Previews
[Early Access Preview] ‘Project Winter’ is an Intriguing Blend of Wintry Survival and Paranoia…When it Works
Project Winter lets you spectate a match as a translucent phantom version of your avatar, looking on as your teammates and opponents run away from grizzlies, call in a rescue chopper and scream “WeedKing is the Traitor!” into their headsets.
The effect of this moment in Other Ocean Interactive’s chilly survival game is like if, instead of having his existence erased from history, George Bailey lost on Survivor: Siberia but stuck around to haunt Boston Rob in a fluffy parka. The rest of the game, meanwhile, feels like an occasionally violent round of Mafia (the party game, not the 2K series) set at an abandoned ski resort.
Play begins inside a rustic cabin, where eight players spawn in full winter gear. From there, they’ll venture out into the dangerous wilderness that surrounds the lodge’s warm comfort. A grizzly bear lurks just a stone’s throw from the start. Wolves prowl on the outskirts of the map. Moose plod through the snow, docile until bothered. A time or two per game, blizzards kick up, pushing wise players back to the cabin.
The most interesting hazards that await in the world of Project Winter, however, are other players. While the game provides base level motivations—find and cook food, keep your health bar stable—the secret pursuit of overarching goals is Project Winter’s slowly pounding pulse.
Each of the eight players is designated a survivor or a traitor as the match begins, and each has hidden goals that will either benefit the group or slow the survivors’ progress. The traitors’ goal is to throw enough wrenches in the works that the survivors can’t escape (or to outlast the survivors with the help of hostile fauna and crafted weapons). The survivors’ goal, meanwhile, is to call in a helicopter to carry them to safety, or to weed out the traitors (again, bears and rifles are a big, if unpredictable, help in this regard).
The least interesting hazards, meanwhile, are the matchmaking and technical issues that keep this early access title a little rough around the edges. I’ve played considerably less of this game than I want to because finding a game has been frustratingly hit-or-miss. Sometimes I’ve loaded into a bustling interactive lobby, where five or six other players were passing the wait by throwing snowballs and cracking jokes on voice chat. Other times, I found myself in a vacant lobby that remained empty for upwards of five to 10 minutes. When this happened, I tabbed out and went to grind some endgame quests in Anthem. Say what you will about BioWare’s loot shooter; there are always people to play with.
Unlike any project released by a publishing behemoth like EA, Project Winter has a small community at this point. That’s fine; it’s still in early access, and the devs have made it clear that this version of the game won’t be finished for a few more months. But, the size of the player base has an interesting effect on the game’s meta (and, I say “interesting” because I’m not yet sure if it’s a good, bad or neutral thing).
Namely, people remember who you are. When I jumped back into the lobby after some Anthem grind time, another player recognized my name.
“Andrew King, you were waiting here an hour ago before I went to get lunch.”
Yes, dude in the Project Winter lobby, yes I was.
That example is innocuous. But, given that Project Winter is a social deception game, I could easily see this dynamic having long-term ramifications across many rounds in a small community of players. Remember the traitor that stabbed you and your friends in the back at the climax of a particularly heated round? Well, here they are in the lobby again. Do you trust them?
Obviously, you should trust them as much as anybody else. Traitor and survivor roles are divvied out by the game’s AI, not by the whims of Project Winter’s players. But, the fact that a grudge is irrational rarely keeps someone from holding it.
In my experience with the game so far, everyone I’ve encountered has handled this dynamic with maturity; they seem to realize that these are just the rules and betrayals and losses can’t be taken personally. However, I don’t see measures in place—not yet at least—to curb the toxicity that could potentially result from social deception mechanics going awry.
But, then again, the winter is long. We’ll see what fixes the team at Other Ocean bring when the game emerges from its early access hibernation in a few months.
Previews
‘Evil Dead: The Game’ Looks to Be Raising the Bar for Asymmetrical Horror [Hands-On Preview]
The idea of synthesizing all of the moving pieces of the Evil Dead series into one cohesive package is one vicious, behemoth Deadite in itself. But on top of that, transcending the medium of film and television and adapting it into a gaming genre as volatile as asymmetrical multiplayer? One would naturally question how Saber Interactive could possibly appease every possible audience with EVIL DEAD: THE GAME, from veteran film fans to savvy gamers who want a unique and engaging experience. But as someone who fits into both camps who recently spent an hour with the developers kicking Deadite ass (and kicking ass as Deadites), I can happily report that Saber Interactive has pulled it off. EVIL DEAD: THE GAME is asymmetrical multiplayer at its best.
