When Behaviour Interactive heard that Devolver was on the lookout for a developer to make a brand new Critical Sam, we couldn’t have been extra excited and we jumped on the alternative. Many people on the staff had fond recollections of taking part in Critical Sam: The First Encounter when it was launched within the early 2000s and remembered the wacky enjoyable the franchise is thought for. You realize, it got here from an period when video video games had been unapologetically video games first, at all times pushing the boundaries of what the know-how might do. As large followers of Croteam’s work, we merely couldn’t go it up.
As discussions moved ahead, we knew we needed to make one thing completely different, one thing that might construct on the legacy of Critical Sam and honor what got here earlier than, whereas nonetheless standing by itself and shining a brand new mild on the franchise. We needed to create a recreation that longtime followers would instantly acknowledge, however {that a} youthful viewers with no historical past with Critical Sam might bounce into simply as simply. And so, Shatterverse got here to be.
Our first job was to recreate the texture of Critical Sam in Unreal Engine, the backpedaling, the gunplay, the basic enemies, after which modernize and redesign these components. We knew early on that The First Encounter and The Second Encounter could be our greatest inspirations as a result of these are the video games we nonetheless replay to today. With the franchise’s 25th anniversary arising, we needed the brand new recreation to really feel like a celebration of the place all of it started. That meant preserving the high-octane motion, the massive enemy waves, and naturally, the bosses. Critical Sam has at all times been recognized for enormous showdowns in opposition to spectacular baddies, so we needed each boss to really feel like a serious set piece and a real take a look at of the gamers’ would possibly.
At that stage, the sport felt good and positively appeared like Critical Sam, nevertheless it was nonetheless lacking one thing: its personal id. We thought lengthy and laborious about why individuals missed the nice previous days and what they felt when taking part in the unique video games. We needed to search out that feeling once more with out merely copying what Croteam had already accomplished, and we finally zeroed in on two design targets. The primary was that urge to replay the identical mission time and again, trying to find each secret and chasing the next rating. The second was the sensation that something might occur and that generally the deck was stacked in opposition to you, (due to Croteam’s generally cheeky encounter design). As we talked by means of easy methods to carry these emotions again, the FPS roguelike style shortly emerged as the right match.
That mentioned, roguelike FPS video games can nonetheless really feel fairly area of interest and laborious to get into, and we needed Shatterverse to be straightforward to select up and share with household and mates, even when they’d by no means touched a Critical Sam recreation, an FPS, or a roguelike earlier than. Each system wanted to be straightforward to know whereas nonetheless providing sufficient depth to reward mastery. That accessibility additionally formed our strategy to multiplayer: we needed a recreation individuals might maintain taking part in collectively for years to return, not one that might disappear from the “digital cabinets” if it didn’t grow to be a large success.
To make that doable, we selected peer-to-peer multiplayer as a substitute of counting on devoted servers and included an offline solo mode, guaranteeing the sport might nonetheless be performed 5, 10, and even 15 years from now. It was actually essential to the staff to create one thing that might final and by no means merely be shut down. We additionally needed Shatterverse to launch as an entire, appropriately priced standalone recreation, one which was price gamers’ cash from the get-go and didn’t want live-service releases to be enjoyable. On the identical time, we had so many concepts for locations to go to, previous and new enemies and weapons to create, and all of the loopy issues we might do with Shatterverse. So, we constructed the sport to assist expansions, DLC, and new content material that might develop the bottom expertise if followers needed extra, with out ever cannibalizing the sport they’d already paid for.
The staff has been extremely excited by the reception throughout our many beta playtests, and we’ve listened intently to neighborhood suggestions as we’ve continued to tweak and polish the Shatterverse expertise. The Critical Sam neighborhood is a devoted one, and its assist has helped us make the sport even higher by means of a number of rounds of testing. What makes us proudest is that our core viewers appeared to grasp instantly what we had been attempting to do: create a Critical Sam recreation they might simply share with others, spreading their love of the franchise and serving to it attain a brand new viewers. In the end, we hope Shatterverse not solely welcomes newcomers, but in addition evokes them to select up the sooner video games and grow to be followers themselves.
We hope you’ll decide up Critical Sam: Shatterverse and assemble a squad to tackle Psychological’s hordes to save lots of the Samverse!
Critical Sam: Shatterverse
Devolver Digital
$19.99
$17.99
Critical Sam Stone is again, however this time he is not alone. Uber Psychological’s maniacal machinations have fractured the partitions between universes, and now Sam’s from a number of dimensions should study to work collectively to restore the Shatterverse.
As a part of the Critical Program, a multidimensional power opposing Uber Psychological, you may journey throughout shifting universes to complete battles different Sams could not. Psychological has been searching the hero throughout realities, and in lots of timelines, he is already received. Now, it is your flip to push again. To advance, you could carry down his 5 lieutenants, every a formidable boss seeking whole annihilation.
Wield a relentlessly harmful arsenal of devastating weapons, unlock highly effective boons, and experiment with run modifiers that reshape gameplay. In true roguelite vogue, loss of life isn’t the top, and every run opens the door to new methods and limitless prospects throughout the Shatterverse.
MULTIVERSE MAYHEM
Actuality cracked and now Critical Sams from a number of universes are preventing the identical conflict. Staff up throughout shifting worlds, collide with alternate variations of the legend, and produce guns-blazing chaos to timelines that had been by no means supposed to fulfill.
BIG GUNS, SERIOUS DAMAGE
Pack the classics, then crank it into the bizarre. Wield a mixture of iconic Critical Sam staples and brand-new toys, constructed for one objective – clearing arenas when Psychological’s hordes determine a whole bunch is a warm-up. Explosive, loud, and intensely violent.
ESCALATING DESTRUCTION
A world stuffed with unstable anomalies, hidden portals, and high-risk alternatives that may supercharge a run, or finish it immediately. Push ahead larger rewards, unlock highly effective modifiers, and upgrades that completely develop your prospects.
MENTAL’S HORDE, REMIXED
Acquainted foes are again, they usually introduced mates. Face a collection of basic Critical Sam enemies alongside recent monsters, all beneath Psychological’s management, all engineered to overwhelm you, and all begging to be became mush.
ARCADE-STYLE FPS ENERGY
Excessive-adrenaline, run-and-gun area chaos, large battlefields, nonstop strain, plenty of backpedaling, and perfectly-timed one-liners when the whole lot’s on hearth. Shatterverse leans into the Critical Sam legacy and pushes it ahead with procedurally shifting runs throughout hand-crafted arenas set in beforehand unexplored worlds.
