Priority: Survive

Priority: Survive is a freeware sci-fi real-time strategy game inspired by classics like StarCraft and the Alien franchise. The game’s single-player campaign follows a crew of human colonists struggling to establish a foothold on a hostile, unexplored planet. Over the course of six missions, players must manage resources, construct 15 different building types, and command 24 unique units from three distinct factions—humans, aliens, and pirates—in a desperate fight for survival. The game features an isometric perspective, real-time tactical combat, and a focus on pure survival narrative, though it does not include any multiplayer or skirmish modes.

Priority: Survive: Review

In the vast, often uncurated archives of freeware gaming, certain titles emerge not as mere curiosities, but as poignant testaments to ambition, passion, and the harsh realities of independent development. Priority: Survive, a 2008 real-time strategy game from the Slovak studio Distortum, is one such artifact—a game that so clearly aspired to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with genre titans like StarCraft, yet remains forever defined by the constraints of its creation. It is a diamond in the rough, its facets of impressive presentation glaringly juxtaposed with the jagged edges of unpolished mechanics and a famously brutal difficulty curve.

Introduction

The year 2008 was a high-water mark for the real-time strategy genre. Blizzard’s StarCraft II was a looming specter on the horizon, and Relic’s Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War series was redefining tactical depth. Into this crowded arena stepped Priority: Survive, a freeware passion project that dared to ask: what if a small team could capture the essence of a blockbuster RTS? The game’s legacy is not one of commercial success or widespread acclaim, but of a fascinating, almost archeological case study. It represents the culmination of a multi-year development cycle by a dedicated trio, a project that showcases both the staggering potential of indie developers and the inevitable compromises that separate a promising demo from a polished final product. This review argues that Priority: Survive is a flawed but deeply admirable effort, whose greatest achievement lies in its atmospheric world-building and professional-grade presentation, elements that continue to resonate long after its frustrating gameplay systems have faded from memory.

Development History & Context

Priority: Survive was the brainchild of Distortum, a small development team primarily consisting of three core members: programmer Juraj “clovekx” Blaho, artist Jozef Rolinčin, and sound designer Dominik “dominius” Krivy. The game’s gestation period was long and public, with development threads and demo releases appearing on Allegro.cc—a hub for developers using the Allegro game programming library—as early as December 2006.

The team’s vision was unequivocally ambitious. They openly cited Blizzard’s StarCraft and the Alien film franchise as primary inspirations, aiming to blend the tight, balanced gameplay of the former with the tense, survival-horror atmosphere of the latter. This was a monumental task for a team of this size, operating without a budget and relying on free tools like the Allegro library and 3D Studio Max for asset creation. The technological context is crucial: this was not a Unity or Unreal Engine project; it was a bespoke engine built from the ground up, a testament to Blaho’s programming prowess. Features like a custom fog-of-war system, which developer clovekx explained involved pre-rendering 81 different tile combinations for smooth transitions, highlight the technical ingenuity required.

The gaming landscape of 2008 was both a blessing and a curse for Priority: Survive. On one hand, the hunger for a new, high-quality sci-fi RTS was palpable. On the other, the expectations for production value and feature-completeness (especially multiplayer) were higher than ever. Distortum made a conscious, and ultimately defining, decision to forego multiplayer and skirmish modes entirely, focusing their limited resources on a six-mission single-player campaign. As clovekx stated on the Allegro.cc forums, “We needed this game to be completed as soon as possible to move to another project… Strategy without multiplayer is something that not many people would buy.” This pragmatic, if disappointing, choice cemented Priority: Survive‘s status as a niche, single-serving experience rather than a lasting competitive title.

Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive

The narrative of Priority: Survive is straightforward but effective, serving as a competent vehicle for its strategic action. The player commands a crew of human colonists attempting to establish a foothold on the unexplored planet of Icarus. They are not alone; they must contend with two other factions: hostile, insectoid aliens reminiscent of the Zerg or Xenomorphs, and a band of opportunistic space pirates who serve as a wild card, attacking both the player and the alien forces.

