izigame.me

I'll give this a positive review since overall it was fun, and then the real question, is it worth $13 smackeroos? Probably, probably not actually if you weigh opportunity cost and all that.
The new content is everything I've been waiting for to finally make this game more than a half-done Rimworld clone. And no disrespect to indie devs whatever, it felt disappointing overall when one considers it an expansion.
First of all the expansion plays like a mod, and that's not an insult but an observation. This whole thing as I'm sure you've observed adds robots and associated tech to the game. It adds more stories to buildings (up to 4) so you can build lookout and tower posts, or just not have your base become a ridiculous sprawl because microing everything is irritating.
Here are some quick observations because I'm already tired of writing this.
I want to support this dev, the only thing preventing Rimworld from becoming a 5000 hour game for me are the visuals, I'm aware that it's a vapid observation to make but it is what it is.
It plays like a mod. This is both a positive and a negative. It adds a lot of cool stuff like lightsabers, and especially logi droids (like rimworld drone mod exactly) that improve everything about the game. Unfortunately with what they added, the rest of the game has not caught up. First of all this expansion is extremely overpowered. Robots break down into functionally infinite scrap, carbon, and other components that are very rare / late game stuff. Like CPU, AI cores, and more power cells than you could ever need.
And with that being said, it causes a lot of issues. You no longer have to spend lategame making carbon or any components at all really unless you're going hard. But that's not a good thing. First of all, the whole 'invasion' / 'horde night' mechanic (I play on Hard - Jason moon) is predicated on your collective colony wealth (ostensibly - either that or research progression it's hard to say). After your first horde you will be so rich the next one will be absolutely massive and possibly enough to ruin your base, at least the next could. As your wealth expands from picking up what they drop, everything gets harder in turn. The robots you fight are pretty easily resolved with a wall maze (tower defense again) and pulse rifles that stun them like anything else.
But if you can't get them into that spot things go bad quick. I was really happy they added humanoid opponents / a bandit equivalent as fighting infinite bugs is irritating. However, the robots you fight are insanely overpowered. Not difficult to kill, they have low HP (only 50 for the regulars), but they all have laser pikes, laser swords, and guns. Pulse rifles, laser pistols, and 'carbon crossbows' which are new and break down into synthetic cloth and carbon (two rare materials). They will absolutely annihilate you and there's very little opportunity to defend against them if they don't land in the right place / they get a peek over your walls.
It's doable for sure, but the balance is a problem because the robots are very, very capable of destroying your turrets very quickly. The robots YOU can build die instantly and are functionally worthless against the Consortium, and they are too expensive to really justify building. Every time they die, also, you have to manually re-equip them which is a pain in the butt. Even with the new Carbon 2.0 armor your survivors will get absolutely dabbed on by the 40 crossbow wielding machines coming after your anus.
Basically all other tech has fallen behind and isn't totally useful against them. Again, it plays like a mod, but there are lots of mods out there that there are things in that the game really needed first. Naturally heavy mechs, like always, resolve all issues and make the game easy as anything. So it's not impossible, again, I did beat it on my first go around by save scumming.
That we got this, all good changes for the most part minus the balance, instead of a world map, expanded travel functions, or elevated 'tower turrets' that can shoot over walls is a little disappointing. I think once Project X gets updated it'll resolve most of my complaints though.
Anyway, here's a TL;DR
Pros -
-Bots resolve all logi issues so you basically don't need to use your survivors to haul or scrap anything anymore, drones do it all for you at 'max efficiency' which I assume a level 10 skill equivalent. This speeds the whole game up considerably.
-The protagonist, Hope the AI, is cool (works all day no sleep as robots do, which is VERY nice). The story is cool and the aesthetics are great, managing her needs in the scenario wasn't hard at all.
-Bots only need power, no food or needs besides, so managing them is not that bad, although you do need to reequip soldier drones and they are so weak I also don't feel like it justifies their existence. Just build long mazes, etc.
-multiple level structures are so nice and you can finally condense your whole faction into one tower. The AI handles elevation well too, haven't had any problems at all, they even carry around their own ladders so they can get around pathing issues.
Cons
-midgame+ melee is basically worthless now, it's a waste of time despite the new melee weapon. The new crossbow hits really hard and I don't see any point in carrying a melee offhand on any colonist anymore. Once mods get updated (Project X for the portable shield) that might improve.
-Tower defense is still on the menu, but you need more turrets now because in like a 1v2 turrets lose to robots. There are mobile turrets now though which don't do too bad and are easier to manage (since they move and all).
-Still no Blueprint system / easier building tools
-new enemies are a bit too imbalanced, they are very strong which is good, but I also don't like seeing my survivors one tapped at range. And I mean they instantly die. This is good and bad at the same time, I'm not sure how one would fix that given the 3D environment vs. Rimworld.
-It really didn't add all that much if I'm being honest. It's still worth the money to me, but it needs to be said that it didn't add much, just one scenario and a few pieces of tech.
-Survivor combat speed feels even slower now, although this can be fixed via modding. Sometimes you peek a corner and the robots just start blasting, and even with the best armor in the game you will die of bleed. The danger is cool, being able to just have a forcefield compound that couldn't be touched is no longer a thing which I like.
I'd give this an 8/10 in context to the game, an objective improvement but it needs rebalanced and tweaked, and we need more content. I do recommend it though, if you already liked the game you'll like the expansion too.