DERELICT VOID REVIEW FULL
When I got most of them funneled into a small room, I chucked cluster bombs in and then was free to explore the ship unthreatened.īeing able to tell stories like this and know that everyone else’s will be different is the best version of systemic game design - there are no curated sequences, but well-made titles like Void Bastards are full of potential.
The tension of turning a corner, getting spotted, and then making a sprint to seal the next door was gripping. So, a run through one ship became like the ending of Alien 3 with me sealing off doors, slowly blocking their attempts to get me. In one level there were a large number of “Screws” - hulking monsters that can absorb and deal a ton of damage, but as tough as they are, they can’t open locked doors. This random generation also allowed me to create mini-stories when elements clashed. The supply of criminals is infinite and the punishment feels mild - Bastards seems more interested in when, and not if the player is going to finish the campaign. Any items and gear built will be carried over to the new character, but ammo, food, fuel and currency are lost. The first rehydrated criminal can be permanently killed, and if they are, a different protagonist with random stats will be spawned. Now comes the point where some are going to groan – there’s a roguelike element to Void Bastards. The first mission is to get an ID card approved by HR, and then the camera pans to show that there’s a gaping hole in the ship where HR used to be. This feeling of being about to laugh despite the macabre is present throughout the campaign. Void Bastards presents like it should be horror with deformed ‘citizens’ roaming the halls - and it does feel like that sometimes - but barks from the enemies range from ‘ Not you again!’ to ‘ Can I speak to the manager?’ make the interactions patently absurd. Also, none of the ships have breathable air, so the player is on an oxygen limit that can only be extended by finding a recharger on the ship they’re scavenging.
DERELICT VOID REVIEW GENERATOR
Each ship has set layouts of rooms (FTL rooms, generator rooms, etc.), but the loot and the enemies are all randomized. Once a ship is boarded, Bastards goes into first-person perspective and the player, initially equipped with a pistol/shotgun, must explore. It’s not required to stop and explore each ship on the map, but a move costs fuel and food, so there’s only so far a player can go before needing to dock with a vessel and resupplying. Once rehydrated and pressed into service, they will travel across a 2D star map dotted with derelict ships, going from one to the next in search of items that will build required systems, upgrades, ammo, food and fuel. For example, the reasons given for incarceration - things like driving in an official lane without permission, or shoplifting – hardly feel like reasons for being reduced to a cube and kept on a penal craft.
The tone is light, but takes a darkly ironic view of prisons, bureaucracy and corporations. The player is a ‘rehydrated’ convict, awakened by an AI that requires their assistance to get across the nebula as all the ‘citizens’ in this part of space have been contaminated and are now murder-focused. The story is presented in comic book panel format, and even its 3D sections look like a heavily-lined Moebius drawing come to life. The press kit mentions members of the team have affiliations with Bioshock and System Shock 2, and I can see the influence in this cartoon-styled FPS via elements of emergent gameplay and a dystopian setting. Void Bastards is the debut from development team Blue Manchu.
WTF Those Markets are cartoonishly gross.
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