While we were aware that MMORPG Gloria Victis is still forging ahead despite the setback of a failed Kickstarter, few could have expected this realistic medieval role-playing game’s ability to hype itself.
The game burst onto Steam’s Greenlight area and within two days hit the top 100 and then number one itself. It’s now been, predictably, Greenlit. Besides priding itself on ye olde schoole combat with swords, axes and arrows (that arc convincingly in flight), something else drawing players to the game is the promise of “partial looting” player-versus-player combat in an open sandbox world. That sounds neat.
Why? Because one problem I’ve always had with other free-for-all sandbox titles such as Rust or DayZ is the very real concern of simply having to give everything over to wandering cretins ready to take a cudgel to my brain. I don’t feel particularly charitable to such folk, mind.
Anyway, the game’s been plodding on and has smartly gone the way of other still-in-development titles like Star Citizen and Prison Architect by opening up pre-alpha via donations. Now, that’s the rub. This is a game that’s supposed to be in pre-alpha, but have you checked out the trailer? That looks markedly solid, with systems in place that would put some fully-released titles to shame, including over 200 different arms and armor.
The game’s story also holds some promise, having hired The Witcher and Bulletstorm writers Jacek Komuda and Maciej Jurewicz. No surprise, really, given how Gloria Victis is basing itself on a heavily gritty and real style. Magic is available, but only as an elite, high-end skill rather than handed out like candies at a concert for Barney and Friends. The cash shop, when eventually implemented, is also promised to be selling only cosmetic items, no pay-to-win.
We’ve heard that line before, however, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed. The next step for developers Black Eye Games according to their update is to get things ready for an early-access launch. Gloria Victis is also promising that you’ll have to build your own damn house if you want one, with non-instanced housing that can quite seriously be destroyed by other players if you’re not careful. The class-less system will help encourage players to be all they can be, apparently, including a builder I suppose.
The platform being used for donations is also so impressive, it’s worth noting. Xsolla checks your general geo-location and then offers a mindboggling array of options to actually pay for the game (other than just the standard credit card options) including BitCoins. If nothing else, you should at least check it out at the donation page.
If you want to check it out, it’s on Steam’s Greenlit here, and the main website where you can donate for access is over here.
