Have you ever wondered what happens when all the lights go out? What happens if there’s no-one left? What do you do when humanity draws its last breath? The Last Caretaker has the answer, as you start your journey to restart and revive the human race as a robot with a very big job and an even bigger journey ahead.
From developers Channel37, The Last Caretaker is both a calm and serene journey where the gentle waves lap at the side of your ship as you bounce from location to location, or a complete nightmare with hellish enemies and creatures attacking you in the dark with little chance of survival — regardless of which extreme its currently taking, it’s always a fun adventure that keeps you on your toes.
Your journey begins as, quite literally, The Last Caretaker, a robot in a hanger left in the middle of the ocean preparing to set sail and revive humanity from what I can only assume has already been their downfall. Gather materials, destroy enemies, keep yourself both full of vitality and charged to take on the vast world that awaits outside.
As you start to work your way around the hanger you’re delicately shown how everything works with what I think is a pretty comprehensive tutorial on what to do and how to create things. It does give you only the basics as a lot of what waits is a trip of both discovery and learning as you adapt to your environment and attempt to create what you need to survive from everything and anything.
Now, at first (due to the sheer size of the hanger) I assumed I would be setting up a little base of sorts here and maybe coming back and forth. Do not make this mistake. The hours I’ve put into that hanger are distant thoughts now, so anything and everything that you want/need while there… take it, break it down and add it to your ship.
Resources are scarce in this endless ocean with only the odd structure with a possibility of fuel or electricity peeking out from the ocean’s surface, you will have to craft to not only survive but thrive and keep your boat both equipped and well stocked with means to create power systems, materials and some form of defence — whether it be light sources to scare off the small ocean “leech” like creatures, or a firearm for the more nasty residents of the world.
I’m not normally one for resource intensive games, things like Factorio come to mind — where you’re constantly making a number of more optimized outlets and materials — but this is both simplistic enough that I’m still entertained, but complicated enough that you do need to put some thought into what you’re doing.
Some really interesting mechanics are in play here as well, solar panels do follow the sun as it charts its way across the sky. Weather effects, the day/night cycle, if shadows are blocking the panels themselves all contribute to the amount of power you can generate so you really need to think about where is best to place your structures when you do build them.
Light isn’t the only form of power either, I’ve come across a number of different resources such as petrol, diesel, fresh water, salt water and a few other types that can all be harnessed in some way to either benefit or power something leading you to get creative with how you choose to keep yourself, your ship and anything else running.
There is a levelling system and most of your unlocks for building and crafting are locked behind it leading you to gradually discover more as you progress through The Last Caretaker. Experience is not just earned through combat but also by breaking down materials and gathering scraps from the world or bits of foes that have fallen to you.
I have found that at times some of the world events can be quite unrelenting and the output of power at times especially in the early game can be very low, with some early quests having you try and restore stations and a docks with limited resources, all while the day/night cycle ticks over and hordes of the robot leeches swarm you on deck. Thankfully as the sun crests the horizon the leeches explode but if you don’t have a door to hide behind you are in trouble.
There is also a manual save system which is an interesting choice for a game where progression runs so many risks at times. Climbing, fighting, swimming all can be the end of you and that’s assuming you don’t run out of charge!
I have lost around an hour of progress at one point because I zapped what is known as an angel, a flying docile looking robot, but as I angered it, the shockwaves it blasted me apart made me think twice about doing it again. As soon as I died so quickly it dawned on me that it had been a while since I saved and as I went back all of my hard work for the hour had been undone. Be very careful and make sure you save often.
One other thing The Last Caretaker really needs is the ability to move your existing structures. If it does exist I haven’t found a way to do so, but I have made so many wind turbines in awkward places it drives me crazy and the ability to move or rotate them would be brilliant.
The Last Caretaker is truly an experience of discovery and management but with some very slow parts between quests with your ship being quite cumbersome but you get to spend more time admiring the impressive weather and looming threats scattered across the ocean as you ponder on your next decision and if it’ll be your last.
You can find The Last Caretaker on PC, via Steam.
