Oxygen Not Included: The Prehistoric Planet Pack Review Summary

The Demolior meteor, new starting planet, biomes, critters, and ecology add challenge and variety, but the DLC feels light, with bugs, technical issues, and late-game performance problems.

Demolior meteor adds challenge: The Demolior meteor scenario provides a timed threat that adds urgency and a new goal. Players can choose to destroy it or exploit its resources, offering different playstyles.

New starting planet and biomes: The DLC offers a completely different start on a new planetoid with unique biomes and resources. This shifts priorities and provides a fresh experience for veteran players.

Unique new critters and ecology: The new critters are not just variations but have unique uses and complex interactions with each other and plants. Their resource loops are well-designed and add depth to ranching.

Great and worthwhile DLC: Many players praise the DLC for being fun, high quality, and adding significant value. It is considered one of the best expansions, often compared favorably to previous packs.

Fun and satisfying gameplay: Players report having a great time with the new content, finding it fun, satisfying, and engaging. Many have spent many additional hours enjoying the DLC.

DLC lacks meaningful content: Reviewers feel the DLC adds only early-game content that becomes irrelevant by midgame, with new resources and creatures performing old functions or being worse than vanilla. Many see it as low value and not worth buying.

Bugs and technical issues: Numerous bugs are reported, including item loss after loading saves, unpassable errors after destroying the meteor, and general instability. Reinstalling or removing mods does not fix these problems.

Late game performance issues: Many reviewers report severe lag in late-game colonies, even on high-end hardware and without mods. CPU pathfinding from added creatures and lack of multithreading are cited as likely causes.

New critters and plants useless: Many new animals and plants provide little benefit, are inefficient, or are worse than base game alternatives. Some are co-reliant on other species, making them hard to use on other maps.

Demolior asteroid and time pressure: The asteroid adds a death clock that forces a specific playstyle and discourages non-speedrunners. After destroying the meteor, some players encounter a game error that halts progression.

Demolior asteroid threat: A central feature is the Demolior meteor that threatens the colony, requiring players to either destroy it with missiles or let it impact. Destroying it yields a renewable space POI with iridium, while letting it hit provides a one-time deposit.

New biomes and creatures: The DLC adds new biomes, critters, and plants with unique characteristics. Many clusters mention specific creatures like Rhex, Mimika, Dartle, and Jawbo, as well as new plant life.

Ranching and farming mechanics: Ranching and farming are core mechanics, with the DLC encouraging extensive critter ranching and farming for resources like fiber, food, and materials. Ecosystem interactions between plants and animals are emphasized.

Difficulty and challenge: The DLC provides a challenging experience with a high learning curve and a timed objective to destroy the meteor within a certain number of cycles. Difficulty settings allow players to adjust or turn off the threat.

Gameplay mechanics changes: The DLC introduces new gameplay mechanics such as rocket development, planetary colonization, and materials-science-based problem-solving. It also adds a 'P' to the build number, indicating a significant update.

Late-game performance severely laggy: Multiple reports indicate severe lag in late-game colonies, especially after 300 cycles or with many duplicants, running as low as a slideshow even on high-end GPUs like 3070TI and 4060.

Code conflicts and messy code: One report attributes various bugs, including crushing crab shells, item transport failures, and egg sorting issues, to code conflicts and messy code.

Animal-related CPU performance bottlenecks: Ranching many critters, new animal pathfinding, and animal transport calculations cause high CPU load and significantly lower frame rates in late-game colonies.

Persistent stuttering and rubberbanding: Players experience lag, stuttering, and rubberbanding with teleporting, and these issues occur even on capable systems and without mods.

Game-breaking error after meteor destruction: After destroying the meteor, the game throws errors and cannot proceed, and removing mods or reinstalling does not resolve the issue.

Worth Buying for Price: Many reviewers find the DLC worth the price, especially when purchased in a bundle or at a discount. The general sentiment is that the content justifies the cost.

Adds New Challenge: The DLC provides new challenges for experienced players, including difficult scenarios like 'RelicAAAAAAAGHH'. It helps newer players while still challenging veterans.

Not Recommended: Some reviewers do not recommend the DLC, citing reasons such as not justifying the time investment or feeling disingenuous to recommend.

Thematic Content Appeal: The DLC appeals to players interested in dinosaurs or specific themes like farming and ranching. However, those not interested in the theme may find it less enjoyable.

Best DLC Choice: For those who own Spaced Out, this DLC is considered the best choice among the available options. It is also a favorite among the DLCs for some players.

Community fair range: $19.99 - $29.99.

Game completion: 30.0h.

Story completion: 30.0h.

The game appears to click after players absorb its high learning curve, with DLC content adding early and mid-game variety. Some players find the early game fun immediately, while others report midgame sameness or late-game performance issues.

Friction: High learning cost; Starting a new colony to experience the DLC and unlock Iridium; Slogging through blast shot production; Midgame sameness; Late-game performance drops; Normal settings feeling boring.

Unlock drivers: Progressing past the high learning cost.

ONI Veteran Content Seeker: Long-time colony builder who moves onto new planets and advanced mechanics for fresh goals. Motivation: New planets, playstyles, and systems to explore after already mastering the base game. Stance: buy.

Difficulty-Hungry Challenge Hunter: Deliberately takes on brutal maps and hard-mode runs and pushes deep into advanced systems. Motivation: Tough quests and punishing planets that keep motivation high by testing hard-won mastery. Stance: buy.

Jaded Value-Conscious DLC Critic: Analytical pack-to-pack comparer who only commits to themed, purpose-built runs. Motivation: Weighing whether the DLC's content stays relevant and is genuinely worth the price. Stance: sale.

Monetization: The reviews focus on paid DLC for the game, criticizing the scope and value of recent expansions while others recommend the DLC. There is no direct evidence of in-game microtransactions, real-money gacha, loot boxes, battle passes, paid convenience items, or pay-to-win systems. Under the scoring rules, traditional DLC value complaints cannot by themselves raise the score above the fair/pure range.

Comparison to Frosty Planet Pack: Many reviewers compare this DLC to the Frosty Planet Pack, with some finding it more replayable and well-crafted, while others see similarities. Overall, it is often viewed as an improvement over Frosty Planet.

DLC significance debated: Opinions are divided on whether the DLC is significant, with some calling it a great addition and others seeing it as not revolutionary or less worthwhile than previous DLCs. Some feel it focuses on early-game accessibility.

Comparison to Spaced Out DLC: Reviewers frequently compare this DLC to Spaced Out, often considering it the best DLC since Spaced Out. However, some feel it does not reach the same level of quality.

DLC ranking among packs: Reviewers rank this DLC among other packs, often placing it above Bionic Booster and sometimes above Frosty Planet, but below Spaced Out. The Prehistoric pack is sometimes seen as the least enjoyable.

Price and bundle discounts: The DLC's price is considered justified by some, especially with a 35% discount for owners of previous DLCs or when purchased in a bundle. This makes it more accessible to existing players.