REVIEW: ‘Surviving Mars: Relaunched’ Is Still A Must-Play Builder, But With A New Political Kick

Surviving Mars Relaunched is a sci-fi city builder that is developed by Haemimont Games and published by Paradox Interactive. Surviving Mars: Relaunched is the remastered version of the Martian city builder Surviving Mars, which was originally released in 2018. Surviving Mars (2018) has had plenty of updates and DLC to go along with the base game, with the most recent being the “Martian Express,” released by Haemimont in 2022.

Surviving Mars (2018) is a game that I have played plenty of over the years, and I own most of the downloadable content that has been released. When I saw the announcement of Surviving Mars: Relaunched, I was very interested to see what Paradox Interactive and Haemimont Games had in store for this new version.

Surviving Mars Relaunched includes all the previous expansions from the 2018 game, along with upgraded visuals and UI. A brand-new political system called the “Martian Assembly” has been added to the game. This new feature gives players some new challenges to experience. And like any remaster, this title also includes additional performance and stability, along with better mod support and tools for players to enjoy.

Surviving Mars Relaunched offers a new system, notable UI enhancements, and visuals.

One of the new elements in Surviving Mars Relaunched was the visuals, and I think the game overall looks better than the original 2018 version. Buildings and characters appear more refined, with a crisper visual quality, particularly in the menus and UI. However, I am not sure if this comes off as a vastly drastic upgrade compared to the original, but it is noticeable to long-time players.

The upgraded UI, on the other hand, has drastically improved from the original. This does help that all the original expansions have been fully integrated into the Surviving Mars: Relaunched, versus being optional additional content. The general resource information UI and notification system is much more refined and easy to navigate. This was to me the most noticeable and improved difference from the 2018 version to now.

For players who, unfortunately, have not played Surviving Mars of 2018, the game starts as players choose a sponsor and a variety of settings that help define their Mars expedition. Players then proceed to harvest resources and eventually build up enough to construct a simple colony that should hopefully lead to a large, almost city-like colony on Mars. 

Players also need to research new tech, learn to become self-sufficient versus needing supply rockets from Earth, build livable domes for colonists, and much more. In the later expansions, players could even research, do missions, and construct buildings to terraform Mars into a lush green planet where colonists wouldn’t even need to live in biodomes anymore.

Haemimont Games has Surviving Mars Relaunched’s new UI is a vast improvement.

Surviving Mars: Relaunched is much of the same, and for returning players, most of the gameplay is relatively the same. There is, however, the new political system. The Martian Assembly is something completely fresh for returning and older players, adding a distinct flavor to this remaster compared to the original.

This political system allows players to implement laws that give different colonies bonuses or restrictions of some sort, along with providing new challenges, as not all the Sponsors want to run their colonies the same way. Early Game, this starts off as an Earth Council, and then as the game progresses, as more people populate Mars, and the Martian Assembly Spire is constructed, this moves to the full Martian Assembly.

There are positives and negatives to some of these laws, and some even may come with an upkeep cost, so it is vital for the players to understand their resources and goals before passing these. The good news is that players are given plenty of opportunities to pass and/or change laws, so while something may be vital the first time it is passed, there is an option to change it later.

The Martian Assembly offers a political kick to the Paradox-published sci-fi city-builder.

While the same lackluster “colony to colony” interaction options are still there, there has been an improvement within the Martian Assembly. If players need more votes to pass or change a law, they can negotiate with the other Sponsors to potentially change their minds.

The Martian Assembly is not treated equally, as each Sponsor has a different number of seats. Political attitude is another factor within this new system, and it is the overall satisfaction level for all the Sponsors, and if things get really bad, it can cause a “political crisis” that players are challenged with having to overcome in some way.

This new political system is a nice addition that adds more depth to the city builder and something else for players to manage as they colonize Mars. This also adds a little more replayability and creativity as players have more ability on whether to play nice or not with the other Sponsors and their colonies. The laws can really give some early help to them to get their first dome up and running, along with speeding up potential early research tech.

If you are fan of Surviving Mars (2018) then you will definitely enjoy Surviving Mars: Relaunched. The visual and UI upgrades are noticeable, and the new political system is enjoyable. However, if you already own most or all of the DLC like me from the 2018 game, there is a little bit of a reason why this was remastered. Surviving Mars isn’t even a 10-year-old game, and this really is just, for the most part, just the same game with a facelift. 

This remaster of Surviving Mars is the right time for new players to jump in.

Now, having said all that, Surviving Mars is a fantastic game with some really enjoyable downloadable content. Consequently, Surviving Mars: Relaunched is also a fantastic game that now includes all that downloadable content, along with a much-improved UI, a new political system, and enhanced visuals. This game allows anyone who may have missed Surviving Mars the first time around, never had a chance to play, or just doesn’t have all the downloadable content to experience terraforming Mars. 

Overall, Surviving Mars: Relaunched is a must-play for any city-builder fan. There is plenty of depth and creativity from collecting resources to building and managing your colony to full-on terraforming a planet. As an owner and player of the original game, I see the issues that come along with a remaster of a relatively recent title. “Well, I already own this. Is it worth buying this again?” is a question I understand. However, in the end, this is everything and more from the last seven years of Surviving Mars (2018), all wrapped up in one giant goodie bag for players to experience.

Surviving Mars: Relaunched releases on PC via Steam and Epic Game Store, Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 5 on November 10, 2025.