When a game is titled Ash & Adam’s Existential Treads, it feels very personal and inclusive. Like you aren’t supposed to be there, or perhaps, they’re a famous duo like Tango and Cash, Ham and Cheese, or Mickey and Mouse who you should know, and they kinda endorse this message. Late to the party as always, I have no idea who they are, and while this is a game for the masses and we haven’t stumbled on the source code for a Jam project, it’s very welcoming and accessible. Throw in an unhealthy sprinkle of addiction, and you’ve got yourself a fun lil’ game.
That sprinkle of addiction isn’t anything powder-related, but a tower defence hook. Well, an active one where you’re a mobile tower yourself. You play as the duo who are some of the few remaining folks left of civilisation in a world where AI has ravaged it. Life, meet my mate, Art – with no imitations. This AI is essentially called Noise, and it has destroyed almost all forms of natural life and anti-green. Fortunately, Ash and Adam are survivors and looking to thrive in this desolate wasteland by destroying the Wall-E-like trash towers, scavenging the resources, and building a relatively impenetrable base to not only protect, but to take the offensive and seek out the source of the Noise and destroy it.
Now, a quick disclaimer here. I received a review code, as always, and this came before today’s official update, which includes a Limitless mode, though there was also the option to review the Daily and Campaign modes that are currently available. While the update features new challenges, missions, bug fixes and improvements, the campaign is pretty meaty and is what I’m basing these thoughts on. So, if you want to know the new stuff, so do I. But considering how addicted I’ve been to this in a short space of time, I doubt a review would materialise anytime soon while knee-deep in the Noise.
So, survival. Your role in this game of soldiers is to navigate a tank about to destroy abandoned structures and supplies, defend your base, and seek out enemy bases and take them out. The latter is the main objective, as you will need to destroy their towers to progress. Controlling the tank is simple enough, as it’s a twin-stick shooter. Though the range can be improved and you can slow down enemies with attacks, the projectiles are very basic yet infinite. The caveat being when you leave grassy areas, your attack slows down, as does your vehicle. To improve the green, you can expand your base, which will naturally create au natural’s carpet, or you can unlock a structure that lets you fire seeds to create green space.
Upgraded structures in Ash & Adam’s Existential Treads are key. You have your little folk assigned as collectors, which means they’ll go seek out the resources from the buildings you destroy, and from a defensive capacity, they can man turrets and repair structures. Adding houses to the mix and connecting them to a building increases how many people can man it, subsequently improving power or production. Additionally, bonus buildings can be added to turrets to make them snipers, mortars and offer rapid fire, and are absolutely key to defending your base when attacked from multiple angles. If you lose your HQ or your limited number of tanks, it’s game over.
However, this isn’t a game about digging in as the waves are endless and overwhelming – especially when a ‘massive’ wave is inbound. In this case, you need to take the battle to the enemy, and when not touching the grass, your attacks are significantly slower. Building ammo stations for rapid fire, or even bombs are crucial as later enemy structures will have forcefields that prevent you from taking them out with your standard equipment. Besides, the Noise will send out defenders to attack you, and the building will be protected whilst you’re fighting off The Matrix-like tentacle things that come out.
Ash & Adam’s Existential Treads’ world map is mildly deceptive as it appears you need to pick a path of islands like any rogue-like, when in actual fact, you can pick to battle it out on all the islands, albeit you need to unlock them in succession. Naturally, the difficulty increases with more hostile forces, or in the case of the last level, being surrounded by bases from all angles and literally keeping the wolves at bay from the get-go. It’s advantageous to play all the islands not just for value and predominant fun, but because each win grants you a human that adds a boost – be that improved collectors, better ranged attacks, or quite literally, improved boost. Some of them are quite subtle, but very beneficial nevertheless.
As is the norm for me these days, I played Ash & Adam’s Existential Treads exclusively on the Steam Deck, and it was great. While the new update fixes bugs and whatnot, I had zero issues with the game and was absolutely hooked. It could have been clearer about the significance of the enemy structures and whether they played any advantage/disadvantage to destroying early, but other than that, it’s very intuitive and a lot of fun. What with the dailies and new limitless mode, there’s plenty of replay value, but considering the time I’ve put into this in a short space of time, that’s for me to do in my own time. In the meantime, do check this out.