The story unfolds across six missions, with briefings delivered through text and in-engine cutscenes. The campaign structure is classic RTS fare: it begins with a tense commando-style mission where every unit is precious, gradually escalates to base-building and resource management, and culminates in large-scale assaults. Thematically, the game leans heavily into its title. The core theme is pure survival against overwhelming odds in an inhospitable environment. This is reinforced by mission objectives that often prioritize the defense of a single structure or the evacuation of personnel over total annihilation of the enemy.

Characterization is minimal, conveyed primarily through unit dialogue. The marines speak in clear, professional American English (voiced by Troy Wood), while other units, like the harvester, have distinct accents—a point of contention among early players, with one reviewer on GameDev.net noting a scientist’s “thick middle eastern (I’m guessing) accent” that sometimes slipped into unintelligibility. The developer acknowledged this weakness, stating, “I must agree that voice acting was our weak part.” Despite this, the dialogue succeeds in establishing a sense of identity for each unit type, from the grim determination of the marines to the cold efficiency of the robotic units.

The narrative’s greatest strength is its atmosphere of desperation. The knowledge that you are isolated, outnumbered, and struggling for resources on a hostile world permeates the experience. While the plot may not offer shocking twists or deep character arcs, it effectively frames the gameplay and reinforces the central, compelling theme: survival is the only priority.

Gameplay Mechanics & Systems

At its core, Priority: Survive is a faithful, if simplified, homage to the classic Command & Conquer and StarCraft formula. The core loop involves gathering resources (a mineral called “Nazar”), constructing a base with production and defensive buildings, and building an army to complete mission objectives. The game features three factions—Humans, Aliens, and Pirates—with a total of 24 unit types and 15 buildings, though the player only directly commands the human forces.

Core Systems and Innovation:
The gameplay will be immediately familiar to any RTS veteran. However, several unique and flawed systems define the experience:
* Unit Control and Micromanagement: The control scheme supports standard RTS conventions: left-click to select, right-click to move/attack. An “Attack-Move” command (default key ‘A’) is crucial, directing units to attack any enemy on their path to a location. Early players noted a significant delay with this command and difficulties with precise targeting, often resulting in move orders instead of attacks when clicking on enemies. Unit responsiveness was a common critique; units were described as having slow acceleration, making advanced micromanagement tactics like kiting (leading melee enemies with ranged units) frustratingly difficult to execute.
* Group Management: The game includes group hotkeys (Ctrl+Number to create, Number to select), a standard feature. However, the implementation was incomplete. While players could add units to a selection by holding Shift and drag-selecting, there was no way to remove units from a selected group, a significant oversight that hampered late-game army control.
* AI and Difficulty: The AI is arguably the game’s most infamous feature. It is unrelentingly aggressive, and the initial release was notoriously difficult. The first mission, a commando-style scenario, was singled out by testers as being overly punishing for an introductory level. One player on GameDev.net remarked, “I am an experienced StarCraft and StarCraft: Brood War player, but I failed to finish it after several attempts, leaving me unmotivated.” The developers responded to community feedback, releasing patches (versions 1.0.2 and 1.0.3) that specifically made the first level easier and rebalanced unit costs and strengths, particularly for flying units and defensive towers.
* Pathfinding: Developer clovekx described the pathfinding algorithm as one that “tries to go straight and if it’s not possible it tries to go around the obstacle trying both ways… I would not like to use this algorithm in future projects.” This admission hints at the technical challenges faced, and players often encountered units getting stuck or taking suboptimal routes.

The lack of a manual or in-game tutorial further exacerbated these mechanical issues. Players were left to discover controls and strategies through trial and error, a significant barrier to entry. The absence of any multiplayer or skirmish mode also severely limited the game’s replayability, confining the entire experience to the brief, albeit challenging, six-mission campaign.

World-Building, Art & Sound

If the gameplay mechanics are Priority: Survive‘s weakest link, its audiovisual presentation is its crowning achievement. For a freeware title, the level of polish is astonishing and remains its most compelling reason for historical examination.

