Grounded: Early version preview

“Survivalists” set their teeth on edge with construction: there is rarely anything new in this genre, and the developers need to try very hard to come up with an interesting setting. Which is what I did Obsidian Entertainment – as a result of brainstorming, a very promising project called Grounded.

O brave new world

What distinguishes the game from other representatives of the genre is the change in perspective. This time Robinsonade takes place not in a post-apocalyptic wasteland or on a desert island, but in a completely ordinary environment – in the backyard of a house. Here everything is like in the works that inspired the studio: the equipment of the local doctor Zalinski reduced children to the size of insects, and the heroes were left to their own devices in a hostile wild world, which until that moment had not even been noticed.

“Someday I will build a huge flying machine from dandelions and get home… And then cockroaches will eat me.”.

This change in perspective makes you look at seemingly ordinary things differently. Man is no longer the king of nature, but the main prey in a world where every ant is interested in a strange stranger. The grass turns into huge trees, the footprint of a dog’s paws on the ground is a real crater, and the house in the distance generally seems inaccessible. And if as a child you wanted to study the life of insects, wondered where they crawl and what they do, then Grounded – this is a great opportunity to make a long-time dream come true.

It’s too early to talk about the plot in Early Access, but the world of small creatures is not limited to eternal wars with spiders and beetles. During the game it turns out that in the backyard there is a whole scientific world consisting of tiny laboratories and robots, and the creators of the mysterious project of the Ominent corporation have yet to be found and brought to justice. The bait for this storyline has been abandoned, and we can only hope that the developers will present the very idea of ​​the “shadow world” of midget scientists in an interesting way.

The theme of secret projects is quite organically woven into the plot of the game: mini-stations are scattered everywhere, where you can analyze the collected materials and learn new recipes. For inquisitiveness, the hero receives raw science and can exchange it for rare and useful technologies from the robot.

In the future, the developers promise to diversify the game with new story quests and audio diaries of scientists, but first of all Grounded is a pretty exciting sandbox where you can have fun without typical tasks like “Kill two wolf spiders”.

It’s easier to hit spiders in a crowd

Many survival games deliberately do not add co-op. In some places this emphasizes the loneliness of the main character, in others it makes the player a brave pioneer. But Grounded definitely thrives in the company of friends: they will help build a base, share a drop of juice, and distract the spiders. After all, why are children worse than ants who organize aggressive campaigns on someone else’s nest??

The characters have banal but relatable http://casinoclassic-online.co.uk/ archetypes: the nerdy scout, the hooligan football player, the informal geek and the eternal optimist. The characters of the children do not yet influence the gameplay, but they help you feel the atmosphere, find a common language with your ward and even associate yourself with him, an inquisitive child who did not at all expect to spend a day off in the backyard.

The characters have unique lines and reactions to what is happening: Willow is delighted with “geeky things” and small laboratories, and the cowardly Pete sometimes touches with his naivety and curiosity.

Remember how in “Lord of the Flies” the children began to go crazy as soon as they were left without adult supervision and began to live on their own? Here the little ones are not so infantile, because they immediately pick up the fundamental things for crafting – sticks and stones – and go to study the ways of the new world, help each other survive and look for a way to salvation in a friendly atmosphere.

But even in a four-person co-op, nothing prevents you from splitting into several teams and organizing a small competitive tournament with your tribes, trade and wars for territory. In early access, the map is already large enough so that all participants do not feel crowded, and in the future the developers plan to add several new biomes in which it is both more profitable and dangerous to live.

Don’t follow the spiders

As one might guess, life in the world of insects is not a vacation at a summer camp, but a real test even for trained players. A friendly morning inevitably gives way to a terrible night, when nocturnal predators are already waiting for children.

Many spiders sleep during the day, but this does not mean that you can relax, because in addition to them, there are bees, bombardier beetles and stink bugs in the world. Chitin and glands are found in many crafting recipes, so you won’t be able to be a pacifist. Yes, at first it’s scary to fight with insects, but step by step you can return to the top of the food chain and take a liking to several spider caves.

“Combat” is still very monotonous, and the artificial intelligence of insects leaves much to be desired. For example, the most dangerous wolf spiders in the game turn into defenseless babies as soon as the player climbs onto a hill and equips himself with a bow.

But even if you are not afraid of arthropods, it is impossible to get used to them, because when an eight-legged colossus the size of a house is hanging from behind, you will not be able to remain cold-blooded. Fortunately, the developers have taken care of arachnophobes – in the settings you can change the type of spiders and make them into a lovely ball without chelicerae and eight legs.

But not everything in this world wants to kill you. In addition to wolf spiders and weavers, friendly and relatively neutral insects can be found in the backyard: aphids, weevils, grubs, ladybugs and ants.

Obsidian spent a long time observing insects in their natural environment to study their habits and movements. And if we usually do not consider the inhabitants of the microworld as enemies, then in Grounded willy-nilly you have to predict their behavior, learn not to provoke and get along in the same territory.

You can pretend to be an ant and join the raid, but it’s unlikely that new friends will want to share the loot.

What can you do in the game now??

Grounded not as categorical and ruthless as The Long Dark, Darkwood, Green Hell and other survival games. It’s very easy to meet the character’s needs, because a drop of dew and a small mushroom will suit the baby perfectly. Consumption of dirty water and spoiled food does not sentence you to death, but if the duel with nature ends fatally, you can pick up your things after revival.

Grounded – this is not a game for an intense struggle for life, but a sandbox in which you can relax your soul – spend hours enjoying the endless sky and landscapes, admiring insects and slowly building a tree house.

In Early Access, the emphasis is on exploring new biomes and building, which no modern survival game can do without. Players take advantage of the landscape and build high-rise buildings made of grass and dandelion stems, which protect them from the barbaric attacks of envious neighbors.

Developers release their projects in early access not only to raise funds – they also carefully listen to player feedback. Fans of “survivalists” will be able to influence their future fate Grounded, push the studio to rethink some mechanics, so that later they can enjoy a full-fledged and well-balanced release. Interesting ideas are already appearing in the feedback.

The disadvantages are insignificant and forgivable for a project in early access. There are not many recipes for crafting in the game, there are non-critical bugs, obvious mechanics have not yet been implemented, there is no Russian language. But the shortcomings are drowned under the nostalgic delight of the very concept of life among insects – already in Grounded nice to play.