Take On Mars update to add manned mission endgame

Bohemia Interactive's Take On Mars already lets you pilot various Rovers and Landers on the red planet in its Early Access form. It's next big content update, however, will go one step further, challenging you to put a person on Mars. Well, a videogame simulation person, at least.

Expedition One, the project's working title, will divide Take On Mars into two chapters. The first chapter focuses on the Rovers and Landers exploration (which is already in the game), while the second chapter will focus on human exploration of the red planet. It will have you performing scientific experiments, constructing habitats spanning from shelters to entire installations, driving around vehicles to explore the new 8x8 km Cydonia terrain, and searching for oxygen, water, and raw material as you attempt to surivive on the planet's surface. And you'll have to do these things while managing limited supplies of oxygen and food stocks, which you can replenish by growing plants.

"As a studio, we've always been obsessed with games that explore topics of human fascination," Bohemia Interactive's CEO Marek Spanel said. "One of those is space exploration. Missions to Mars - from the past, present, and also some ambitious projects for the future - sparked our imagination about what it would be like to be the first human on Mars. We soon felt that this should be the endgame for the Take On Mars campaign."

Expedition One will release in the second quarter of 2014, and Take On Mars currently costs $18/£12.