Dead in Antares – Survival, sanity, and strategy in the cold expanse of space.
Over the years, Ishtar Games has quietly made a name for itself in a very special field. Starting with Dead in Bermuda and then the well-reviewed Dead in Vinland, the company became known for combining survival management, story-driven relationships, and turn-based combat into a single, choice-heavy experience.
Their games have always been based on one idea: people, not just resources, are important for life. As deadly as hunger or injury, stress, exhaustion, interpersonal strife, and mental strain are. Ishtar Games takes that concept and sets it in a science-fiction setting with Dead in Antares.
We no longer follow Vikings stuck in a dangerous land or survivors stuck on a tropical island. Instead, we follow a group of experts sent on a desperate last-ditch effort to save a dying Earth. Dead in Antares was developed by Ishtar Games and released by Nacon. It keeps the studio’s signature survival structure while adding a futuristic setting full of alien plants, strange anomalies, and mysterious cosmic forces.
Dead in Antares feels like a fitting next game in the series in many ways.
In other places, it seems more like a planned change—less about being brutal at first and more about long-term system control and psychological balance. The result is a game that feels both very familiar and very strange.
The concept is interesting right away. The Earth is falling apart because of pollution, corruption, and structural decay. The smartest people in the world are sent into space on a cutting-edge ship to find a new source of energy or a new place to live. But right away, things go bad, just like in a lot of great sci-fi stories, like Interstellar.
The crew is hurtling toward an unknown world because of a strange gravitational event. The ship goes down. The Cryosleep pods stay closed. Supplies are running low. The mission is very close to dying.
In this game, you play as Captain Amelia Rosenheart and are in charge of a small group of survivors who wake up on Antares, a foreign world in full color.
There are conversation scenes that feel a lot like visual novel storytelling. Characters argue about choices, voice doubts, fight about who should be in charge, and sometimes they tell secrets. You can go in different directions, check dialogue based on stats, and change relationships to change the tone of future interactions.
The story is especially interesting because it feels so personal. It’s not just about settling the world; it’s also about people under a lot of stress who try not to break. Stress, rivalries, feelings, and odd habits emerge in the characters.
Some may spiral if they are not used. Others may work so hard that they get tired. That’s right—the story doesn’t move quickly. At the beginning of the game, survival tactics and character growth are given more attention than explosive fights. This makes for a slow-burning experience that rewards patience.
A sense of mystery is also present. How did you get here? What does Antares really mean?
What makes some crew members feel uncomfortable about certain discoveries? The game makes you curious without revealing too many of its secrets too quickly.
Dead in Antares is mostly about running a business. Every day in-game is broken up into organized stages. You send out expeditions, assign survivors jobs at camp, monitor resources, and take care of people’s physical and mental health.
To stay alive, each character must deal with five main state bars: tiredness, hunger, illness, injury, and stress. Any of these that hit 100 will kill the character, and that’s the end of the game. This one design choice keeps the energy high.
Even mundane decisions—like giving someone murky water—carry weight. Clean water is better, but it’s not always available. It saves better resources when the water is murky, but it can make you sick. Purified water lowers stress, but it takes a lot of work to make it.
As you unlock new features, camp management gets more complicated.
Power is made, water is collected, craft shops are built, radars are built, and study labs are set up. Every station needs energy, and every day, energy has to be made. Along with food and water, power becomes another element that helps keep things in balance. Over time, infrastructure also breaks down, so you have to keep up with what you build.
Characters are good at certain things, such as computer skills, power, exploration, crafting, and stealth. Assigning them well is important. Sending a weak character to do a physically demanding job makes them much more tired.
If you pick the wrong person for an expedition skill check, you could get hurt or miss out on chances. As more people come out of cryo over time, the web of possible outcomes gets more complex and strategic.
In the early hours, survival is the most important thing. Later on, fighting becomes more important. Battles happen in turns, and the front-row/back-row system makes me think of Darkest Dungeon or older Dead games. Three units are on each side. Positioning is very important. Some powers can only be used from certain rows, and enemies can move your team against their will.
