recall that after the great binge of action games of the last decade, the public's tastes are also shifting to all those projects, different from the usual, that have made the history of video games in the past and that thanks to independent developers have been kept alive in the long period of falling out of love that fortunately seems we are leaving behind.
Kerbal Space Program 2 will arrive in the spring of 2022 on PC and, for the first time at the same time, also on consoles (PS4 and Xbox One , such as PS5 and Xbox Series XS). Good news also for the first game that will debut soon in a renewed version on the Sony and Microsoft nextgen, and will soon receive its latest update entitled "On Final Approach".
