“You are a part of this place,” refugee spacefarer Peake tells you early in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Citizen Sleeper’s third and final DLC, Purge. And, for the first time, I feel it. My Sleeper has always felt like an interloper, an external force trying its best to fix The Eye for the ღpeople I care about. But now that Peake, who has been here for less time than I, points out that I’m a part of this ecosystem, I realise they’re right.
I am doing more than just surviving. I sow seeds, harvest mushrooms, go to my rౠegular noodle bar, frequent a workshop that synthesises the vital stabiliser that keeps my frail body intact, buy scrap from passing ships, feed the cat outside one of my bedrooms. One of my bedrooms. I have places to sleep across The Eye, depending on where I’m needed the next day. It&🦄rsquo;s a far cry from the abandoned shipping container I repurposed when I first fled to this space station.
In the second DLC, Refuge, I felt like this comfort was 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:antithetical to the core game🌌play loop, and killed any sense of urgency. However, Purge immediately gives it narrative importance. A few cycles later, and everyone needs your help. Despite the fact you’ve gotten comfortable on The Eye, you still only have a maximum of five action💦 dice to work with, and a host of friends in dire need.
Purge imm🧸ediately raises the stakes. All of your allies call for aid at once, and you feel overwhelmed. A big, red timer signals how many cycles you have to make as many preparations as possible, and it’s visible nearly everywhere you go. It’s at the ꧙refugee flotilla, it’s hovering over your bed as you go to sleep each night. It’s inescapable, as is your fate.
The omnipresent timer makes your decisions feel weightier and therefore your dice matter more. I spent longer thinking about where to spend my actions – who do I prioritise? – than at any other point in the game. I also cared for my Sleeper’s body more. I’d previously let it grow perilously close to falling apart before taking another stabilising pill, but now I needed the𝐆 dice. Having one fewer action a turn could be the diffe𓆏rence between saving someone’s life and condemning them to their fate, and that’s a risk I was unwilling to take.
The simple addition of a hard timer to Purge makes you interact with Citizen Sleeper’s systems like it’s your first cycle on The Eye again, and you’re fighting to stay alive. Except this time, you&🧔rsquo;re fighting so others will stay alive. Purge’s cast featur🔴es a few returning faces, and many hard goodbyes. Your choices really matter here, this is a final ending to the game, but there will be goodbyes whichever path you choose.
“Bad choices often make things more interesting,” developer Gareth Damian Martin told me 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:w🌼hen I interviewed them earlier th🌳is week. Purge is made up entirely of bad choices. No decision is without consequence, and none should be taken lightly. Even if you didn’t replay any of the main game to find the different endingsꦐ, you will want to here. Every decision is lined with lingering regret. What if I’d done 🌱that differently? What if I hadn’t helped them first? What if, what if.
After 𝓰Citizen Sleeper’s DLC lost its way a little in the second instalment, Jump Oꦯver The Age brings it back in the third. Mechanics and systems are back at the forefront, while Purge hits some of the game’s most impactful narrative beats yet. Your decisions have gravitas, the twists are unexpected but earned, and, as ever, everything in this alien universe has something to say about the present day. Purge is the perfect ending to the Citizen Sleeper story, whichever one you choose.