Visual Design:
The game employs a beautiful, pre-rendered isometric perspective. The hand-drawn backgrounds are exceptionally detailed, creating a cohesive and atmospheric sci-fi world. Lush, alien jungles, desolate rocky plains, and gritty industrial pirate bases are all rendered with a painterly quality that holds up remarkably well. The unit and building sprites, rendered from 3D models, are clean, distinct, and full of character. The opening cinematic and brief cutscenes, created with 3D Studio Max, were frequently praised for their “professional” and “top notch” quality, immediately setting a high bar for production values.

Sound Design:
Dominik Krivy’s soundscape is a crucial component of the atmosphere. The sound effects for weapons, explosions, and ambient alien life are crisp and impactful. The musical score, while not extensively documented, effectively underscores the tension and isolation of the campaign. The voice acting, as previously noted, is a mixed bag. While the marine voices are competent, other performances suffer from uneven audio quality and heavy accents. Yet, even these imperfections contribute to the game’s unique, almost charming, character.

The synthesis of these elements creates a powerful sense of place. The world of Icarus feels genuinely hostile and unknown. The fog-of-war system, technically impressive and visually effective, enhances the tension, constantly reminding the player that danger lurks just beyond the visible horizon. In terms of pure aesthetic cohesion and atmospheric world-building, Priority: Survive punches far above its weight class, delivering an experience that feels more expensive and carefully crafted than its freeware status would suggest.

Reception & Legacy

Upon its release in August 2008, Priority: Survive was met with enthusiastic praise from within its primary community on Allegro.cc and GameDev.net. Reviewers on the Allegro depot page called it “the definition of excellence,” “one of the best, if not THE best demo game on allegro.cc,” and noted that “I could’ve sworn this was a real commercial game.” The overwhelming consensus was that the presentation was exceptional, but the gameplay, particularly the difficulty and control issues, needed refinement.

The game never achieved mainstream recognition. It was released as freeware, with no commercial marketing, and thus flew under the radar of major gaming publications. There are no official critic reviews on record at archives like MobyGames. Its reputation is almost entirely based on word-of-mouth within indie development and classic gaming circles.

The legacy of Priority: Survive is complex. It did not influence the industry in any measurable way, but it stands as a important artifact of its time—a beacon of what small, passionate teams could accomplish with determination and skill before the advent of accessible modern game engines. Its story is also one of preservation challenges. The official Distortum website is long defunct, and the game now exists primarily through community mirrors and the Internet Archive. In 2021, an issue was raised on the GitHub page for the Stargus project (a StarCraft engine reimplementation) inquiring about support for Priority: Survive, noting that the original Windows builds no longer function correctly on modern operating systems. This highlights the game’s status as an endangered piece of digital history.

Ultimately, its legacy is that of a “what if” scenario. What if the team had more resources? What if they had implemented multiplayer? The game’s quality sparked discussions about its potential as a commercial product, with one forum user stating, “With just a little more work this game could easily have made a few bucks.” But the developers’ pragmatic decision to finalize the project and move on cemented its fate as a brilliant, flawed, and ultimately ephemeral gem.

Conclusion

Priority: Survive is a fascinating paradox. It is a game built with a level of audiovisual polish that belies its indie, freeware origins, yet it is hamstrung by fundamental gameplay flaws and a punishing difficulty curve that can obscure its qualities. The dedication of the Distortum team is evident in every meticulously rendered background and every line of code in its custom engine. For historians of independent game development, it is an essential case study—a snapshot of the ambitions and limitations of a bygone era.

For the modern player, the experience is likely to be one of initial admiration followed by mounting frustration. The atmospheric world, compelling survival theme, and impressive presentation are undeniable highlights. However, the clunky controls, unforgiving AI, and lack of content beyond a short campaign prevent it from being a timeless classic in the vein of its inspirations.

The final verdict on Priority: Survive is not a simple rating. It is not a game to be judged solely on its mechanics, but rather appreciated as a whole. It is a testament to passion, a beautifully crafted vessel navigating choppy waters of technical limitation. While it may not have achieved its goal of rivaling StarCraft, it succeeded in creating a memorable, intense, and uniquely atmospheric experience that continues to captivate those who discover it. In the annals of video game history, Priority: Survive earns its place not as a masterwork, but as a masterful attempt—a poignant and impressive reminder that great ambition can flourish even in the most constrained of gardens.