Bohemia have accomplished what real life scientists and government funding bodies cannot – exploration and colonisation sim Take On Mars now features a manned mission. I hadn’t realised that the previous build of the Early Access version only allowed players to send a probe to the puce planet, but that’s no longer the case.

Today s update lands the first human marsonauts to Take On Mars. With access to a manned science buggy, featuring an interactive 3D GUI, one of their first objectives will be to explore the huge new Cydonia Mensae location, which spans 8×8 kilometer of Martian terrain. A 3D printer enables marsonauts to construct various parts, which can be put together via the Habitat Construction System to form buildings and installations.

The term ‘marsonauts’ dropped in among the other words makes me instinctively shudder, as if I were looking at a sea of human faces and suddenly spotted a Brundlefly.

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Bohemia’s Mars-exploration sim, Take On Mars, has appeared on Steam’s ‘Early Access’ service – where early-version releases can be purchased and updated as development goes along – for the handsomely Martian sum of £8.99. Bohemia are hoping that a stint on early access will let them iron out bugs via exposure to the unblinking gaze of the internet’s infinite vigilance.

See the trailer below to figure out if you want to explore Mars in a simulation. (more…)