Last week we invited the guys from games.mail.ru to our office for an early hands-on of Survarium's PvE mode. Below is the translation of their review.
Lootboxes, anomalies and extremely aggressive enemies: our first impressions of Survarium's PvE-mode
Survarium, like S.T.A.L.K.E.R, has been in development for many years: the last time we talked about the project was back in 2013. Since then, Survarium went into early access on Steam and received contradictory reviews: many players were waiting for the former creators of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. to deliver the ideological continuation of their favourite game, and received a session-based online shooter instead. Nevertheless, if you were among the disappointed, now is the time to give the game a second chance: the developers are finally going to add to it a new mode, designed to satisfy that very "stalker" thirst!
Although Survarium remains primarily a PvP-game, there will be content for lovers of cooperative gameplay. So, several times a day a group of three players can go on a raid and, if successful, return with reward. Initially, only one PvE level will be available, but in the future the developers plan to add other maps created in accrodance with the wishes of players.
The main reason to go through a cooperative is a valuable loot. In the level are hidden chests with valuable objects (in the Survarium they are called caches). Their coordinates are random each time you play, so the map will have to be explored each time, checking each corner to collect as many caches as possible. If the group succeeds in completing the mission, then at the end of the assignment, all the collected chests will open and a random reward will be given: it can be, for example, a new weapon.
The higher the difficulty of the game, the more likely it is you will receive rare loot. However, in practice to pass the mission, even at low difficulty and with experienced teammates, is not an easy thing. Local NPCs (which, by the way, are voiced in great tradition of the Bandits from S.T.L.K.E.R.) are distinguished by an ingenious savvy and accuracy. Plus they are outfitted surprisingly well: bandits in Survarium wear not tracksuits, but Kevlar bulletproof vests.
Another factor complicating the passage of the mission are the anomalies. Anomalies are deadly and dangerous to any adventurer and are difficult to notice with the naked eye. Therefore, in special sections of the map, where warning signs are placed about potential anomalies, you should move very carefully and throw bolts in front of you to determine the location of the anomalies.
The cooperative map is divided into two sections: a forest and a secret laboratory. Forest - a fairly well-developed level with a lot of paths, so it can be approached in different ways. But the laboratory, for comparison, turned out to be much more shallow (at least in the version of the game we saw in early preview). At the moment, the most interesting thing that players will find here are audio recordings that shed light on the history of the world of Survarium. In general, the completion of the PvE-mission should take your group about forty minutes.
Although Vostok Games are now fully focused on co-op, the studio has not forgotten about the PvP-mode. They will be gradually adding small improvements that should make battles between players more enthralling. So, now before the start of the match, you need to pick up the equipment with this in mind: things have weight that affects the speed of the character's movement during the fight. In addition, the developers are gradually introducing a weapon modification system into the game: now it is possible to install modules for certain weapons.
Survarium is developing, albeit slowly - with the introduction of PvE, the project is beginning to resemble the game that Vostok Games talked about four years ago. The cooperative mode is pleasing with its high complexity and thoughtful design of the locations, and if new missions will be added regularly with the same level of quality, we will have an excellent game. The exact date for the release of the PvE-mode is not yet available, but its release is expected to take place this month.