First Dwarf Early Access Review – Great Base Building

First Dwarf by Star Drifters combines elements of action RPG, base-building, and survival mechanics, offering a visually striking world and engaging mech combat. The game has launched on Steam early access and features a core gameplay loop of resource gathering, construction, and base tower defence as you uncover the secrets of Driftland and the truth about your father’s mysterious disappearance.

Driftland has been shattered into floating islands after a catastrophic mage war. The once powerful dwarven civilisation is on the brink of extinction due to dwindling resources. We play as Tru, the titular First Dwarf, a dwarven scouting engineer equipped with a powerful mech and a dragon companion. Our mission is to explore the celestial islands, find suitable locations for new settlements, and gather essential resources.

The game boasts a visually impressive art style, combining a vibrant colour palette with a sense of desolation. The floating islands are amazingly detailed and varied, with lush green landscapes, waterfalls that contrasts with the barren, rocky terrains and fiery depths below. The islands vary in size, terrain, and resource availability, offering diverse exploration experiences.

You can switch to the dragon and fly over to a smaller island to explore it, sometimes finding items that are useful later, but don’t fly too far from your mech otherwise you lose power. The dragon companion can assist in combat, exploration, and resource gathering. By bonding with the dragon, you can unlock new abilities and customisation options. The dragon becomes an asset, providing aerial support for you and your base, and adds unique combat tactics.

The mechs are an integral part of the gameplay and you can hop in or out at will depending on the tasks at hand. Mastering the mech controls allows you to move around quicker, construct buildings and mana connection lines, and defeat a variety of enemies from ground-based creatures to aerial threats. I really loved that you don’t have to switch resource tools, you just swing at a rock and/or a tree and it collects the resources. Upgrading and customising your mech is essential for overcoming increasingly challenging foes. You will find cosmetic blueprints for your mech and ship, and once you craft them, you can showcase a sigil for your own guild.

Survival and base-building depend on your efficient gathering of essential resources like wood, stone, iron, and the all-important mana which acts as your base power. You can place harvesters on things like mana pools and ore reserves, and you need to connect these together for mana power. Various tools and equipment can be crafted or found to aid in resource collection. Arrow towers can be built on your base perimeter that have a circle of protection and provide defence at times when enemy invasions occur. Surround them by fences and you can create a kind of tower defence style protection of your base buildings.

Establishing a thriving dwarven settlement by constructing structures like workshops, a research centre for upgrades, housing, and defensive fortifications, will see your base thrive and grow. Once you complete some set tasks, you can send a raven that will attract new settlers to your base. You have a lot of creative freedom to design and expand your base, adapting to the island’s terrain and resource availability.

So far, First Dwarf is a promising game with a solid foundation in this early access build. The game ran very smoothly and shows a lot of promise with its immersive world, engaging combat, and potential for deep base-building. With continued development and refinement over the early access period, which the developers have stated will be around 18 months, First Dwarf has the potential to become an excellent game. Fans of dwarves, resource gathering, and base building should definitely check this one out. The game’s roadmap looks like it has some awesome features on the way so I will definitely be revisiting the game often.

This review utilised a key provided by Star Drifters and First Dwarf is out now on Steam early access.

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