Colonies Online

About Colonies Online

Colonies Online is a multiplayer role playing shooter game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by Iron Bit and was released on May 1, 2014. It received negative reviews from players.

Colonies Online is an open MMO-sandbox, set in the distant future on the far reaches of space. Players unite as colonists to explore vast territories of far-out planets, fight with alien monsters and search for rare resources to build their new home in the outland.

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Reviews

20%Audience ScoreBased on 160 reviews

gameplay6 positive mentions

grinding12 negative mentions

Has a unique and ambitious concept combining top-down shooter, MMO, and sandbox survival elements.
Base building system is solid and allows for creative construction, supporting turrets, shields, and defensive structures.
Gameplay can be fun and rewarding when playing with friends or in groups, especially the survival, grinding, and PvP aspects.

The game has been abandoned by the developers for several years with no updates, bugs, or support, rendering it effectively dead.
Extremely grind-heavy gameplay with minimal content, repetitive missions, poor progression, and lack of crafting system.
Poor user interface, many technical issues including severe lag, crashes, broken tutorials, and buggy combat mechanics.

gameplay
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38% positive mentions, 43% neutral mentions, 19% negative mentions
The gameplay is described as initially promising and fun, with some enjoyable mechanics and freedom, but it suffers from poor explanations, repetitive and grind-heavy elements, and outdated or basic combat mechanics. Lack of updates and pay-to-win aspects detract from the experience, though some players appreciate the simple design and find ways to master the game despite its flaws.
- “Despite there being not much to do at the moment, I just can't play anything else. A simple design, with freedom, beats complex advanced system crashing graphics with hand-holding gameplay every single time.”
- “Surprisingly fun with some great mechanics.”
- “Easy and enjoyable gameplay.”
- “They had a good idea going into this, but it got abandoned at some point... currently ~two years of no updates and a pay-to-win gameplay going... yeah, don't get it.”
- “Very repetitive gameplay, and it's still lacking a lot of early-game guidance.”
- “- severe grind heavy gameplay combined with the extremely high cost for items.”
story
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23% positive mentions, 54% neutral mentions, 23% negative mentions
The game's story and quest system are currently underdeveloped, with missions serving mainly as basic tutorials rather than offering a compelling narrative or diverse objectives. Players find the storyline incomplete and the quests difficult to navigate, highlighting the need for significant improvements and content expansion in future updates.
- “Some fine-tuning regarding the quest system could also go a long way in the next iteration.”
- “Quests are straightforward, though it can be difficult to understand your objective location-wise.”
- “The quests generally serve more as a tutorial as you play the game, giving you tips on occasion, rather than having any real quest purposes.”
- “- incomplete storyline and general direction”
- “- missions diversity is low, only a few available right now, probably the last thing on the devs' minds until the game is fleshed out more”
- “Probably tops less than 10 quests are in game if even that.”
grinding
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions
Grinding in the game dominates the experience, with most progress relying on repetitive farming of mobs and loot drops, which many find monotonous and lacking depth. While gear acquisition and upgrades are manageable through grinding, the absence of a robust crafting system and meaningful gameplay features results in a grind-heavy, somewhat unpolished early access experience. Some players enjoy the PvP and farming aspects, but overall, grinding feels tedious and could benefit from more engaging mechanics and variety.
- “They should not charge for this game, as it is very early access and has nothing but grinding mobs; the crafting system is non-existent, the skill trees are messed up, item customization is poor, and the open world is basically instances of a world with a few bosses.”
- “Poor loading times, basic issues like accidentally selling something you just purchased force hours of repeated grinding for a few slabs of meat. Drops are poor, lacking a magical drop system like Diablo 3, making the grinding feel primitive and tedious.”
- “The only way to earn money seems to be killing bugs, selling their carcasses, and grinding endlessly. This highlights a major problem: the lack of features beyond monotonous grinding.”
graphics
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33% positive mentions, 34% neutral mentions, 33% negative mentions
The graphics are generally considered decent and visually pleasing with varied environments, but the game lacks any graphical settings or customization options, limiting user control. Some players find the visuals somewhat basic or unclear on larger screens, and overall, the absence of adjustable graphics detracts from the experience.
- “Looks pretty good so far graphics wise.”
- “Game is decently pretty to look at with many different environments, graphics are not too shabby either, though they could use some work.”
- “Despite there being not much to do at the moment, I just can't play anything else, a simple design with freedom beats complex advanced system crashing graphics with hand holding gameplay every single time.”
- “Game has no option to change anything (no graphic option, no sound option, no key bind, etc.); basically the menu has only two options: resume and quit.”
- “I hope you don't try to be so different from other online RPGs. You also need to work on window graphics; I can barely make out anything on my 24-inch PC flatscreen, so I can't imagine a smaller screen. I already feel too lost in the game.”
- “Zero ability to adjust any graphical options at all, and I couldn't find any to adjust in the files.”
stability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions
The game currently suffers from significant stability issues, including frequent bugs, glitches, frame skipping, and server lag, which impact gameplay. However, these problems are expected due to its early alpha/early access stage, with potential for improvement over time.
- “The game is a buggy mess as it is still in early access.”
- “Very buggy, moving and then re-appearing where you just come from.”
- “Buggy combat, frame skipping, and noticeable server lag.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 100% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The game’s replayability is enhanced by ongoing updates and improvements, making early access titles more playable and engaging. However, some aspects like safe area indicators could be clearer to improve the overall experience.
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The game's humor is highlighted by its high-energy and enjoyable group play experience, though some players note a contrast between amusing interactions and disruptive behaviors from early griefers. Overall, humor adds a lively and engaging element to the gameplay.
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions
The game's monetization is heavily criticized as a blatant cash grab, with users feeling abandoned by developers and perceiving little ongoing support.
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 100% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The game requires improved optimization to run more smoothly, as current performance issues affect the overall experience. Enhanced system performance is needed alongside better tutorials and quest design.