Ascend to Valhalla
Ragnarok has come. Midgar has shattered. You are among the few who have survived, and now must prove yourself worthy of joining the gods in Valhalla.
The setup of this game is just as epic as the content within it. Rend combines the best parts of survival games, tower defense, and action MMORPGs into one awesome experience. We got a chance to learn more about this game by Frostkeep behind closed doors at E3. We sat down with the studio developers to get a better sense of their vision, and left very impressed.
The first thing you’ll lay eyes on in Rend is the gorgeous artwork of lush, colorful landscapes. Featuring an almost painterly look, the art style kept me distracted for most of the demonstration. We traveled from bright green pastures to dark gloomy swamp lands with seamless transitions. The look seems familiar, yet much more refined and detailed, being perhaps my favorite of what we saw.
Survival That Matters
At its core, Rend is a survival game. However it seems to accomplish something most survival games simply cannot, and that is to bring heavy investment systems into the mix, with actual plot and purpose to your playtime. Like your typical survival game, you start with little more than the clothes on your back. You need to craft tools, gather resources, and do everything you can to stay fed, sheltered, and alive.
This is where Rend starts to separate itself from the pack. When you create your character, you choose one of three factions to be a part of. Positioned at 3 corners of the gigantic triangular map, you can find sanctuary at your base, which is protected from outside dangers. Everything you do in the game will then contribute to your faction’s progress.
The core of the day-to-day gameplay and events are perhaps the most intriguing aspects of the game. You can choose what to focus on. If you want to spend your time gathering materials and building up your faction’s base, you can do that, while still contributing to your faction’s success. You can even tame several pets to help you in your daily chores. Conversely, if you want to be a lone warrior, you can get on your mount and head out to find isolation. It might prove beneficial to build a shack for yourself out in the swamps, and scout out the competition for your faction.
The four classes or roles available are designed to cater to your preferred play style. The roles available are Assassin, Survivalist, Soldier, and Mystic. Each role comes with its own set of specialization and talents. For instance, the Assassin has talents to help them stay alive longer and make the most out of fewer resources, while the survivalist has talents to help preserve stamina and gather material more quickly. You can also research and develop advanced building and crafting techniques.
A Dynamic Living World
The game happens with or without you online. As a shared, living server, the events of Rend happen in real time. Twice a week you’ll experience an event known as “The Reckoning”. All of the faction bases become vulnerable for a time, and you have to fend off against a hoard of enemies known as the Lost. They will attempt to attack your Divinity Stone, which holds the key to your faction’s victory. You are also vulnerable to other factions invading as well, so you’ll need to spend your prep time wisely.
Combat is a vital component to Rend. Whether you’re fighting the beasts of the wild, or a rival faction, becoming proficient in combat will prove to be very useful on a daily basis. The game features a loot-based progression system, which will make loot-hungry players like me very happy. You can upgrade your tools, weapons, and armor over time, as well as your skills and abilities.
As you play, your faction collects Spirits, stored in your faction’s Divinity Stone, which is protected behind the walls of your base. The World Tree Yggdrasil serves as the literal centerpiece of the map, tracking the progress of each faction with glowing runes on each of the three sides. If you want to see your faction’s progress, you can simply look at Yggdrasil. Once you collect enough spirits, your factions wins, and you ascend to Valhalla. Your account is then awarded with special recognition that carries over into your next match. The matches themselves can last up to 2 real months, which feels very right for an investment survival game.
The investment systems, combined with your overall goal, provide a nice sense of urgency and importance to everything you do in the world of Rend. It creates a purpose for survival that otherwise needs to be modded or role-played. As a former obsessive Minecraft player, I loved all aspects of survival games, but dislike the lack of a narrative or higher purpose to tie it all together. Rend supplies that in epic fashion. The deep investment systems are right up my alley, and I can’t wait to dive in.
Rend is currently in a closed Alpha and will be available to Steam Early Access later this year.
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