GET OUT OF HERE STALKER!
Survarium is a post apocalyptic multiplayer FPSMMO by Vostok Games, the makers of the atmospheric S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series. Naturally being a big fan of the original series for its setting, atmospherics and general all round challenge I have high hopes for this new FPS. I found myself lucky enough to win a lottery for participation in the alpha and beta builds, the beta build has now been made public and accessible on steam but...is it any good?
Currently there is only a team deathmatch mode available as well as iterations of a battery gathering hoarding match type where the team with the most batteries at the end of the game wins. Future modes including free play PvE featuring mutants and an open wasteland as well as co-op modes are planned for the future. The free roaming PvE/PvP modes are the most highly anticipated by fans but due to the work involved are not currently available.
You begin with the option of a Mosin rifle or sub machine gun, as well as a pistol and jump into a matchmaking deathmatch with other fresh newbies. I would definitely advise the sub machine gun for starting out since despite the long sprawling maps with numerous vantage points that would often promote a slow tactical advance, many people are currently charging across the map to shoot each other up close in the face. The combat is fast paced with very little downtime, often concentrated in a few key areas, especially near spawns. If you find yourself exploring the many interesting locations on each map you may find yourself short of encounters, at least it gives you time to admire your bleak surroundings.
I never knew green and brown could be so gorgeous. The level design is fantastic and original, being a post-apocalyptic setting it includes all the locales that you would expect, sprawling woodland, fractured earth with flaming craters, crumbling walls, ruined building being overrun with vegetation and more. Despite the dark setting, the levels are very detailed and stunning to look at. The first time you some of the danger zones, areas full of flame and radiation, it is hard to not simply stop and admire the hazardous view. In the earlier builds, artifacts were often hidden amongst these details, artifacts give you significant stat boosts and bonuses at a radiation cost. Many of which cannot even be accessed without the appropriate equipment to protect yourself. Anomalies and artifacts that were present in the original series are going through consistent changes throughout the alpha and beta builds and are being made to have more of a presence, appearing small and non-threatening at first before expanding and evolving to becoming a serious threat. It will be interesting to see how they are used in the long term.
Being a FPSMMO, there are now various stat and level points that you can allocate to various perks and specialisations. These can range from bleed resistance, gun accuracy to more obscure traits such as medicine and radiation specialisation. Currently due to the limited scope of the beta there isn't much use for any non direct combat perks. There are several factions within the game that you can align yourself with and get various timed missions to improve your reputation with them such as 'Kill 5 enemies with a bear trap' or 'Win 5 matches'. Upon improving your reputation it allows you to purchase additional equipment from the store such as medicine, weapons, bear traps, stimulants and more. Yes, bear traps. Upon seeing this I immediately added them to my inventory but they are pretty difficult to use effectively, they are a double edged weapon with as much risk to you and your team as to others. There have definitely been many occasions where I have clumsily stepped onto my own trap, breaking my legs and crawling around waiting for an enemy to put me out of my misery. Damage is location based, if you get shot in the arms you may find yourself unable to wield certain weapons, if able to shoot at all. Hit in the legs or a grenade lands at your feet, you might not be able to walk if you survive. These effects don't really have much of an impact yet since the current META is to simply charge around, if you get incapacitated in a way you will die a few seconds later more often than not.
You will die, a lot. The game is pretty unforgiving, it doesn't take a lot to kill someone and if you are not playing anywhere near Russia expect to be playing with a big network disadvantage. During the earlier alpha builds I was having serious latency issues, often hovering around the 500ping mark, which made it unrealistic for me to get any kills unless I really got the drop on someone. The situation has now improved considerably with server selection being made available as well as NA servers being established in the near future. The levels while, gorgeous and sprawling can quickly become unbalanced if one team pushes to the enemy spawn and it becomes a spawn massacre, an experience that can really drag due to the matches generous timer. After each round you have a chance at obtaining new equipment and weapons as well as other goodies to help improve your character.
Survarium is a game that has shown consistent improvement with regular patches and updates, the sounds are gorgeous as developers regular update us with their live sound testing of various grenades and bullets in various settings. The guns don't have that jarring 'firing in a warehouse' sound prevalent in counter strike, each weapon has definite impact. Anomalies and the stat progression have already been through various tweaks and the latency issues are improving. This game has a lot of potential if the developers continue to dedicate themselves so strongly, the amount of players has been rapidly increasing too, at first the servers would only be flooded with Russian but now its reaching out to more international players, which will no doubt increase even more with Steams help.
One important point to be aware of though is that this is a free to play game, therefore it unfortunately has the cash based incentives to buy currency to purchase higher tier equipment. It hasn't become a pay to win cash cow that Tribes 2 tragically became but its showing early warning signs that it could swing that way. Especially if any purchase packs come out that speed EXP growth as the stat and perk system could rapidly ruin the balance...fingers crossed it doesn't go that way.
Should you play it now? I would say yes, even more so if you are a fan of the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series. However, play it with an open mind, it may be a little laggy and some features are missing but it is a BETA overall. Also if you don't like it now, keep checking in as the game has vastly improved over the past few months. Survarium has a lot of potential, lets hope that Vostok don't sell their souls to the freemium model and keep the core gameplay intact!
