KickStarter Conscript - WW1 survival horror by one-man Kickstarter

[Zombra]

Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/562623591/conscript-ww1-survival-horror/

https://www.conscriptgame.com




https://af.gog.com/game/conscript?as=1649904300

Spoiler

Pixel graphics survival horror thing with a strong atmosphere.

Hey, the kickstarter made goal. Looks like I'm committed to play this.

 

[Ol' Willy]

Looks cool, but I got to play as a frog-eater? No playable Germans?

 

[Harthwain]

I finished the demo. In short: it's a very interesting game.

I will put longer descriptions in spoilers to keep the list short.

+ It has the atmosphere.

Spoiler

The game has nice looking (and very fluid!) pixel art. It gets even better when you have to traverse poorly-lit and/or gas-choked trenches. Because in order to protect yourself from the deadly gas you'll need to equip a mask. This in turn means you don't see as far and wide as before, which makes spotting enemies harder, encourgaing you to walk instead of running and to listen to footsteps (and the sound of footsteps is superbly done) in order to be sure you'll have enough time to pack the enemy with enough bullets before he runs up to you. There are also some horror-like aspects (two or three), subtly placed on the level I was playing on. It was done tastefully enough to be creepy without breaking the immersion of the game being mundane. I hope the developer will have good enough touch to keep it at that, without going openly into the supernatural.

+ The game has good map features.

Spoiler

First you need to find a map of the area. Then you have to actually explore it in order for the map to autoupdate itself. This is good quality of life feature, because not only it tells you what you've already explored, but because it is vague enough to not spoil anything. Also, I liked how it looked visually (like a paper hand-drawn map. Annotations are visual rather than descriptive, but you shouldn't have any problems telling at a glance what they mean).

Edit: Playing the second time I noticed that not all locked doors are denoted with a special symbols, meaning you have to remember what item to use on them (lockpick/lighter/trench key). Hopefully this will be changed in full release, since the precedent of unique marking exist already (with the barbed door).

+ There are multiple weapons and each seems to have its own advantages and disadvantages.

Spoiler

You start with a pistol. It's obviously an upgrade over any melee weapon, but it requires to land a bunch of hits to kill an enemy (about 4-5). The advantage of a pistol over a rifle is that... a rifle requires time to aim. So in a cramped environment (such as trenches) it's easy for them to run up to you and hit you before you have time to aim. Pistol doesn't have that problem, you can fire pretty much right away. The bonus of a rifle is that it takes less shots to kill an enemy (as low as 1 hit, but some take 2 or 3. I am unsure if you can aim at specific area on the enemy or if enemies have their own randomized health pool). There is also a shotgun. You aim faster with it, but you need to "pump it" after each shot. I didn't have time to use it much (I was trying to conserve ammo as much as possible), but so far it was 1-hit 1-kill kind of deal.

+ Limited inventory and saving.

Spoiler

I know what you think: "Harthwain, you are retarded! How can limited inventory EVER be a positive thing?! kys". I was very concerned about it at the start too, believe me. But the game is designed in a way that limited inventory makes it interesting aspect of the game. Because you can't load yourself full of ammo and weapons, you need to be more careful about deciding what to pick. What helps is that there are chests where you can store all loot in the meantime. And you are going to unlock shortcuts between trenches, meaning it becomes easier for you to change loadout or take a specific item you need at the moment. It helps that enemies don't (re)spawn until you make an actual progress (because the number items is limited). You can expand your bag slots too.

+ "Puzzles" (or "clear direction").

Spoiler

Not really puzzles - hence the quotation marks - but sometimes you will have to interact with the items in the world. It's very simple: find something to fill the lighter in order to burn the rope locking the door, etc. What I like about it is that as soon as you find the problem/the item, your goal becomes quite clear (also, your map will update, making it easier to find that location again, when you gather what you will need), making progression feel natural. I also like that the game knows when you won't need a key and will discard it automatically. It would be really stupid to lug a bunch of keys for the whole game, because inventory space is limited.

+ Extra customization options.

Spoiler

You can swap "pixelated text" with HD text to make reading much easier. You can change color of the text (there is an in depth-custamization for this alone!). You can also change the style of the bags and your starting texture (I unlocked the "farmer" outfit for finishing the demo).

- Melee.

Spoiler

I don't like melee. You can "prepare" your strike, but I guess the only purpose for this is to make sure you don't attack "too soon" and miss an enemy charging at you. Also, there seems to be nothing to do in melee, other than trading blows: no dodge, no parry, nothing. My suspiction is that this is done that way in order to incentivize killing enemy at range and making melee your last ditch effort - something you resort to when you simply don't have any other options left. Because if you were able to melee "safely", then you wouldn't need to spend ammo or health items (some of which you can craft, at least technically. In the demo the number of items is limited). Still, I don't quite like how basic it is. On the plus side - there are more advanced melee weapons than the starting trench shovel.

Edit: OK. I played the demo again - this time on veteran - and I found out the melee is much more useful when you apply "hit & run" tactic with it (or put a few bullets in someone and finish him off with a club). I still enjoy the gunplay a lot more though.

