The upcoming survival ARPG Gatewalkers impresses with a unique blend of various genres and mechanics that make it special. MeinMMO author Benedict Grothaus and editor Leya Jankowski have had a hands-on experience with the new game in development, together with Andrzej Stroinski, the head of Gatewalkers.
Gatewalkers is one of the most promising new multiplayer games that we expect in the near future. At gamesweekberlin, the Polish game made it into the selection of the Top 8 Indie Games and particularly impressed MeinMMO editor Dawid Hallmann, who was also a member of the jury.
Dawid was the one who brought my attention to Gatewalkers and connected me with the game’s head Andrzej Stroiński. The result is a two-hour playtest with the chief himself.
Currently, the game is still in an Open Alpha and is available for free on PC via Steam. For the release, the team aims to focus on versions for PC and Mac. PlayStation 4 and Xbox One will likely follow, but are currently not a priority.
What is Gatewalkers?
The new game can be roughly summarized as a survival co-op ARPG. The mix may sound strange at first, but works surprisingly well.
It is played in an isometric perspective, similar to classic action RPGs such as Diablo or Path of Exile. Gear and abilities work similarly, except that in Gatewalkers, clothing determines what you can do.
Depending on which weapons and armor you have equipped, you possess various abilities – similar to Grim Dawn. For those who do not know Grim Dawn, the colleagues from GameStar have written a strong review: Grim Dawn Review – Even Diablo is impressed.
Different weapons have different effects and applications or can be enchanted with elements that can then be chained into powerful combos with other players.
The survival aspect is more of a complement to the game. In the various worlds, there are different materials you need to gather to craft with. Each world has a specific biome where you must pay attention to additional mechanics, such as toxic fumes or cold.
Survival becomes an important feature that you cannot neglect if you want to progress. However, it does not feel forced. It simply belongs to the world.
The focus of Gatewalkers is purely on PvE and co-op. In groups of up to four players, you fight against various enemies and giant bosses or solve tricky puzzles. Player versus player combat is not planned.
Gameplay: Snappy Monsters, a Dash of Survival, and Tons of Loot
This is how Gatewalkers plays: The entry into the survival ARPG is relatively easy. The tutorial guides us through the simplest mechanics such as controls, attacks, abilities, gathering, and crafting.
However, a significant difference already shows here: Gatewalkers is controlled with WASD, similar to Pagan Online. The mouse serves only as a direction and target indicator for abilities. For veterans of action RPGs, this might be a change, but it’s an interesting approach that plays quite well with a bit of practice.
The fights against the monsters are quite snappy from the beginning. Most attacks can be dodged, but when they hit, they hurt quite a lot. Luckily, the opponents rarely appear in large groups. It is quite pleasant when the monsters are not just brainless punching bags like in comparable games.
The basic incentive to do all this comes from completing quests and gathering loot. The quests advance the story, which Gatewalkers has so far supported with hand-drawn scenes. By the way, the game will be fully voiced but only in English.
Loot helps us craft items whose recipes we unlock through skill points. We learn blueprints for increasingly stronger and different weapons and armor, for which we collect materials and ultimately put together our own cool build. Gear ultimately determines which abilities we can use, as each armor and weapon is tied to certain skills.
To collect resources, tools are needed, which come in various tiers. For higher-tier resources, we also need stronger tools.
How much survival is involved? During our first steps in the world, we diligently gather resources from plants and monsters – mushrooms, stones, wood, and furs.
Important items include things like water and meat or other food, as we need these to survive, as well as powerful materials to craft stronger weapons and armor.
If you are hungry or thirsty or another survival mechanic is bothering you, you’ll steadily lose health points. If they drop to 0, you’re dead – and you lose part of your loot and durability on items.
Only your equipped armor remains intact, but it takes damage and needs to be repaired after a while if you want to keep using it. You don’t have to worry about losing loot, as you do in many other survival games.
In addition to water and food, each world has a specific survival mechanic:
- Forest worlds have a day-night cycle. At night in the dark, you slowly go insane and see nightmarish phantoms that can kill you. Also, all monsters become stronger. You need fire and light to maintain your mental health.
- Ice worlds are cold and require you to keep warm with fur coats and fire. Snowstorms occur frequently, which can cool you down extremely quickly if you don’t have a heat source nearby.
- Gas worlds have toxic gases to which you are exposed in most places. Without a gas mask, you continuously poison yourself.
- Other worlds are planned, such as heat worlds. However, these will come later in the future.
The worlds are partially interconnected. If you want to have a gas mask, you will find the necessary components from animals in the forests. More such dependencies are planned for later.
The Story of Gatewalkers
What is it all about? The world is dying, and we play so-called “Gatewalkers”. These are people who have the ability to travel to other worlds. We use giant gates to travel to different areas.
In these other worlds, there are different and unique items and materials that we need in order to use them in other worlds or to save our world.
