"Pkh’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh vgah’nagl fhtagn". Raging during their bloody rituals, the cultists recite this mantra, trying to call their lord from the depths of the sea. Poor, drugged fanatics have no idea that in those depths something much more terrible lurks – the Russian gaming industry. This monster, barely having time to be born, was quickly thrown into impenetrable darkness, doomed to eternal side jobs for his more fortunate brothers and self-made projects. But, however, one day the horrors from the depths of the sea will have to come to the surface… And perhaps this day is already close.
The tentacle that appeared above the surface of the water is the Fazan Games studio, squeezing in its suction cups its new project called Egress: a battle royale with elements of the Dark Souls combat system, the events of which unfold in the scenery of Victorian England, complemented by neon and the atmosphere of G.F. Lovecraft. Or rather… Such a description could have been given to her several months ago, when the project entered the beta stage. Now, a week before the release, Egress is already something else – what I now want to tell you about. However, first it’s worth explaining what kind of events are happening in this world, in which science coexists with mysticism.
The Egress universe is in many ways reminiscent of our world during the industrial revolution – the austere architecture typical of 18th-century England coexists with industrial shipyards scattered along the coast of the island and miserable shacks huddled on the outskirts. Mechanisms are working, chimneys are smoking, factories are producing food. But it’s not just technology that influenced the development of this world: everywhere here you can find paths to Nowhere – the abyss from which many mystical artifacts and strange creatures came, the essence of which is not so easy to describe. Under the influence of gifts from the depths, local residents have long harnessed electricity, and alchemy has turned from a relic of the past into a developed science – at least in the path of poisons. However, nothing is given for nothing – and this must be experienced the hard way by the residents of the city in which the main events of the game take place: a city that is quickly sinking under water. Racing against the elements, they climb to the top of the tallest buildings, hunting for supplies along the way and trying to get rid of those who get in the way. And you are one of them.
Perhaps, this description includes all the features that distinguish Egress from games of a similar genre: artifacts, technology, mysticism… In the future, as my story progresses, I will try to talk about all this in more detail. But now I want to dwell on the characters in more detail – since, unlike most Battle Royale projects, here they are unique heroes with their own history and characteristics.
In total, 12 different characters were announced in the game, one way or another related to the history of the city, but at the moment only 5 have been fully introduced into the game: Alchemist, Plague Dreamer, Bloodkeeper, Sword Master and Miner. In addition to ten characteristics common to all heroes: health, speed, stamina, workload, three types of damage and three types of defense, each of them is endowed with its own backstory, unique weapons and two special abilities that amend the gameplay. If little is known about the others, I’ll tell you more about these.
A young academy graduate who goes by the nickname "Lady Alchemist". Fast, dexterous and cunning, because her main weapon is deadly poisons, which she succeeded in creating during her studies. Her abilities also emerge from the character description: “Poisonous Blade” covers her rapier with poison, and “Poisonous Cloud” immerses everything around in a shroud of dangerous fog. Faced with it without an antidote, one can only curse the unfortunate fate.
Plague Dreamer
Once upon a time, this girl was an ordinary orphan thrown onto the streets of the city. Succumbing to hunger and cold, she died, but, oddly enough, this was only the beginning of her story – intelligent mushrooms straight from Nowhere found her body and revived it, turning the dreamer into a real monster: the blow of her umbrella, saturated with spores, plunges the victim into an illusion, from which, inhaling toxic fumes, she will never get out. Enemies try to avoid meeting her at all costs.
Bloodkeeper https://casinosnotongamcare.co.uk/non-gamcare-betting-sites/
The Creature from Nowhere, the abyss that extends beneath the city. His goals on land are unknown, but nature makes the blood run cold: by drinking it from his victims, he can then return this liquid back in the form of bloody arrows and clots. Truly, many more secrets lurk in those depths..
Sword Master
A follower of the Second Wind sect, relying only on her swords and ideals in battle. The use of alchemy, technology and special powers is alien to her, so in battle you should not expect cunning tricks from this blade master. However, don’t underestimate swordsmanship.
An urban legend who has dived into Nowhere many times in search of artifacts. He can tell dozens of stories about his adventures, but only one thing can be said about him – do not underestimate this heavy figure in a diving suit. The artifact of their depths allows him to increase his defense many times over, and the gas cylinder allows him to hide under water, where the path to others is already closed. And don’t ask to be hit with his pickaxe.
