Remnant: From the Ashes is an upcoming coop shooter from Perfect World. At Gamescom 2018, our author Jürgen was able to play the game for the first time.
Remnant is an upcoming grim coop shooter from publisher Perfect World, which is particularly known for the MMORPGs Star Trek Online and Neverwinter.
What is Remnant about? Humanity has been attacked and nearly wiped out by monsters from another world. These creatures resemble bizarre formations made of roots and rampage through the devastated lands.
Only a small remnant of humanity is left.
The gameplay of Remnant
Shooter with character classes: However, this pitiful remnant of humanity is fed up with the dictatorship of the thicket and strikes back from the underground. As in a role-playing game, you choose a character class with unique skills. At Gamescom 2018, they were:
- Hunter: This rugged guy is a ranged combat expert who fights with a rifle at a distance and delivers in close combat with a revolver and sword. Additionally, he can go stealth.
- Ex-Cultist: This heroine was once part of a cult that viewed the monsters as a welcome divine punishment for humanity’s sins. Therefore, she can still summon and control monsters.
I chose the Hunter. As soon as the game started, I found myself in an overgrown sewer.
Shooting and Brawling
This is how the controls work: Just around the next corner, the first enemies appeared: Ominous root beings that look like demons. To make matters worse, these creatures also throw thorns. Since you control Remnant from the 3rd-person perspective, I was able to dodge the attacks well with a roll.
Time to strike back: Thanks to the intuitive controls, this is easy:
- With the left mouse button, I can immediately strike with the sword. A too-close vine thug goes down
- With the right button, I draw the currently selected ranged weapon and aim. Choices include a pistol and a rifle
- The revolver fires quickly. With it, I take out another plant in true cowboy style
- The rifle has more punch and is more accurate. A well-aimed shot and the third weed monster is already lying in the dust. However, reloading takes forever
- There are also skills like stealth and a healing item with limited uses
Whenever a killer tree goes down, it leaves resources, items, and ammunition. If you die, respawns are possible. The environment is, by the way, procedurally generated.
Epic Boss Fights
After some tussles with the plant beasts in the subway tunnels, I finally return to the surface. But there, the highlight of the Gamescom session of Remnant is already waiting.
The showdown with the plant dragon: Amidst a ruin, a massive beast suddenly lunges at me. The monster looks like a dragon made of vines. I hit the beast a few times with my gun, but the health bar of the monster barely decreases.
However, the creature breathes fire, and I just barely dodge with a roll. The active dodge skill is crucial at this point.
Cover is running out: During the battle, the creature gradually destroys every cover, and dodging becomes more challenging due to the burning areas. And then the boss monster summons additional enemies. By the way, they are burning now, which makes them extremely nasty in close combat.
I dash from cover to cover like a madman, consume healing items in panic, and seize every opportunity to get a few bullets into the monster. Reloading becomes a torture every time, as I cannot dash or run during it.
With my last ounce of strength, I manage to take down the boss in the end, which my character rewards with a cool one-liner.
Jürgen’s first impression of Remnant
When the boss monster collapsed, I was really relieved. The fight was extremely thrilling and cinematic. If all boss fights are like this, then Remnant will surely be a blast, which I’m already looking forward to. However, the game is set to release only in 2019 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
What about coop? Unfortunately, I could not test the coop mode. However, later, coop sessions with up to four players are expected to be possible.