Our task is to gather these materials so that we can survive. We see the progress of our own world in the expansion of the town that surrounds the main hub, the “Guild”.
What about multiplayer?
Gatewalkers is designed to be played in a group. The game changes in several ways when you play with friends:
- Enemies become stronger, and you need to approach more tactically
- Attacks with certain elements can trigger powerful combos with other players
- You need to protect group members from enemies while they solve puzzles – if you play alone, you only have a limited time to do so
- Sometimes, the group needs to split up to work on the same puzzle from two locations – for example, one player must find runes that the others then have to enter
Loot distribution in the group is also enjoyable. Loot is generated separately for each player (“personal loot”), while collected resources are credited to the whole group. So if one player collects wood, every player gets that wood.
Gatewalkers will also have a matchmaking system. Those who do not have friends on Steam who want to play with them can easily find people to play with in the game. However, Gatewalkers can also be played solo without any issue – group features are simply omitted in that case.
The “Endgame” – Cool Builds, Tough Fights, and Lots of Explosions
This is how Gatewalkers plays in the “endgame”: After Andrzej gave us a brief introduction to the mechanics of the ice world, he made sure that we were equipped for the “endgame”.
To that end, he gave us some of the most powerful weapons and armor currently available: Leya a fire-enchanted bow, me an electricity-enchanted magic sword, and a flintlock pistol for the offhand.
He explained to us that while there are roles like tanks, ranged fighters, and support, these can certainly alternate. Each weapon, even within the same category, can bring different abilities that are suitable for different roles. If you combine them with certain armors, a tank with a hammer can easily turn into a powerful battle mage.
What matters is that the group fits well together and complements each other. In our case, we already had strong synergies with the elements that trigger powerful combos, blowing enemies away with massive explosions. Pretty cool when you coordinate well.
What is there to do in the “endgame”? The basic goal is to visit harder worlds that require better preparation. To do this, you must, as previously explained, first visit other worlds to equip yourself.
As Andrzej tells us, it takes about 35-40 hours to craft a single weapon of the highest level. So you have plenty to do to master even the most important gear slot and have many others to fill. There’s always something to do.
This obviously depends on how quickly and efficiently you are. Andrzej adds that these are things that are still being worked on. It is quite possible that it will take less time in the future.
Additionally, each visit to a world is worthwhile when you explore it. Through special secret loot and “challenge chests” hidden on the maps, you can secure loot by thoroughly combing the area, not just through fighting.
The Future of Gatewalkers
What will Gatewalkers cost? Gatewalkers will be a Buy2Play title. However, Andrzej could not announce a price yet. This is partly because discussions are still ongoing about whether the developers will market the game themselves or enter into a partnership with a publisher.
Will there be DLCs? Yes, according to current plans, there will be DLCs that will also follow the Buy2Play model. Monetization will therefore occur through fixed, predictable expenses.
When will it be released? There is still no concrete date for the release of Gatewalkers. Gatewalkers has been in development for two and a half years so far. Currently, the Open Alpha is still ongoing.
Will the game also come to PlayStation and Xbox? It is in discussion, and according to Andrzej, it is the developers’ wish to bring Gatewalkers to PS4 and Xbox One, possibly even to Nintendo Switch. However, there is currently no specific statement regarding PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.
There is already a working build for the Xbox, but the current focus is entirely on PC and Mac. Gatewalkers will first be completed and polished on these platforms before tackling others.
What else will change? So far, it is only possible to create a standard character. In the future, there should be both gender and other customization options available.
Additionally, most features will be expanded, such as additional biomes and more survival mechanics. The current content will also still be polished and improved until a good balance is found. The team is currently looking for staff to help realize this.
A unique and promising approach
My heart beats for survival games of all kinds, and action RPGs are something like a secret love I nurture alongside them. Accordingly, Gatewalkers has struck a chord with me that I didn’t know would resonate so deeply within me.
Gatewalkers has convinced me with its mechanics, which are strongly based on group and co-op play. True combos are missing in a way similar to competitors like Diablo. The survival aspect is really cool with the specific, map-dependent dangers.
What I particularly like is the crafting with the gradually unlockable recipes. This fosters an ongoing progress that I can pursue as a player and maintains a certain complexity that feels somewhat similar to Conan Exiles, just a bit more developed. At the same time, Gatewalkers is not so complicated that it overwhelms me like Path of Exile does.
Whether the game will achieve a major breakthrough as a surprise hit like Wolcen, I cannot say, it is still too early for that. However, I am sure that at least a solid core community of enthusiasts will form, with whom one can always play. For anyone who can get excited about quality indie games or has an interest in survival or ARPGs, Gatewalkers should definitely be checked out. The developers have actually managed to address all three areas simultaneously.
Benedict Grothaus
Freelance author and survival expert at MeinMMO