Also, it's possible to boost the healing power of items quite significantly by using the suggested combinations. I was able to produce one super-bandage by mixing Fabric + Fabric + Alcohol. This one not only heals you in full, but also cures infection, which is an interesting addition (the regular medkit says nothing about that) and suggest some extra gameplay feature in the future (perhaps infection-induced hallucinations? Or perhaps slower aiming/reloading/attack time? I am hoping it won't be as mundane as "you gradually lose health over time" or "you have less health overall").

My overall conclussion?



I am eager to support this one-man developer.

You can wishlist it on both Steam and GOG.

GOG demo: https://af.gog.com/game/conscript_demo?as=1649904300
Steam demo: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1286990/CONSCRIPT/

 

[cretin]

looks fucking cool

 

[Harthwain]

There is some extra material from developer's devblog on kickstarter. I will sum it up, because it has some cool stuff beyond what was shown in the demo and it proves the guy is really dedicated to the project (I put it in spoiler, in case someone wants to go as blind as possible):

Spoiler

- New enemies with their own tricks/features/abilities (armored melee fighters, enemies using rifles, etc.).

- New areas (tunnels, mines as well as German bunkers).

- Status effects (standing too long in gas without a mask will reduce your vision and maximum health).

- Medieval body armor for the player to equip!

- More weapons (survival knife, trench axe).

- Melee weapons seem to have durability, so even if you are good at melee you can't rely solely on a single weapon to carry you through.

- There will be a merchant. Originally he was one of stretch goals that wasn't reached during the kickstarter.

- There is "money" in game (cigarettes). You can also find collectable jewelery that can be traded for weapon upgrades.

- There will be environmental hazards besides gas that can serve as traps (such as kerosene crates: when fired upon they will engulf the area in flames).

 

[Parsimonious cook]

The game has been recently delayed to Q1 2022, however the dev is working hard on it and it seems very likely that the game will get released. There is a demo on Steam and I suggest everyone to try it out - the game is very promissing (I wouldnt be able to add much to Harthwain´s summary above in terms of description) and IMO worth keeping an eye on.

 

[Infinitron]

 

[Infinitron]

 

[Harthwain]

I just noticed the demo got updated, which is quite cool.

 

[Ash]

This looks pretty fucking solid for what it is, and the gameplay does look very Survival Horror, but...it will be quite a feat if it's actually scary. It's just Nazi's by the looks of things, yeah pretty horrific to be alive in 1942, but I've killed thousands of virtual nazis and played many a horror game, some of them intensely terrifying out of this world experiences, so I am skeptical this will deliver a horror experience at least for me. The graphics while very serviceable do not help in that regard either.
Also not so much a fan of the setting, looks like a lot of trenches and bunkers...maybe I just have PTSD from playing shitty military FPS games (most are fucking boring).

Nonetheless definitely keeping my eye on this one. Potential to be another worthwhile indie and the gameplay looks adequate.

 

[Harthwain]

It's just Nazi's by the looks of things, yeah pretty horrific to be alive in 1942

The game takes place in 1916, during WW1...

 

[Ash]

Important detail and yet not at the same time. WW1, WW2, what's the difference in a video game context? Not much besides storyfaggotry and an even more limited selection of weapons lol. Obviously I'm simplifying but I digress...

 

[Parsimonious cook]

If anything the selection of weapons is bigger for WWI, since back then people were legitimately fighting each other with shovels and various custom made close combat weapons, on the other hand revolvers, semi-auto pistols, rifles and shotguns were in and even early SMGs and LMGs were a thing along with flamers. Gas was a huge thing and in WWII it was never used outside China. In terms of setting, trenches and forts are great for a game like this, in WWII there were only a few battlefields with comparable atmosphere, probably just Leningrad and Stalingrad would fit the bill, but the dev obviously wanted a western front setting.

In WWI the amount of mindfuckery was through the roof, with people on both sides burying their dead into the walls of their trenches, only to have them slide back in in various stages of decomposition whenever an artillery shell exploded close enough. WWII had a very different flavor of horror, which wouldn’t work as well for this type of a game.

 

[Ash]

Fair enough. Still skeptical that the game can actually pull off horror though as a result of its theme/setting and graphics. Especially if it aims to stay true to the events/has rigid realism focus. Horror games are 9 times out of 10 supernatural in theme for a reason. By all means I hope the dev proves otherwise.

 

[Dayyālu]

WW1, WW2, what's the difference in a video game context?

Thematically they're quite different: the pop kultur version of WW2 is essentially the Just Crusade narrative (where the Free Peoples of Earth fought against Evil Incarnate) while the pop kultur version of WW1 is "the horror, the trenches, the horror". Of course, this in an Anglo context.

If you're going to build a survival horror WW1 is of course a better pick: weapons are clunkier, slower, the ambience of the war that comes immediately to mind is mud, darkness and artillery that can randomly delete hundreds of men. The early levels of the shitty-but-good Necrovision tried to nail the ambience, but it was a traditional FPS with a superhuman protagonist so it was kind of lost with using two MG15s MG08s at once.

