What is Black Death and Where did it come from?
Now hold on a minute before you switch pages, this isnโt a history lesson on The Black Death (or bubonic plague) that spread through London and most of Europe in 1348โฆNo seriously it isnโt!! Although some aspect might seem like it, what better way to learn than getting into the nitty-gritty of a game that is based on such an event!
The Black Death, the game, was developed by Small Impact Games & Syrin Studios. Published by Greenman Gaming and is currently in early access on steam for $14.99 ($19.99 for our American friends and โฌ19.99 for our European friends) and it has been on my wishlist for a few months! Fast forward those and WOOHOO Review key! Love it! Also, I should point out its still early access.
Okโฆbut WHAT IS IT?!
Ok, Iโll tell you! The Black Death is a multiplayer survival game that allows you to choose your own path in this dark, medieval land, complete with a diverse population of villagers, wildlife, and plague victims. Create your own story from a range of different play styles โ become a blacksmith; hunt down your enemiesย as a Militia; or earn your living as a merchant. The wealthier, the richer, the stronger you become, the better your chance of survival What? No, I didnโt copy that direct from their websiteโฆwhich is this,ย The Black Deathย in case you were wondering.
How they sold it to me!
(Pre-Played)
So What Do I Do?
What donโt you do?! Well, donโt catch the plague. Thatโs always a great start. Cure the plague! All the while being one of the following medieval professions Cook, Huntsman, Militia, Blacksmith, Peasant, Artisan, Bandits! So once youโve finished cooking for the village you can go back to your autopsies on beasts and man alike to find a cure, apparently, the local populace doesnโt like that much, however. Also, they let you buy houses and live like medieval life! Whatโs not to like?! Apart from the plague, bandits, fleas, local populace (apparently) and Iโm sure many other things that will want to chew you up and spit you out.
Is there a Storyline?
Great questionโฆItโs aboutโฆummโฆThe Black DEATH! Iโm assuming. And how youโll survive, and cure the plague, and not get beaten up and killed by bandits (I really think thatโs a thing!)
Brilliant seems worth playing. What about Sound?
I dunno yet. Iโll tell you once Iโve played! Jeez!
Ok, fair enough what does it look like, Graphically?
Looks AMAZING! I love games that look like this, I mean seriously, look!
Look at the guy toiling the field withโฆthe thing…on his back. And the spade in the dirt and the one section of wheat and the bag of flour. Heโs not even sweating, what a pro! I do seriously hope it looks like this in-game.
Is it easy to pick up? What are the mechanics like?
Again Not sure. However, Iโm getting a LiF sort of feel. As long as the progression is infinitely faster then I wonโt mind if it isnโtโฆmeh!
Iโve now played it, letโs compare!
So, what do you ACTUALLY do?
Try and live! Like seriously. Try! It took me a while to make it past a day! Itโs an MMO effectively, you have the NPCs and I found a friend really early. Now I say friend I mean more someone I was flooding the chat with talking about rubbish. I should really have asked for help I think. It seems the game is built with social in mind which I wasnโt expecting, so thatโs nice. But being early access means there arenโt a lot of people for a long time. The max pop I saw on a server was 3, and I couldnโt find them in game, or they were staying quiet on purposeโฆmaybe they thought I had the PLAGUEโฆTruth is, I did a few times.
You have to start as a begger! Which I thought was a nice touch and you unlock starting classes later on after you have invested some time and skill into that profession. When you die you can then pick that class again, and you will die, lots. I mean really. Lots.
The process of levelling up takes a few attempts to figure out as well. What do you need and in what order? I found that if I had sat and looked first I might have spent a few points differently. You get 1 point per level and that can be spent on skills or attributes. So itโs a tough decision right from the start. Hit things harder or craft some more stuff, either way, you’re going to die! Oh, and you lose the unspent points if you do die. So if you level up in combat! Spend it or lose it!!
Can you tell us what it sounds like now?
Fair, I think the atmosphere is well constructed using the sounds. There is always a dark tone to the music, then it messes with you as itโll change and you donโt know whyโฆ the other sounds, NPCs, wolves, boars, rats! Bloody rats! Are all generic, as youโd expect from early access, having said that, Iโm not sure you can get that much variety in those sounds, and after a while you recognise certain things by their sounds and can go in search of them. At least they are there! The combat sound effects are decent enough. I suspect this is something else that will be fleshed out a little more. Slight changes for different weapons which is always a good touch.
They have also gone into the effort of changing the sounds of being in a building and whatever youโre walking on! Itโs the trivial things like that that I really enjoy. I mean I was running between 3 ground types for about 5 minutes just to try and see if it kept upโฆit did!
Does it look like the picture?
Yes! Graphics, for me, are a big thing. And Iโm happy with what we have currently. Itโs a dark game, and itโs VERY easy to overlook things. They have been able to counter this by putting a lovely yellow glow around certain items, Iโm not a fan of this and would like to be able to toggle it off maybe? Mind you, itโs helpful when youโre learning. Especially when youโre dying from hunger and the plague and need to find cotton, chamomile and something to eatโฆstill working on the finding something to eat. Everything I have found so far thatโs not from a vendor or I have cooked myself, seems to help me on my merry way to death!
Itโs a rich environment with an abundant number of paths, trees, and gibbets, you know the cages at the side of the road that people got put in and hung from a light-post or something. Although, as I ventured further from the starting area, I started to notice a white haze over things. Not sure if it was meant to be fog or it was just a graphical issue, either way, it didnโt have an overbearing effect on the game.
How does it play?
Itโs quite clunky. Of all the thing that needs work, I think itโs the movement, NPC movement and combat could do with a little more fluid with some more variety.
There could be some more emphasis on what to do. Youโre thrown into a medieval setting and effectively told to get on with it. There is a tutorial of sorts presently, but you spend more time focused on that, then youโll die of dehydration, die of hunger, die of being beaten by a bandit with his fists, die of being beaten with a bandit with a club, die of being beaten by a bandit with a rock โ at least Iโm pretty sure that happened. I told you bandits were a thing, didnโt I! Thatโs not to mention, wolves, boars, guards. Almost like Reaperโs Ult in Overwatch, โDIE! DIE! DIE!โ And you do until you learn from all your mistakes, or you miraculously manage to run away!
Ok, so will you play it again?
Yes! Itโs got a niche that Iโve needed to scratch for some time. Leveling up is a bit quicker and crafting things doesnโt take forever. It ticks the boxes that I found lacking in LiF. There is soo much to do that you can play it and focus on different things. I imagine after release youโll get Roleplayers having a crack. And why not! The setting is different, and itโs well made. Iโll certainly be getting some friends together to set up a guild and go build a town. Itโs something that I think wouldnโt take all that much time working together. The Bandits arenโt all that troublesome on their own, once you figure out combat and with more than one of you, it should be easy pickings.
Final words?
Againโฆbe prepared to die lots in the name of experience. The only thing that I did find a little annoying as it seems to only support single monitors. I had a terrible time trying to get it to move to my main screen, as they are different resolutions, in the end, I just went to a single monitorโฆBUT, itโs still early access, so I donโt think that will be an issue on release.
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