So, we’re done with the characters for now – it’s time to move on to what people come to games of this kind for: the gameplay.
First, a few words about the new concept – already during the beta, the game acquired a second mode, but, in return, lost what it positioned itself with: ironically, there will not be a battle royale in this battle royale yet – it will be returned after entering early access. However, I will also mention her. In total, at the moment, Egress has two modes: battle royale and “Pinata” mod.
The first is a classic Battle Royale – by choosing one of the proposed characters, up to 15 players randomly appear in a city that is gradually starting to be flooded with water. There are three goals in total:
1. Find objects and artifacts that make survival easier; 2. Get to the highest point in the city; 3. Get rid of the remaining survivors.
Death in this mode is permanent, but after it you can run around as an observer, leaving hints for other players.
Pinata mode is a classic capture of points – players are divided into two teams, the goal of which is to capture and hold several positions on the map, for each of which they give points. The goal of the game is to get 1000 points ahead of your opponents; in total, a team can have up to 15 people who will clash on one of two maps. Unlike the royal battle, there are respawn points here, and also, on one of the maps, using special levers you can control the water level, flooding some areas of the map.
Update from 06.11.2018:
In the latest update, staged maps with a procedural mission were added to the game. Players are divided into two teams – robbers and defenders. The goal of a team of robbers is to commit a robbery. There are several tasks – capture a warehouse with supplies, destroy the security electrical panel, capture the treasure, deliver the treasure to the shore and wait for the boat of your accomplices on the shore. The gameplay in each task is slightly different.
In addition, there is some activity outside the match – in one of the latest patches the opportunity to join an order was added, the choice of which is carried out by the game after passing a text test. Membership in an order allows you to accumulate levels for kills, unlocking passive bonuses, and also gain an advantage when using artifacts related to a particular order. In addition, there is a competition between the orders in the number of kills.
Let’s move directly to the gameplay, namely, to artifacts, items and the combat system. The first are the basis of local leveling: artifacts are equipped items that give the character a variety of passive abilities – some add elemental damage to normal damage, others, on the contrary, permanently increase defense, and still others reduce the cooldown time of abilities and give other positive effects. In total, you can wear only three at a time, and some don’t go together, so you need to keep their properties in mind and select them for your character. In contrast, the use of objects is not so strictly limited – they are limited only by weight and quantity at the location. Consumables are divided into combat (grenades, Molotov cocktails) and auxiliary (first aid kits, potions, antidotes), and their correct use makes the game much easier: molotovs can block a narrow passage, and a stamina potion will allow you to quickly get to the other side of the location.
As for the combat system, it’s not that simple. Although the game positions its mechanics as Souls-like, this is not entirely true: yes, all actions in the game are subject to the amount of stamina that needs to be monitored, but the combat system itself, in general, is simpler – there are no blocks, attacks are limited to light, heavy and jumping strikes, more emphasis is placed on the use of objects and abilities. The ability to parry an attack or stall a blow is also not provided – for the latter the characters have no balance, but it is worth noting that the typical souls problems, such as endless rolls and instant healing, are also not here.
In general, we can wrap this up – let me sum it up a little.
Although I didn’t put much emphasis on this, Egress actually has quite a few weaknesses. A couple of months ago I would have mentioned the crappy optimization, but now everything is fine with it – the developers are actively collecting feedback from players, and the game now maintains stable FPS even on a rather weak machine. At the same time, the graphics, although there are not enough stars in the sky, I wouldn’t call them bad either – the locations are bright, rich in details, a lot of attention is paid to the little things, so some dullness is not an eyesore. The same cannot be said about bugs – I personally haven’t encountered any critical crashes, but the game still has a lot of “dead zones”, problems with animation and other small non-critical glitches, which, however, are being actively fixed. The biggest complaints about the online and combat system: the second is a little lacking in depth, despite the abilities and items, and the first is criminally low – in general, the desire to attract at least a small audience to the game at release is the goal of this blog. Nevertheless, the game has a soul – I admit, the local setting and gameplay really captivated me, even on half-empty servers.
Some points are outlined in more detail in the video version of this review, but I want to take my leave. Best wishes!
Platform: PC (08.11.2018, from 20:00), PS4, Xbox One (later in 2019)
Price: 339 rubles (including discount at release)