 

[Ash]

Yeah I was looking at it rather simply, usually I care not for realistic world war military games. I have heard/read numerous WW1 trench warfare horror stories and the whole thing probably does suit survival horror better than WW2, you're right...but there's no way this game can capture the horrors of war, hell any game for that matter. So it will have to use other techniques. I would not be surprised if it falls back on ghosts, zombies and the usual. Nor would I blame it for that. In fact I would think that to be the correct decision, if aiming for strong horror & fear anyways.

 

[Riskbreaker]

All the mysteries of the grave lay in such atrocious bareness that the most infernal dreams paled before them. Tufts of hair fell from the skulls like pale foliage from autumnal trees. Putrefied bodies melted into the greenish flesh of fish, which glowed at night through the shredded uniforms. If one stepped on them, the foot would leave behind fluorescent prints. Some desiccated into chalky mummies, which slowly frittered away. On others, the flesh peeled off the bones like maroon jelly. During humid nights, jets of gas that shot through the wounds hissing and fizzing, made these swollen cadavers rise to spectral life. But most horrifying was the bubbling swarm that streamed out of those whose bodies were but a lump of innumerable worms.

So writes Jünger. This what youth would see who, months ago, either would be living a simple country life expecting to continue in the footsteps of their fathers and grandfathers or those who would've been cycling thru Europe and watching performances of Wagner. All of them now in together in their trench's mud and dirt, blinding flashes above them, clouds of poisonous gasses, surrounded by blasted landscape. Interminable stretches of time in the same malodourous claustrophobic hole, in your muddy and sweaty uniform, whilst your comrade standing by you is slowly rotting away from what started as a small, inconspicuous cut on his foot.
So yes, this is fucking horror. This is an experience of destruction and degradation, collapse of one world, of worldview, of human form, that would prior to the event be unimaginable to anyone who participated in it.

 

[Ash]

So yes, this is fucking horror.

Yes it fucking is indeed. A particular brand of horror that video games cannot replicate remotely accurately or meaningfully, especially not low budget cartoony-looking ones. If proven wrong by the dev I'll leave the 'dex and come back as an alt

 

[toughasnails]

Yes it fucking is indeed. A particular brand of horror that video games cannot replicate remotely accurately or meaningfully, especially not low budget cartoony-looking ones. If proven wrong by the dev I'll leave the 'dex and come back as an alt

I think that the low res, pixelated approach can actually be good here bc of the inherent distortion and the space it lefts to imagination. It could work very well together with good enough sound design.

 

[Zombra]

Ash We are very different people. The original Silent Hill freaked me the fuck out and even looking at it now gives me chills.

If you call this stuff "cartoony" you were watching very different shit than I did on Saturday mornings as a kid.

Mood and content are so much more important than sweet ass modern graphics. For me the PS1/pixel look enhances the vibe here.

 

[Ash]

What are you talkin about? Silent Hill does not look particularly cartoony, the game looks surreal with its jaggies, warping, low poly, fog of war etc. Indeed, SH is scary as fuck, or was when I beat it at 11 years old or something like that. I was saying that Conscript in particular looks cartoony and its graphics don't seem to lend well to horror.

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

Are you sure? Is there something I'm missing? I don't see anything I'd describe as cartoony. Not saying it looks great or anything, since the character sprites seem to be 3d models that have been painted over to look like pixel art. Cheap as hell, but serviceable, at least by my eyes. Mind you, I don't see that as a bad thing in horror media in general.

 

[AdolfSatan]

Game looks pretty dope, may very well D1P

Mood and content are so much more important than sweet ass modern graphics. For me the PS1/pixel look enhances the vibe here.

Indeed, much like some styles of music actually fit much better when recorded on low-quality degradable media like tape. There's something in the lack of definition that allows for the imagination to fill the gaps in ways hyperrealism can't.

 

[toughasnails]

The visuals here remind me the most of Darkwood only with a slightly angled rather than fully top down perspective. Darkwood's visuals suited the game perfectly well imo.

I think that an example of pixel art horror game where the visuals actually hurt the desired effect would be something like this:

I haven't played the game but from all I saw it's a case where the horror would actually have to work against the visuals, the writing and audio would have to make the game scary in spite of them and not with them.

 

[udm]

Just gave the demo a try and died to the first heavy German trooper. It's... interesting. Very slow-paced and combat is methodical, like in older horror games. I have to admit, the lighting creeps me out. Even though you're fighting against human adversaries, there's a lot of tension when they're sneaking about to try and find you.

What I didn't like was that (so far) the pacing felt flat and the map linear. Of course, since where I left off was still near the beginning, I wouldn't be surprised if it opens up later on. I also feel like the enemy's line-of-sight is erratic. There are times when they can't see you even when you're nearly beside them, and times when they can be running in the other direction, only to suddenly spin around towards you even though you're hiding around the corner. I don't know if sound plays a part as I was sprinting for most of it.

I'd say this is one to be cautiously optimistic about, if the dev can pull of level design.

Ash re: the graphics, I'd say try the demo and see what you think of it. It might seem "cartoony" from screenshots, but the in-game vibe's pretty dark.

EDIT: Forgot to add, one thing that irks me is that you can't loot enemies. There are enemies with rifles and trench shovels, but you can't take their items.