Badiya

Badiya is an open-world survival game set in random procedurally-generated WWI-era deserts.

TL;DR at bottom

Gameplay – Badiya is an interesting take on the survival game genre, by placing you in the desert during WWI. It comes with the basic mechanics of a quest system as well as exploration. The compass on the top of the screen to help you find locations reminds me heavily of Assassin’s Creed: Origins, which I’m sure some inspiration was drawn from. The combat within the game is nice, and the gunplay feels responsive and not too difficult. There are some interesting survival mechanics, like filling up your water pouch at a well and temperature mechanics, along with the usual survival necessities like hunger and thirst.

There are quests in the game that you can accept to clear out a location or deliver some resources to an NPC. It was confusing when I first started the game, because there are no unique names for the locations, only generic identifying names, which can be confusing if you get a quest from one location and the quest details say to bring something to a location with the same name. I didn’t tinker much with the base building features (because I couldn’t get the resources in the time that I played), but it looked well fleshed out and very customizable. It is quite fun to explore the desert and see what you can find. I had no difficulty amassing an abundance of gold, which may need some balancing in future updates.

​The game is still in early access, so it will certainly come with some issues. While playing, I glitched through a wall while trying to climb a ladder. I got stuck underneath a watch tower and I had to restart the game because there was no way out. I had just started playing so I hadn’t saved, but I also didn’t lose much progress since I had just started. Overall, the gameplay is very fun.

8/10

Graphics – The graphics in Badiya are very good. The developers pride themselves on the AAA-quality of graphics and the ability to take advantage of 4K. I didn’t play in 4K, but the graphics are still phenomenal, for being an indie game. The game is quite atmospheric and does a good job of capturing the harsh environment of the desert. In my gameplay, there was some weird issues with the sky off in the distance, and I am not sure what was wrong with it. It wasn’t a particularly game breaking issue, but I still noticed it. Otherwise, the graphics are very nice with few issues with my experience, especially since it is still in early access.

9/10

Music/Audio – The music in Badiya is pretty good. As stressed upon on their store page information, the music adapts to the situations and environments you encounter. It makes the game much more immersive and enjoyable to play. The sound effects are decent, although some of them could use some polishing. For example, the villagers that speak sound like the microphone is in their mouth. It is very noisy and definitely needs some polish. But again, this is in early access still and can still be improved.

7/10

Conclusion – Badiya is a great early access game with lots of potential. The developers are active and are working hard to improve the game to get it closer to a full release. I am very excited to see what the future of this game holds. I had a lot of fun exploring the desert when I played and I could easily see myself playing this game more for fun. The graphics are fantastic and the overall gameplay is very enjoyable.

Overall: 8/10 – Recommended

TL;DR
Pros:
+Great graphics
+Lots of things to discover
+Quest systems
+Base building mechanics
+Good combat system
+Great character customization

Cons:
-Still in early access, unfinished
-Survival game, it might not be for everyone and can get repetitive

Check out my gameplay of Badiya below to get a better idea of the game.