Surviving Mars: Below and Beyond Review (chefcook90)
This DLC adds an entire new tech tree with some really cool techs - my favorite being the "Prefab Refab" tech that lets you convert ANY building aside from domes and wonders into prefabs so they can be re-deployed elsewhere! No more demolishing buildings - you can just pack them up and reuse them later!
EDIT: Turns out you CAN refab wonders into prefabs! That means you can easily move the Space Elevator around the map to make massive construction projects a breeze :D
Ok, after really sinking my teeth into this DLC, my verdict is that all of the other negative reviews are suffering from a major case of "mad cuz bad." Almost all of the "issues" brought up aren't actual issues at all.
- Missed out on easy Exotic Materials because you ignored the first asteroid? Build Recon Centers to find more asteroids!
- Not enough time to mine asteroids before they leave orbit? Research the Asteroid Capture Breakthrough Tech which permanently removes the time limit on any asteroid you land on (always spawns in the underground and respawns whenever there's a marsquake, so it's impossible to miss permanently)
- Hate having to manually transfer food and building materials between the surface and the underground? There's literally a setting on the Elevator that automates the process. As long as you have shuttles, they'll supply the elevator with all of the supplies needed to keep the underground stocked to your specifications. BY THE WAY - with the Prefab Refab tech, you don't even NEED to send resources into the underground when you can just send down entire buildings!
- Can't transfer power, oxygen, and water between the surface and the underground? Uh, did you make sure your Elevator is plugged into your grid?
- No reason to explore the underground? There's literally free breakthrough tech events and hidden wonders exclusive to the underground. You're also protected from surface disasters if you're doing a challenge run.
- Gamebreaking bugs? Haven't seen any - I'm guessing they all got patched out.
- The Recon Center is "overpowered" because it randomly throws you free research and extra funding? ...Why is this even a complaint?
At its core Surviving Mars has always been a sandbox game, and this DLC makes the sandbox bigger while throwing a hefty amount of new toys into the mix - that's not a bad thing.
EDIT: Ok, I did find ONE game-crashing bug: If you launch two asteroid hoppers from an asteroid at the same time with a single rover on said asteroid, and have them both force-load the rover by hitting "depart now," the game will freeze up because it won't know which hopper to load the rover on to :P