I used to be a bit disillusioned the sequels to Dragon Age: Origins by no means constructed on the thought of its, effectively, origins—playable prologues that have been utterly totally different primarily based on whether or not you selected to be a Metropolis Elf, Dwarven Commoner, Mage, or no matter. That torch has been picked up by Drop Bear Bytes, the studio making Damaged Roads. When it is achieved, the CRPG the place you play a wasteland wanderer in post-apocalyptic Australia can have a number of origins to select from, and you’ll play certainly one of them within the demo on Steam proper now.
You’ll be able to play the Employed Gun, a mercenary who joins a crew of scouts for an escort job taking you throughout a slice of Western Australia. Whereas exploring a number of places you may be given alternatives to become familiar with Damaged Roads’ turn-based fight (together with a tutorial the place you shoot up mannequins who have been truthfully asking for it), in addition to its morality system.
That morality system charges your decisions primarily based on 4 axes: humanist, nihilist, utilitarian, and machiavellian. Because the “golden arc” representing your philosophical leaning shifts, you unlock ethical traits, not all of which can be found within the demo. Alienate folks by performing like a nihilist, for example, and also you would possibly acquire the Lone Wolf trait—supplying you with an initiative bonus when no one’s close by, however lowering the impact of being “Impressed”.
“For demo functions,” the builders word, “all ethical decisions can be seen. Within the full sport nevertheless, a few of these can be hidden primarily based on the way you roleplay your character—although there can be a settings choice to unlock all these for individuals who desire to play that method. Your companions and different key characters every have their very own hidden ethical leaning, and can react to your statements, decisions and normal angle primarily based on their very own world view.”
Damaged Roads is an intriguing proposition, one I hope scratches the identical itch as the old-fashioned Fallout video games and the Wasteland sequels. On the identical time, I am glad to see it is greater than only a retro nostalgia piece, with each its morality system and the origins feeling like extra trendy concepts.
When it is achieved, Damaged Roads will allow you to select from origins together with Surveyor (a wilderness explorer and professional tracker), Barter Crew (a fast-talking haggler who can chuck improvised weapons), and Jackaroo (a practical-minded hunter and mechanic, good with animals and instruments), in addition to the Employed Gun. I can not wait to present extra of them a shot when it comes out later this 12 months. Within the meantime, you’ll be able to wishlist Damaged Roads on Steam in addition to attempting out the demo, and sustain with its progress through the Drop Bear Bytes dev weblog.
![[UPDATE]NCSoft’s Horizon MMO Has Reportedly Been Shelved Following Feasibility Review](https://www.psu.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Horizon.jpeg "[UPDATE]NCSoft’s Horizon MMO Has Reportedly Been Shelved Following Feasibility Review")
