Desolate Preview

If you love horror, love open-world sandbox, or both, Desolate is the game for you. Boldly trying to bring the survival-horror genre to the open-world format, NEARGA succeeds in setting the foundation for what looks to be a great game in the making. Currently set for a final release date in late 2018, Desolate is a game for everyone to watch out for.


Desolate, developed by NEARGA, is a game that will be a dark horse in the open-world sandbox genre. Think Fallout, but set in a horror universe where the environment seeks to destroy you as well as the mutated and paranormal creatures that hunt you at every turn. Desolate is a new take on the open-world video game throwing in a strong horror element not seen anywhere else in the genre.

The gameplay foundations look promising as well as the audio-visuals of the game. However, at times the NPC AI, as well as certain physics elements of the game, are a little rough around the edges. The co-op mode adds a social aspect to the game, and at the same time boosts the player’s chances of survival. While Desolate is still a work-in-progress, it’s a game that’s going in the right direction and should not be overlooked by open-world game and horror game lovers alike.

Desolate is available for Early Access purchase on Steam!

STORY

“Two years ago Granichny Island became an epicentre of a large-scale disaster, which affected the entire world. Play the role of a Volunteer, and explore a place filled with threats of every shape and size – from monsters and madmen to supernatural anomalies and seemingly impossible weather patterns. Journey through the present of this forsaken world to uncover its secrets.”

The plot of Desolate is that of a large scale science experiment gone wrong. Think Umbrella Corp. from Resident Evil mixed with “The Shimmer” from Alex Garland’s recent blockbuster hit, Annihilation, and you get the Granichny Island of Desolate. The island is filled with hyper-mutated creatures, madmen, thugs and raiders, and various paranormal anomalies from the realms of both horror and sci-fi.

As a volunteer of The New Light Conglomerate, you must explore the island and gather information about the horrors within it and uncover its secrets to hopefully restore this part of the world back to the way it once was. The backstory of the game, as well as the real-time narration, is done through well-written voice-overs that are intriguing enough to keep players interested, yet short enough not to overstay their welcome.

GAMEPLAY

The game uses a simple, easy-to-navigate menu system which is easy to pick up and run with. However, the menu system plays an important role in Desolate, as players not only have to fight for survival, but also craft, scavenge, and increase character skills and stats in order to even have a chance of surviving on Granichny Island.

Realism

The realism within the game caught me off guard. Being an open-world survival game, the fall damage elements didn’t surprise me. However, players also take damage if walking on open fires. Moreover, players must also keep their hydration levels, hunger levels, and temperature levels in check which are all separate meters from the total HP of the character and all contribute to whether HP rises or falls. While these things seem rather small or obvious, many triple-A open-world titles like Fallout or Skyrim don’t go to such lengths with the realism within their games in terms of damage from natural elements. The fact that Desolate does go that extra mile is worth applauding.

Navigation

Getting around in the game is straightforward and simple. A compass along the top of the screen shows directions as well as waypoints for the next quests and nearest interactable stations such as workbenches or fireplaces.

As well, the compass will tell you how far the waypoint is, so you can plan whether or not you can make it there on your current supplies or if you’ll need to raid the next abandoned building in your path.

NPC A.I.

NPCs in the game are terribly frightening and they are quite intelligent. If facing multiple enemies, they will swarm you and maul you until you’re finished. However, they aren’t mindless killing machines. Once their health gets too low, certain humanoid enemies who haven’t lost their minds fully will run away to a safe distance and try to heal their wounds before attacking you again. Thus, the player must chase them down and finish them off, lest they return fully healed.

Respawning

If a player dies in Desolate, they will assume the role of a new volunteer. Much like in the zombie apocalypse game, ZOMBI (Ubisoft), the player’s past character’s loot will remain on the map where the player last died. The player then has ten minutes to return to the point on the map where they last died to pick up the loot. After ten minutes, the loot disappears.        

However, the player keeps all skills, skill points, and stats from previous characters, which is incredibly important because dying in the game happens often. Supplies, especially healing supplies, are scarce. Enemies are countless, and the environment itself seeks to take you out. Players should expect to take a few tumbles, especially when starting the game.

Co-op

While survival in Desolate is difficult, it’s much easier when played with others. Currently, servers support up to 4 players teaming up to take on the horrors of the island together. The more people you play with the higher your chances of survival. There is no friendly-fire currently enabled which is a great thing to deter trolling, but also because melee hits have a wide swing radius so it’d be easy to accidentally hit allies when teaming up against a single enemy.

One element that would make co-op play much smoother is voice chat. Currently, only text chat is available which makes the game feel a little outdated.

Kinks

Noting that the game is still in early access, there are still some improvements to be made. For example, the jumping physics in the game are clunky and when jumping the falling speed is too slow, so it feels like you’re on the moon about to plant a flag.

While the AI is decent there are points when enemies seem brainless. A good example is the distance an enemy is willing to chase you. When an enemy chases you and you’re low on health, all you need to do is sprint far enough away and it seems like most, if not all enemies will give up chasing you after a few yards. Either all the enemy NPCs in the game have terrible cardio, or the NPCs are restricted to remain within certain areas or only chase players up to a certain distance. Regardless of the reason, this phenomenon removes a strong element of the realism within the game which is the fear aspect. Furthermore, the skills system in the game is a tad complicated without much explanation given as to how it works.

GRAPHICS AND AUDIO

The graphics of the game are incredible, but you’ll need a decent gaming PC to run everything on the highest levels. However, for people with even medium-grade PCs that have a half-decent graphics card, Desolate is playable thanks to four visual quality levels that can be adjusted at will. The draw distance is quite far and some of the creatures you will see are visually breathtaking in a horrifying yet beautiful way. The animals and creatures are well-designed and eye-catching. If graphics are set to high-levels the humanoid NPCs, as well as the player character avatars, look decent as well.

One point that should be addressed is the storage items in the game. Ranging from toolboxes and barrels, to garbage bags and sacks, all these items blend seamlessly into the backgrounds of the game. However, this makes it difficult for the player to realize which items are scavengable or not. Often it’s difficult to tell whether you can open something until you get as close as possible and hover the cursor over it.

The soundtrack of the game as well as the sound effects really set the mood and horror tone of the game. With a somber eerie, score in the background, the music will suddenly shift to a heart-racing and thrilling score when you’re spotted by enemies, much like when the killer chases their victim in a horror movie. Sometimes random incoherent murmurs or the creepy laughter of a little girl will randomly play in the background prompting you to look all around for an enemy that isn’t there.

CONCLUSION

Desolate is a game to watch out for in the coming year. Currently, the game is set to be released fully in late 2018 and gamers should definitely not overlook it. For horror buffs, an open-world horror game is a dream come true. while there are still some things to be worked on, Desolate shines in its story, gameplay foundations, and character design.

As well, the co-op mode gives gamers the ability to explore the horrific Ganichny island together and scream in terror alongside friends when creepy little-girl jump scares are thrown onto the screen, or wailing madmen come running. All-in-all, the early access edition of the game gives players a great glimpse into what they can look forward to in Desolate. 

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