Starting May 7th, Void Bastards is available on all modern platforms. Do not miss!
Close in spirit
May 7th on Ps4 and Switch will come out Void bastards – A futuristic shooter with elements of “bagel”, similar to the animated comic book. He originally appeared on PC and Xbox one almost a year ago, but then we left him unattended – and Void Bastards deserves it! We are correcting the output of the ports.
Impressive pedigree
In Void Bastards, you also have to sneak along the corridors of spaceships, where monsters roam, in which something human is still guessed. Be afraid of the danger that lies around every corner. And constantly choose: take a chance and examine a couple more rooms or retreat – and, possibly, save your life.
The emotions of the gameplay (and thanks to the amazing sound engineering) Void Bastards – a real horror. And all the more interesting is that according to the script and style it is an ironic comedy.
Funny dystopia
The “Ark” is a huge space prison with a million prisoners who are in cryosion. She helplessly drifts in space, deprived of a crew, and only the enterprising AI is trying to fix the situation, raising prisoners to help. One at a time: if one fails and dies, it will be possible to wake the other. The main goal is to start the Ark’s engine, but it’s not so simple: not only technical, but also bureaucratic obstacles will arise on the way, and prisoners will have to look for not only spare parts, but also all kinds of pieces of paper.
The Void Bastards universe is easy to compare with the world. The outer worlds: in both games, the action takes place somewhere in the back of the universe, inefficient and mired in bureaucracy corporations rule everything, and human life costs nothing. It is enough to look at what the prisoners were sent to prison for: one of them, for example, impolitely slammed the door in front of someone’s important nose. But, unlike work Obsidian, Void Bastards – not a plot game; it will not tire you of the monotonous parables that capitalism is bad.
Space looting
The Sargasso Nebula, in which the Ark was stuck, is strewn with drifting ships, on board of which there were mutants and a lot of useful loot. It is for him that we have to hunt: something is needed for the plot quest, and the rest is useful to increase our own chances of survival.
On a map of a nebula made in the manner of FTL, virtually every point is another ship. We board our own shuttle, leave the Ark and move around the map step by step, each time deciding whether to look into the next ship with loot and monsters or fly on. But any jump requires a unit of fuel and food, so just flying to the ship with the necessary loot will not work – you will have to make intermediate stops and replenish supplies.
Although you should not be limited to plot goals and essentials. Unlike The Outer Worlds littered with worthless junk, in Void Bastards every item is useful. All collected garbage is processed into resources from which you can craft components for everything in a row: from the perks of your hero to new types of weapons and their upgrades.
From the side, the protagonist probably looks like a bum bum: he breaks into every room of the ship, opens all the lockers, grabs all canisters and sandwiches and crawls into every garbage can. What if there is something useful there?
Bagel Legacy
However, it is far from always possible to completely enclose a ship. Firstly, the oxygen supply is very limited: it lasts for a few minutes. Secondly, mutated passengers interfere, which sometimes also respawn. Thirdly, security systems are opposing you: turrets and cameras, ready to call powerful robots. No first-aid kits are provided, and your hero can restore health, either by having a bite on a world map or by finding a medical terminal on a special ship. So every hit point counts, and death during the sweep of an ordinary location is more than possible. Yes, and permanent.
The shield covers from explosions, which helps to cope with the turrets. It is especially useful in conjunction with bombs flying into a dozen fragments.
A dead prisoner will quickly be replaced by another, and even progress in collecting resources will not be reset, but the journey through the nebula will have to be started anew from the “Ark”, where a new hero wakes up from cryosus. The most offensive thing is the loss of a character to which you have time to become attached. Everyone has some feature that distinguishes him from others: a smoker coughs, violating secrecy; color blind does not see flowers; A clumsy muddler periodically fails reloading. Comparison with Rogue Legacy begs itself: there, each character also had unique features that affect the gameplay.
Gameplay loop
Before landing on the next ship, we are shown a list of enemies and local features. On one vessel, the security systems will be on our side, on the other we are waiting for fires and a lot of smoke, on the third – leaks of slippery oil and radiation, on the fourth the lights are off and you can’t see zgi. On the fifth, the generator jams: until you restart it, all doors will be open, and nothing will prevent all enemies from escaping to the sounds of gunfire.
As usual in “immersive sims”, in Void Bastards you can steal, set enemies against each other and set traps for them
Enemies also require a different approach: the “tourists” run to stare at you and explode, the “patients” swarm around, the “guards” like mini-bosses, tenacious and very well armed. Estimating in advance who we will have to meet, we draw up an arsenal for the mission: for example, if the opponents are weak and we are confident in our abilities, you can limit ourselves to a gun to save ammunition for steeper trunks. In total, you can take three types of weapons with you – and there are a wild number of them. A shotgun that shoots paper clips, poisoned darts, a robo-cat that distracts enemies and explodes, a gun capable of sucking one enemy into itself … The latter is needed to release the enemy in a convenient place – for example, in the gateway.
And during the landing, you have to constantly weigh the risks and possible rewards. To begin with, we examine the location plan, we consider a possible route. On the bridge, you can supplement the map with the location of all the loot – this is useful, but optional: is it worth it if it is easy to spend valuable health along the way? However, if the ship has a medical compartment, then you can afford to be a little greedy.
The life support room will make it possible to replenish oxygen reserves: if large-scale cleaning is planned, it makes sense to pave the way for it in advance. To save ammo on tenacious turrets, you can temporarily disable the security system. But if you are distracted by enemies, and this time is not enough, then the turrets can “wake up” behind you at the most inopportune moment.
Each room on your way can both bring valuable resources that are always in short supply, and take them away if you suddenly come across strong opponents. Loot is always needed, there is always something to strive for: there are a lot of upgrades, and they are really useful. Take a chance or play it safe? To be greedy or retreat? Sneaking or running? Void Bastards constantly keeps the player in suspense – you can exhale only by returning to your shuttle. But it immediately wakes up an appetite for further adventures.
Void Bastards has only one big drawback: the above races on random ships with monsters and loot are the only things to do in it. There is no strong plot, eventful campaigns or even bosses – the gameplay goes on one template. But Void Bastards does not manage to get bored: the varieties of game situations, types of weapons and enemies (which are getting steeper and cooler) are enough for ten hours to pass, flew by in an instant and left behind a lot of vivid impressions. In addition, thanks to its structure, Void Bastards is ideal for playing short sessions. For example, on Switch!
Pleased
- wonderful art design and sound engineering;
- complete toolbox “immersive sims”;
- unusual enemies and guns.
Afflicted
- locations are too monotonous;
- each ship has to do the same thing.
How we played
In what: key purchased by the author.
On what: RS.
How many: 12 hours.
Editors Achievement
“Do not breathe”
Run around the ship from robotic guards. Return to your shuttle, choking, after all the oxygen reserves have run out.
About localization
The game is translated into Russian.
Verdict
Void Bastards is an exemplary indie game: it offers only one gameplay loop, but within its framework is laid out in full. If you like System Shock or its descendants, then you should definitely try Void Bastards.
