Notrium

About

Notrium is a survival game set on an alien planet where players must scavenge for food, supplies, and equipment to survive harsh environments and dangerous alien creatures. With four playable characters, each with unique abilities, players can choose their strategy to explore, fight, or sneak past enemies, working towards one of six possible endings. Originating in 2003, Notrium inspired a wave of indie survival games and mods, becoming a classic in the genre.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

93%

Audience ScoreBased on 56 reviews

music3 negative mentions

Notrium is a nostalgic gem that offers a unique survival experience with multiple playable characters, each providing a different gameplay style and story.
The game features a robust crafting system and a high level of replayability due to its randomly generated maps and multiple endings.
Despite its dated graphics, Notrium is praised for its engaging gameplay mechanics and the ability to mod the game, allowing for a personalized experience.

The game's graphics and sound design are considered outdated, which may deter players accustomed to modern standards.
Some players find the user interface cumbersome and the inventory management frustrating, making the gameplay experience less enjoyable.
The tutorial can be vague, leading to confusion about game mechanics, which may hinder new players from fully grasping the survival elements.

gameplay
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
50%
25%
The gameplay is ambitious with a clean tileset, featuring excellent crafting mechanics and a decent story, though it lacks polish and can be challenging to master. Players appreciate the distinct gameplay strategies offered by different races, alongside survival and combat elements, despite some vague tutorial instructions. Overall, the game provides a good fun-to-cost ratio, promising substantial gameplay value.
- “It can be difficult at times and takes some getting used to, but it delivers with some excellent crafting mechanics and a decent story.”
- “It covers multiple races with distinct gameplay strategies, crafting, a nicely written backstory, and loads of aliens to kill... or be killed by.”
- “This is a great game, and for the price versus the amount of gameplay you're likely to get out of this, it has a great fun-to-cost ratio.”
- “Ambitious and clean tileset but lacks polish and mechanics don't feel robust.”
- “The basic training tutorial took some time to complete due to the tutorial messages being a little vague on certain mechanics like the food generator, but it wasn’t hard to figure out how to put ether into it.”
- “I personally prefer the human and alien to the other two races because of the amount of gameplay each presents.”
music
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
29%
43%
The music in the game is described as repetitive and lacking variety, with short tracks that can become tiresome over time. While some players find it acceptable, the ease of modding allows for the addition of new music, which could enhance the experience. Overall, the music is considered a weak point, contributing to a less enjoyable atmosphere.
- “Personally, I'm fine with it, but Notrium is extremely easy to mod, and adding new music to the playlist won't take you more than a few minutes.”
- “- Awesome music”
- “There isn't a whole lot when it comes to music.”
- “The music can get repetitive, because none of the tracks are particularly long.”
- “I never want to play this thing again; I would start hating it if I had to listen to the droning music any longer.”
story
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
14%
43%
The game's story has received mixed reviews, with some players finding it run-of-the-mill and lacking in depth, while others appreciate the unique narratives of the four playable characters, each offering distinct storylines and multiple endings. The integration of journal logs and diverse races adds a layer of complexity, enhancing the overall experience despite some criticisms of worldbuilding and UI design.
- “The neat thing here is that you get 4 playable characters to choose from, each with their own story that progresses via journal logs the longer you survive, as well as 6 different endings.”
- “Each of the races you can play has their own story, and they feel like a slightly different game.”
- “It covers multiple races with distinct gameplay strategies, crafting, a nicely written backstory, and loads of aliens to kill... or be killed by.”
- “The terrible UI design, run-of-the-mill story, uninspired worldbuilding effort, and flawed crafting system are disappointing.”
- “The story feels generic and lacks depth, making it hard to stay engaged.”
- “The narrative is poorly executed, leaving players feeling disconnected from the characters and their journeys.”
graphics
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The graphics of the game are described as simple and dated, reminiscent of older 2D styles that may appeal to fans of the genre, particularly those with nostalgia for similar titles. While the visuals and sound are considered low-quality, they do not detract significantly from the overall experience, especially for players willing to overlook these aspects. The environments can feel empty and repetitive, despite some randomization in item placement.
- “I have no idea what this art style is called; it might be a Finnish thing, because Crimsonland looked almost the same back in the day, and I loved how that game looked too.”
- “Graphics are a bit dated, but you could run this on your grandmother's toaster.”
- “If you are okay with simple 2D graphics and ready to die a lot before you learn how to play, you may find it relevant even today, especially if you are a fan of the genre.”
- “The graphics, sounds and music are, obviously, crap-tier, but that's not the issue here.”
- “Dated graphics”
- “Graphics are a bit dated but you could run this on your grandmother's toaster.”
replayability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
75%
The game boasts high replayability due to its diverse activities, multiple characters, random elements, various races, and multiple endings, along with modding options that enhance the overall experience. Players find it engaging enough to return for multiple playthroughs.
- “It's simple, to the point, and highly replayable.”
- “There's a ton of things to do, and with different characters and random elements, the replay value is high.”
- “With different races, endings, and modding, you can say the game has a lot of replayability.”
- “There's a ton of things to do, and with different characters and the random elements, the replay value is high.”
- “This gives the game a lot of replayability.”
- “With different races, endings, and modding, you can say the game has a lot of replayability too.”