Free to play PvPvE shooter Scavengers enters early access this week
It's part battle royale part survival game
Upcoming PvPvE shooter Scavengers is just about ready to head out into the storm. The battle royaler has your squad of three dropping into a frozen wasteland where you'll try to escape on a drop ship without being killed by 57 other players, the cold, or a ton of different enemies. It sounds like this competitive survival game leans pretty well into its PvE side, which I personally welcome. It's launching into early access free-to-play this Wednesday, April 28th.
As a PvPvE game, Scavengers will have you and your squad suriving against other players and the frozen environment too. The new trailer down here gives a look at all the shooting and sliding action. There's so much sliding. How are they gliding through a foot of snow in all that gear?
I was ready to dismiss Scavengers as not my thing based on its very shooty trailer, but it's got a couple bits that have piqued my interest as a former shooty games player of dubious skill.
Over on their website, Midwinter Entertainment give a more thorough breakdown of all the elements to each match. There's a lot to keep in mind, from the 19 other squads in play, to freezing temperatures, to bosses, to storms, to your "datapoints" score that actually determines the match winner. Oh, it's class-based as well.
As you'll recognise from other battle royale style games, a snow storm on the map will decrease the playable area over the course of the match, forcing you closer to other hostile teams. You'll also have dangerous wildlife, cannibals, and zombie-like creatures to contend with. There are larger, difficult enemies to take on for bigger rewards too. All the while you're attempting to not freeze to death, upgrade your weapons, and arrive at the drop ship.
What I find most attractive is Scavengers' scoring system, which revolves around those datapoints. You'll earn datapoints by killing baddies on the map but you can also snatch half of a player's stash when you kill them. That's only what they had on their person though. You can "bank" your datapoints at certain spots on the map to save them. Every team that extracts on the drop ship gets rewarded, but the extracted team with the most datapoints actually wins the match.
None of them are totally unique systems, sure, but it's a blend that I find appealing. "Cunning players can use map strategy to outsmart and win against even the best PvP players," Midwinter say, which I hope turns out true in practice.
My favorite battle royale days were early in Plunkbat's lifespan where being quiet and tactical could get me into the final circle and last ten players. My poor PvP skills meant I really never walked away with the chicken dinner, but I still enjoyed that kind of large-scale PvP. The newer crop of battle roayle 'em ups, Apelegs and the like, don't really encourage that style. Would be nice to see a squad game gain traction again that allows cowards like me to flee with some glory.
Scavengers will be in early access for "a few months at least," the developers say, during which they hope to expand their progression system, add another playable character, and a seasonal battle pass. It's planned to be free-to-play at launch as with early access.
Scavengers launches in early access on Steam and the Epic Games store this Wednesday on April 28th.