The idea of user-generated content material has been round for fairly some time at this level. If a recreation can maintain itself primarily based on the enter of its personal neighborhood, nicely, that is a win-win, proper? Create one thing so participating that the viewers will make extra to maintain the great vibe going. Clearly, this does not at all times work out, however when it does, it is superior, and gamers at all times surpass inventive expectations. Meet Your Maker is the most recent try at this — a sci-fi motion recreation that has gamers constructing trap-laden Outposts for others to then try to raid for sources.
It is this core loop that holds the whole lot collectively. After going by way of tutorials for each raiding ranges and constructing them, you are free to select by way of user- and developer-made phases. Your job in each is to cross by way of dingy Outposts in the midst of a post-apocalyptic desert to be able to discover and steal GenMat — a treasured materials wanted to assist restore human civilisation. Basically, it is advisable get in, discover the GenMat, then get out once more, and the custodian of every stage could have put in a number of booby traps and guards to stop your success.
When you do clear an Outpost, you are rewarded with the GenMat you took in addition to a bunch of different sources. It is these supplies you may then use to start constructing your individual ranges, to not point out improve your weaponry, traps, and different gear. The 2 halves of Meet Your Maker feed into one another completely, which means there’s at all times one thing you are able to do that’ll assist one side or the opposite.
Raiding Outposts, then. By default, you have got a bolt gun for ranged assaults, a sword for melee strikes, and a grappling hook that will help you get round. All of those will turn out to be useful as you enter a degree, however initially there is not any means of figuring out what to anticipate; traps could possibly be wherever. Regardless of comparisons to DOOM, we have discovered the sport to be fairly sluggish paced. Speeding into an Outpost will seemingly get you killed, as traps will set off from all angles, otherwise you’ll run right into a well-hidden guard, and one hit from any supply means dying. It is simpler to method a stage fastidiously, conserving your eyes peeled for traps on the partitions, flooring, and ceiling as you make your means inside.
After you’ve got performed a handful of Outposts, you may start to recognise what traps appear to be, and how you can take care of every enemy kind. Even taking part in cautiously, there are occasions you may be caught out by well-placed defences, however as soon as you’ve got been by way of a superb variety of ranges, you begin to be taught what to look out for. The result’s that Outposts begin to really feel very related regardless of their differing layouts.
A lot of the traps are embedded into surfaces, and most of these will set off whenever you’re shut sufficient. Protruding spikes, bolts, flames, bombs, and extra can journey you up. As soon as what they appear to be, although, you may destroy them and so they’ll pose no additional risk. Enemy guards are tougher as they’re shifting targets, however go down simply too. When you play fastidiously, you may make it to a degree’s GenMat unhurt, after which it is only a case of getting again out and leaving. Traps can be set to solely seem after the GenMat’s been picked up, however you may both take these out methodically or simply e-book it again the way in which you got here and you will be high quality. Outposts find yourself feeling fairly one-note.
There are more durable ranges that critically ramp issues up, and these are extra participating. Nevertheless, whereas these harder Outposts may be extra enjoyable and extra cleverly designed, they’ll step over the road into unfair dying containers. Ranges in Meet Your Maker are tedious in the event that they’re too straightforward, irritating in the event that they’re too arduous, and from our expertise to this point, there will not be many who thread the needle. It does not assist that they beautiful a lot all look the identical, all bland rock, corroding steel, and dreary lighting.
On the brilliant aspect, constructing your individual ranges is fairly straightforward. After securing an Outpost, you may totally customise it utilizing giant blocks, then fill it with traps and guards to satisfy the minimal defences required. So long as there’s an unobstructed path to the GenMat, you may set the extent energetic and have gamers try to invade it. The entire course of is fairly intuitive, and an honest tutorial will get you thru the fundamentals successfully. Over time, even with the sport closed, your Outposts will earn you XP as gamers make makes an attempt on them, and you’ll go into edit mode to see all their factors of dying, the place they’ve dropped but extra sources for you. It is fairly satisfying to see which of your devilish ways have caught folks out.
There are a variety of XP bars, issues to degree up, and stuff to improve, and it may all get a bit complicated. The gist is that beating ranges will go in the direction of levelling up the Advisors, characters in your base who can improve your gear or unlock new objects, in addition to grant you time-limited perks. As soon as an Advisor reaches a brand new degree, you may then degree up the Chimera, the monstrosity on the coronary heart of the operation. You may wish to go to the Advisors commonly to see what you may improve or unlock, because it all goes in the direction of serving to you raid ranges or construct extra devious ones of your individual. At present, there is a lack of selection in weapons and fits, however we think about there’s extra to come back down the road.
The true check of any recreation designed round user-generated content material is, nicely, what the customers generate. What we have performed to this point, from the builders and from fellow media varieties, hasn’t actually fired the creativeness, however that is to not say a wider viewers will not make attention-grabbing, imaginative phases. We’ll reserve full judgement till we have seen and performed extra with the sport out within the open; in any case, it is the followers that’ll maintain this factor going. We’re positively to see if Meet Your Maker may be taken in some extra attractive instructions as soon as everybody will get their arms on it.
Conclusion
Meet Your Maker’s core premise could be very robust, however the recreation’s aesthetic and samey ranges at present do not reside as much as that imaginative and prescient. Whereas it may be enjoyable in brief bursts, raiding Outposts can rapidly grow to be tedious, though constructing your individual phases for others to strive is extra fulfilling. There’s potential right here, no query, however we’ll should see the way it fares on reside servers earlier than we ship a full verdict.