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Surreal space game The Alters shows off body doubles in first gameplay

2024's Xbox Partner Preview revealed many goodies, but the wacky new space game The Alter takes the cake with its first gameplay trailer.

A Jan Alter in The Alters' gameplay trailer

March 6’s Xbox Partner Preview delivered release dates, announcements, and gameplay trailers for many exciting titles, but The Alters, a science-fiction survival game set in space drew focus with its gameplay reveal.

11 Bit Studios showed off the emotional premise, gorgeous graphics, and the emphasis The Alters puts on players’ choices. In this space game, strategy is as much about resources as it is about tempering your duplicates’ frustrations and tending to their needs to allow them to thrive. The isolated setting with nobody but yourself for company lends itself to a slightly creepy feeling, and we bet not all duplicates will be friendly.

You play as Jan Dolski, an explorer who crash lands on a dangerous planet. Alone on a space station that requires a full crew to function, his only respite is Rapidium: a rare substance that allows him to create duplicate versions of himself based on choices he’s made in the past. His fate and mission depend on harnessing the strange power of Rapidium and successfully collaborating with his alternate selves. Is this reminding anyone else of the Sam Rockwell movie, Moon?

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You’ll also team up with Jan’s Alters to mine for resources and craft items. Players will have to keep in mind that every Alter has its unique personality, thoughts, and feelings. In the gameplay trailer, we see their traits floating around Alters’ heads when examining them, and we imagine navigating their emotions and choosing outcomes will feel a little like Life is Strange’s dilemmas.

The Alters is targeting a release later in 2024 on PC, Xbox consoles, and PlayStation 5. It’ll also be on both PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass at launch!

Keep up to date with releases with our list of exciting new PC games, or check out the best survival games The Alters will be competing against.

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