For those unfamiliar, asymmetrical multiplayer is a gameplay paradigm that heavily skews the power dynamic between two opposing teams. In the case of EVIL DEAD: THE GAME, four players select a character from the roster of Ash Williams and his cohorts from across the Evil Dead franchise (the “Survivor” team) to face one player who controls the all-powerful Kandarian Demon (the “Killer” team).
The survivor team is packed with familiar faces, including multiple iterations of Ash Williams as he appears throughout the Evil Dead series, meaning if you want to play Avengers multiverse style as a team of four different Ashes, the choice is yours. Just expect to hear a lot of quips from Bruce Campbell, who returned to reprise his role along with almost all of the original cast members from the films and television series. If you’re feeling a bit more sadistic, you can opt to play as The Kandarian Demon, which gives you the ability to control and summon Deadites to hinder and destroy the survivor team before they have a chance to use the Necronomicon to open a portal and excise the evil.
One important question I had when going into the preview was “How is this game going to stand out from its peers in the asymmetrical multiplayer space?” The genre is already well-known for hits like Behaviour Interactive’s Dead By Daylight, and is becoming further saturated with upcoming titles like Gun Media’s Texas Chain Saw Massacre game. Walking out of the preview, I felt that Saber Interactive knocked it out of the park in multiple ways, but my biggest takeaway was the sense of agency that the gameplay provides on both the survivor and killer sides.
For starters, on the survivor side, you’re given the option to select a character that fits into one of four categories: Leader, Warrior, Hunter, or Support. Each character in their respective class holds certain abilities that fit their archetype–for example, Cheryl in Support has an ability that heals the team as they converge around her. This system immediately establishes an element of complexity to the gameplay: how do you build synergy based on these classes? Do you want to be in the fray battling it out, or would you rather scout out objectives and rally the team to success? Additionally, you have the option of upgrading your abilities via cans of Pink-F scattered throughout the map, and have access to an expansive list of weapons to choose from shotguns to Medieval swords.
On the other hand, as the Kandarian Demon, you’re given free rein to zip across the map and collect Infernal Energy, which is used for all sorts of offensive options from summoning Deadites, to conjuring up traps, and my favorite, possession. Think of it like the survivors are in one big haunted house, and you’re the one with the master switch that controls everything that happens, from jump-scare traps to possessed trees and cars. Survivors themselves can even become possessed once their fear meters max out, giving you the option to take control of their characters to lay the smackdown on their team members, waste all of their ammo or separate them from the group. It’s as chaotic as it is a genuinely unique and a fresh take on the genre that’s never been seen before.
These factors of complexity and agency are so important because it counteracts an issue that often presents itself in asymmetrical horror: redundancy. Continuously playing matches can grow stagnant quickly if the gameplay isn’t complex and the same objectives need to be completed over and over again. The one hour I played of EVIL DEAD: THE GAME left me hungry to explore more. How does the gameplay differ between survivors? What are the other weapons like? How can I best optimize my team? And more importantly, I was excited to try out playing as the killer again. Like many other folks who play asymmetrical multiplayer, I tend to favor playing as the survivor over the killer, but playing as the Kandarian Demon was such a blast that I could see myself defecting to the dark side with EVIL DEAD.
EVIL DEAD: THE GAME truly offers something for everyone. Those who have stuck with the franchise since Sam Raimi’s first film in 1981 will love the homages and faithful adaptations, and those new to the series will love the blend of action, horror, and humor. People familiar with asymmetrical multiplayer can expect a fresh and innovative take on the genre, and if you’re new to asymmetrical multiplayer? I can confidently say EVIL DEAD: THE GAME will set the bar high for you.
EVIL DEAD: THE GAME will release on PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Series X/S, and PC via the Epic Games Store on May 13th, 2022.
4 New Horror Movies Releasing This Week Including ‘Late Night with the Devil’ at Home
‘Ready or Not’: Radio Silence Filmmakers Tease the “Absolute Banger” of a Sequel That’s Taking Shape
‘Sting’ Review – Throwback Creature Feature Entertains With an Impressive Practical Monster
“We Built Every Creature” – ‘Alien: Romulus’ Goes Heavy on the Old School Practical Effects!
‘Terrifier 3’: Filming Has Wrapped on Damien Leone’s Christmas Slasher Sequel!
You must be logged in to post a comment.