Combat is less about short bursts of serious damage and more about state effects, mitigating damage, and managing resources.
The health pools are big, but the damage numbers aren’t very high, especially at the beginning. Some of the most important features are buffs and debuffs, armor, blocking, evasion, and changing your position. Overcharge skills work like ultimates, letting you do powerful AoE attacks, heal the whole party, or deal major damage.
There isn’t much standard RNG. If you attack, you’ll hit unless you avoid or block. Status application, chance of success, and expedition skill checks outside of a fight are where most of the randomness lies.
It works really well that there are different levels of tactical detail. Later enemies add heavy debuffs, healing, AoE pressure, and the ability to stack dodges. Meetings turn into puzzles that make you think, and AP control becomes very important at each turn. But the frequency of fighting is still under control. You won’t be fighting all the time; instead, battles will break up longer stretches of survival gameplay.
The bad thing? At first, battles can feel slow and unimportant. Some sounds aren’t very good, and having a lot of health but not doing much damage can make fights last longer than they need to. Players who want tactical energy right away might have to wait until the system fully opens up before they can use it.
It feels natural to play Dead in Antares. Characters gain levels by completing quests and making it through fights. As they gain levels, you can select both attribute improvements and battle passives. This dual development is better than earlier games because it lets you improve both your survival and your fighting skills simultaneously.
Over time, traits and benefits shape jobs. If a character is physically strong, they might become an even better generator operator or main tank.
As higher-level crafting becomes available, a study specialist becomes more important. Some characters develop habits that require careful management. For example, workaholics need to stay busy, or their stress levels will go through the roof.
Progress has a real effect on the game. Better stats raise the chances of passing skill checks, lower the cost of getting tired, and open up better ways to fight. As your team grows, your tasks become more adaptable and planned. Early shortages give way to a dynamic juggling act to achieve the best results.
The earthy tones of Dead in Vinland are very different from the bright colors of Dead in Antares. Antares is full of bright colors that are almost too much. Alien plants glow in strange colors. Trees make it hard to tell the difference between bark and flesh. It looks like a little of everything is poisonous, living, and wrong.
The character art looks a lot like art from visual novels. Portraits show who you are and how you feel. Captain Amelia has a tough charm, and the battle medic’s big frame shows that he is in charge of the front lines. Designs send a clear message about style and class.
The UI has a futuristic look with straight lines, digital screens, and blocky sci-fi interfaces.
Some players might prefer the Norse-inspired style of Vinland, but this one stays on theme and flows well. In strange ways, the music stands out. Lyrical tracks that make you think and focus on the journey are sometimes played during camp scenes. It can make you think of the moody parts of Death Stranding, where the music builds up while you’re exploring.
Ambient sound helps with realism. In the background, soft hums of alien animals can be heard. When you interact with a menu, you get subtle visual cues. However, combat sounds can feel shaky at times. Not all shield hits and power strikes sound satisfyingly crunchy. Some don’t have enough weight. It doesn’t break the immersion, but it is obvious.
The sound design is mostly good, but it could use more consistent punch during fights. It’s not that Dead in Antares changes Ishtar’s recipe; it just makes it better. For people who liked Dead in Vinland or Dead in Bermuda, this is an obvious next step with a sci-fi twist.
Survival methods are still the most important thing, and mental threats are still just as dangerous as physical ones. The pace is planned. Combat builds up slowly. Managing resources takes up most of your time.
The energy system makes things more complicated. The character’s growth feels natural and adaptable. Under the surface, a narrative mystery is building.
It’s not perfect. Early on in a fight, it can feel like it lasts too long. Some people might miss aspects that let them change things, like large difficulty sliders.
And gamers who like constant tactical fights might find the focus on survival too much. But Dead in Antares is a compelling, tense, and deeply layered survival game for people who like well-thought-out management, character-driven stories, and strategic fighting that changes over time. Not only do we need to save humanity, but we also need to keep three tired and stressed survivors living long enough to try.
