In this update, we’re going back to where it all began.
We all have very fond memories of the original Monstrum. Getting lost in the endless hallways and frantically trying to escape the Hisa Maru before getting caught by the monstrosities that dwell there.
You guys loved spending countless hours there, so we decided to bring that nostalgic, iconic location to Monstrum 2.
We have a couple of really exciting things coming in this update, so let’s dive in. Starting with the biggest: the addition of the Hisa Maru.
NEW ESCAPE ROUTE - THE DOCKYARD
Our 3rd escape route takes the form of the ship from the original Monstrum game, the Hisa Maru. Unlike the original Monstrum, which had 3 escape routes off the ship, the only way to escape the Hisa Maru in Monstrum 2 will be to fix up the life raft on the top deck. Traverse the tight corridors and visit familiar rooms on your quest to escape with your life.
The update for the Hisa Maru includes:
- A partially destroyed version of the Hisa Maru ship as a playable area
- New Escape Missions
- New locker variations
- Unique escape music
- Escape Cutscene animation
With the events of Monstrum 2 taking place approximately 50 years after the first game, the Hisa Maru is very worn down and deteriorated. The ship has been reduced to a battered wreck with the forward bow section of the ship broken off by a passing hurricane. The rear stern section has then sunk to the floor of the dockyard blocking the whole pier facility and flooding the lower decks of the ship. The development team have chosen to present the Hisa Maru in such a dilapidated state as it matches the crumbling Sea Fort’s haunting shipwreck atmosphere. This also reduces the accessible play space, making the Hisa Maru more suited to the Monstrum 2 play style.
Players exploring the interior decks of the Hisa Maru may notice plenty of rooms that are familiar from the original game, such as the Security office and Bridge. Some new features have been added, such as holes in the wall for use as crouching crawl through spots to help players escape in a chase. In order to balance the gameplay we have also left the remaining interior corridors in the Hisa Maru static rather than keeping the full procedural generation featured in the first Monstrum. However, the positions of mission interactables and items will still be randomised.
The Dockyard is also accompanied by a brand new original score, made by our Audio Designer Jordan Guerette, who had the following comments:
“Given that the Hisa Maru is the setting for the entire first Monstrum game, in creating the Dockyard’s music I wanted to nod at Monstrum 1, while designing adaptive music that fits the gameplay of Monstrum 2. The first thing I did was play Monstrum 1 and spend some time with Jaime Cross’s soundtrack. There was a lot there for me to draw from, and I was excited to get started. I decided against using Jaime’s specific themes, and instead took inspiration from the spirit and feeling of his music as I established the musical style and selected what instruments to use, including robotic sounding bass, shakers, and unstable sounding synths.
I really enjoyed the opportunity to musically interpret the current state of the Hisa Maru, shipwrecked and forgotten in the Dockyard of Honsha-Miller’s crumbling Sea Fort.” - Jordan Guerette, Audio Designer
The team have enjoyed the challenge of bringing back the Hisa Maru and it has generated a fair amount of nostalgia from some of the longstanding members of the development team who were present for both games. We hope players enjoy this new content as well.
But wait, that’s not all!
Here’s what else is coming in this update:
CUSTOM GAMES CHANGES
When we first launched custom games back in December, we heard your feedback on other options you’d like to be able to change in your games.
New options have been added to the Custom Games menu:
Map Settings
- Added Dockyard as an escape route option.
- Adjustable time limits for each stage of the game
- Stage 1 + 2 time range:
- Min: 10mins 30s
- Max: 25mins 30s
- Default: 18mins
- Stage 3 time range:
- Min: 6mins
- Max: 16mins
- Stage 4 time range:
- Min: 1min
- Max: 2mins
- Stage 1 + 2 time range:
Prisoners
Stage 1 mission objectives can now be adjusted to determine the amount of switches required to move onto Stage 2. Lights above the doors of the Stage 2 area will update to match this option.
- Minimum 3
- Maximum 10
CUSTOM GAMES UI
We realise that the sliders in the Custom Game settings were not very clear. To help with the understanding of the Custom Games Menu we have added value readouts so you can see exactly what effect each option is having on your game. (The Monster damage value is an exception as that varies based on the Monster so no values are shown for this)
ACHIEVEMENTS
12 additional achievements have been added to provide rewards for the new escape route, additional challenges and milestones.
BRUTE LIGHTS
“Marina” light variation added to the following Brute skins:
- Deep Sea Brute
- Tensile Brute
- Leviathan Brute
“Coral” light variation added to the following Brute skins:
- Metamorphous Brute
- Sunken Wraith Brute
Look out for another light variation with the new skins coming with season seven!
SEASON SEVEN REWARDS
Season Seven will launch alongside the Hisa Maru update. This will include a new set of rewards for completing games as a Prisoner or any of the three Monster types. The rewards will be a selection of Prisoner Clothing and Accessories, Monster Skins, Lobby Name Plates and bulk sums of Monstrum Credits.
The previous season's rewards will be added to the store for you to purchase with Monstrum Credits if you weren’t able to earn them during the season.
There are also a multitude of bug fixes coming in this update, the full details of these will be available in the patch notes that will be released on March 27th.
The Hisa Maru update goes live at approximately 3pm BST on March 28th.
We look forward to seeing you on Sparrowlock!