It's the end of the world as we know it
16 April 2012 | By Emmanuel Brown
You can say what you like about games like Torchlight successfully crossing the divide from PC to console Action-RPG, but ultimately everybody knows this is a genre belonging to that monolithic tower sitting beneath your desk. There was a cathartic joy to the click-fight-loot formula as it was birthed with mouse and keyboard all those years ago, and with upcoming releases like Diablo III and Krater sitting alongside the likes of the brilliant Titan Quest and Magicka, there’s never been a better time for fans of top-down combat.
Whilst they might seem mad to be releasing in the timeframe that they are, developer Fatshark seems to be fully aware of the competition they’ll be up against this year. If this pre-alpha build of Krater is anything to go by, they’re not taking their subject matter too seriously either, hopefully providing a nice counterpoint to the hordes of undead slayed beneath Blizzard’s juggernaut.
Set in a giant impact crater filled with isolated post-apocalyptic towns and an abundance of vegetation, Krater asks you to play as a group of three “free diggers” wandering the earth picking up useful loot for barter and trade. Each of the towns in Solside (which represents the first chapter of a planned three) has its own group of NPCs, merchants, quests and side-quests, with locations linked together via a traditional overland map. Taking a quick glance at the territorial layout also reveals a somewhat cavernous hole into the middle of the earth, which is where the majority of Krater’s procedurally-generated dungeon-crawling is set.
Although the content in this pre-alpha build was unsurprisingly limited, the basic premise of Krater seems to revolve around a mysterious “something” that’s eventually found in this hole, and each of the chapters involves a separate faction of townships exploring and encountering the dangers for themselves.
In terms of pure mechanics it plays out in a similar fashion as you might expect, with mouse clicks governing your attack targets and six hotkeys representing each of the two special skills available to individual party members. Your protagonists can be individually placed or moved as a group, and they take up roles based on one of four classes (loosely conforming to a tank, healer or DPS-type), which lend the action a nice MMO/RTS slant. The AI does a fairly good job of keeping your party members acting according to their individual class, but it quickly becomes apparent that micro-management produces the best results, and especially when it comes to healing.
The reason for that focus on taking individual control is one of the more compelling facets of Krater, and it’s tied into the notion of permanence. If your tank gets injured in battle and isn’t patched up in time, he may well find himself permanently crocked, with no option to fix the damage. You can choose to replace your party members with recruits from around town, but that’ll cost you hard-earned rewards, and it’ll mean that you sacrifice all of the stat boosts and upgrades that you’ve already invested in that character. There are no re-rolls here, and outside of equipment, your choices are permanent.
Fortunately that doesn’t imply a lack of flexibility if you plan ahead, and it’s quite possible to have party members set up in such a manner that they can perform a dual-role if necessary, hopefully allowing you a bit of breathing room when it comes to patching people up. The crafting system also plays into that drive towards deep customisation, with all sorts of weapons, gear and items available to whittle together from the detritus of your missions. Although we didn’t get to experience too much of that side of things, the character and crafting menus hint at something on a scale that should satisfy even the most well-worn tinkerers, with that depth and investment presumably aiding Krater in the battle to keep players coming back for chapters 2&3.
It all looks pretty too, which should help. Although there’s little in the way of production value at the moment (conversations are resolutely text-based and we didn’t see much in the way of cinematics), Krater’s art style and general presentation convey enough atmosphere to make it stand out for the better. The post-apocalypse setting is well-worn at this point, but there’s a sweet comic-book style here that manifests itself in some charming characters, and we can only hope that the overarching narrative lends them enough life for it to become compelling over the planned releases.
Even if that never comes to fruition however, there’s an implied level of depth to the customisation, combat and RPG elements in Krater that should stand this first episode in good stead. With plenty of time for a multiplayer reveal and a good dose of polish before their summer launch, it’s certainly one for genre fans to keep a close eye on.
Best Game Moment: Loot, loot and more loot
Whilst they might seem mad to be releasing in the timeframe that they are, developer Fatshark seems to be fully aware of the competition they’ll be up against this year. If this pre-alpha build of Krater is anything to go by, they’re not taking their subject matter too seriously either, hopefully providing a nice counterpoint to the hordes of undead slayed beneath Blizzard’s juggernaut.
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| Styles differ from town to town |
Set in a giant impact crater filled with isolated post-apocalyptic towns and an abundance of vegetation, Krater asks you to play as a group of three “free diggers” wandering the earth picking up useful loot for barter and trade. Each of the towns in Solside (which represents the first chapter of a planned three) has its own group of NPCs, merchants, quests and side-quests, with locations linked together via a traditional overland map. Taking a quick glance at the territorial layout also reveals a somewhat cavernous hole into the middle of the earth, which is where the majority of Krater’s procedurally-generated dungeon-crawling is set.
Although the content in this pre-alpha build was unsurprisingly limited, the basic premise of Krater seems to revolve around a mysterious “something” that’s eventually found in this hole, and each of the chapters involves a separate faction of townships exploring and encountering the dangers for themselves.
In terms of pure mechanics it plays out in a similar fashion as you might expect, with mouse clicks governing your attack targets and six hotkeys representing each of the two special skills available to individual party members. Your protagonists can be individually placed or moved as a group, and they take up roles based on one of four classes (loosely conforming to a tank, healer or DPS-type), which lend the action a nice MMO/RTS slant. The AI does a fairly good job of keeping your party members acting according to their individual class, but it quickly becomes apparent that micro-management produces the best results, and especially when it comes to healing.
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| It wouldn’t be the apocalypse without a neon bar sign |
The reason for that focus on taking individual control is one of the more compelling facets of Krater, and it’s tied into the notion of permanence. If your tank gets injured in battle and isn’t patched up in time, he may well find himself permanently crocked, with no option to fix the damage. You can choose to replace your party members with recruits from around town, but that’ll cost you hard-earned rewards, and it’ll mean that you sacrifice all of the stat boosts and upgrades that you’ve already invested in that character. There are no re-rolls here, and outside of equipment, your choices are permanent.
Fortunately that doesn’t imply a lack of flexibility if you plan ahead, and it’s quite possible to have party members set up in such a manner that they can perform a dual-role if necessary, hopefully allowing you a bit of breathing room when it comes to patching people up. The crafting system also plays into that drive towards deep customisation, with all sorts of weapons, gear and items available to whittle together from the detritus of your missions. Although we didn’t get to experience too much of that side of things, the character and crafting menus hint at something on a scale that should satisfy even the most well-worn tinkerers, with that depth and investment presumably aiding Krater in the battle to keep players coming back for chapters 2&3.
 |
| Some of the lighting is lovely |
It all looks pretty too, which should help. Although there’s little in the way of production value at the moment (conversations are resolutely text-based and we didn’t see much in the way of cinematics), Krater’s art style and general presentation convey enough atmosphere to make it stand out for the better. The post-apocalypse setting is well-worn at this point, but there’s a sweet comic-book style here that manifests itself in some charming characters, and we can only hope that the overarching narrative lends them enough life for it to become compelling over the planned releases.
Even if that never comes to fruition however, there’s an implied level of depth to the customisation, combat and RPG elements in Krater that should stand this first episode in good stead. With plenty of time for a multiplayer reveal and a good dose of polish before their summer launch, it’s certainly one for genre fans to keep a close eye on.
Best Game Moment: Loot, loot and more loot
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