Scavengers Technical Playtesting

What is Scavengers?

Scavengers is a free to play, third person shooting game set in the frozen wastelands of Earth. The game is a mix of survival and Battle Royale, where players must race to collect more Data Points than the other players by completing objectives and surviving the environment. The result is a mix of Player vs Environment vs Player (PvEvP) matches in sandbox style missions using class-based abilities and weapons.

What is Scavengers story?

In the backdrop of Scavengers, a giant asteroid has struck the moon, causing an ice age on Earth. Humans, along with their Artificial Intelligence protector called Mother, have escaped the planet. If another Ice Age was not bad enough, a virus has caused alien-like mutations in most of what has survived. These mutants are referred to as The Scourge, and are a fearsome and grotesque enemy. Some Humans, now known as Marauders, have remained on Earth to pillage and raid what remains.

In an effort to discover a cure for the virus, and to carry out the wishes of Mother, the Humans fortunate enough to escape the planet must return to Earth for missions in teams of up to 3. These Humans are known as Explorers and will be the characters that you, the player, will be in control of.

What can I expect to be doing?

Explorers will each have abilities and weapons depending on their class. Different Explorers should team up to compliment each others classes to tackle the wasteland. Scavengers is primarily an online shooting game but there are more ways to win than simply taking shots at rival players. Survival looks set to play a big part of Explorers missions to Earth, with gathering food and supplies, sheltering from storms, regulating temperature and fighting off both The Scourge and Marauders. Midwinter Entertainment say all of these PVE elements can be used against rival teams of Explorers too, such as instigating fights between another squad and Marauders, for example.

The Battle Royale influences of landing, searching and looting we have all become so familiar with also make an appearance. Equipment looks like it can be found in boxes or taken from enemies. Between missions, players can unlock and upgrade “blueprints” to craft weapons, equipment and abilities to help you in your fight for survival.

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Initial Impressions?

Scavengers is looking interesting as another free to play shooting game. Teams of players “racing to collect Data Points by completing objectives” sounds a lot like The Cycle and other titles which have preceded it. The Battle Royale influences keeps it within the realms of what remains a popular genre, or makes it stray into an oversaturated market, depending on your perspective. However, the emphasis on survival does make it worth watching.

Visually, Scavengers is looking exciting. Nice weather effects such as blizzards and tornadoes, and mutants running through the snowy landscape all look great. Some particularly impressive snow effects are also on display, which Midwinter Entertainment claim are persistent and can be used for tracking, avoiding or ambushing enemies.

So far, combat looks solid too with rolling, sliding and abilities complimenting the gunplay. We will have to wait and see for more information on the finer details and how the game performs.

How do I join the Technical Test?

The next playtest for Scavengers at time of writing is scheduled for 18th September 2020 18:00 PT. The servers will be live for exactly 50 hours until 20th September.

A Steam key for the Scavengers technical test can be claimed here.