SHARE THIS:

It’s been quite a while since I really enjoyed an MMORPG without feeling stressed while playing the said game. Well, luckily enough for me, I found out about Human head Studios and Digital extremes F2P hardcore MMORPG bullet-hell game “Survived by“. As a matter of fact, they actually contacted us and asked if we wanted to give the game a try. Long story short, I signed up for the job to play “Survived by”.

So not only did I end up streaming the game for a couple of hours. I also talked to Human head Studios for quite sometime what they have in plans for “Survived by” in the future. However, that’s a story for another time, because today I’m going to focus on the here and now. In other words, I’m going to share my thoughts and opinions on the beta of “Survived by”.

Well, once I booted up the game it didn’t take long before I started to think about games such as “Diablo” (the dark devil:ish like theme), “Chrono Trigger” (the graphics), “Realm of the Mad God” (the MMORPG aspect) and “Radiant Silvergun” (the bullet-hell part). You see, “Survived by” really does look and feel like a mix of those titles (I also felt some “Warcraft” and “Shining Force” vibes).

Furthermore, the more time I spent with the game, the more I started to think about Human Head Studios old action/adventure viking game “Rune” (“Rune” launched for PC and PS2 back in 2000). So in a way, “Survived by” feels like a really nice combination of both old and new, and that was a very pleasant surprise to me. Because I didn’t expect anything like that at all.

I actually didn’t know all that much about “Survived by” before I was asked to give the game a try, and the title name just let me know that I’m most likely in for a really hard challenge in terms of staying alive. Anyways, I think you get the idea. So, as I was saying, once I ended my live stream for “Survived by”. I was in overall happy with my gameplay experience with the game.

However, the beta that I played of “Survived by” was far from flawless. For example, there is no PVP to be found in the game (at least not for now, but Human Head Studios told me that they aim to add PVP to “Survived by” in the future). I’m also somewhat worried about the game’s F2P business model, because it’s slightly unclear how the F2P aspect will work in final version of the game.

Nevertheless, all in all, I had a blast with “Survived by” (you can read my list over cons and pros further down the page). So I truly hope that Human Head Studios will be able to deliver a kick-ass F2P hardcore MMORPG bullet-hell gameplay experience once the launch the full version of “Survived by” (the game is said sometime this year for PC).

Pros:

+ “Survived” offers a very unique game style that I personally have never seen or experienced before. So to put all of this into context with just a few words. “Survived” is like a mix of “Chrono trigger”, “Space invaders” mixed with “Diablo” dungeon crawler and MMO RPG elements.

+ I love the skill/leveling system so far. Because it feels very fresh and new with the whole “die and get rewarded” system, which allows you to spend your points into class cards that you use for your brand-new character. Simply put, “Survived” brings something new to the table, and even though I don’t really like the hardcore concept with games, this got me hooked instantly just because how they’ve made it.

+ “Survived” has a lot of promise and potential to become something uniquely great from what I’ve seen from just playing the Alpha and talking with the developer. Furthermore, while I was listing and talking with the “Survived” developers. I got the impression that they seem to be very active bunch and have loads of plans in storage that they want to work into reality. I’m already impressed what they’ve achieved currently so It’s going to be interesting to see what they’ll bring in the future.

+ The art style has a relaxing but also a very entertaining feeling to it. Not that dark and boring type I’ve seen so many times before. (Not saying its ponies and rainbows).

Cons:

– There is no pvp in the game yet. However, the developers did say they have plans for it in the future. So I just hope it will not end up being as disastrous as it was in “Diablo 3″…

– “Survived” is totally free, and that’s good of course. However, that fact still gets me worried about a pay-2-win business model. I talked with the developers briefly on the subject, but so far they’re testing things out and is asking their customers about opinions. Personally, I would do something similar to what Guild Wars 2 is doing with their in-game currency shop. So maybe something like a starter pack once they’ve gotten a bigger fanbase?

Gameplay: 4/5

The game is a bit grindy with normal mobs, but the game’s dungeons and boss events are entertaining to the max. Especially if you’re a lot of people doing it together.

Graphics: 4/5

The graphics have a relaxing and humorous atmosphere to it that makes you want to keep on playing. It could need some more animations, like movement of the character or death animations for enemies. The game is still in an early stage, so I’ll look forward for future improvements.

Sound and music: 5/5

Very fitting adventure music for different zones of the game and it gets more intense depending on the situation (boss battles and so on).

Controls: 5/5

It couldn’t get simpler and flexible because for most part, you use the mouse. There are of course options to use the keyboard a bit more. I still keep to my keybinds (inventory, using potions, stats).

Replay value: 3/5

I’ve kept playing a bit more after my stream. However, as it is an early stage, it’s missing parts of the main game. For example, the story based quests to follow as you travel through the different zones. It has a lot of dungeon content to do, which is awesome, but I think I’ll wait and keep an eye on the game to become more wholesome.



Story: 3/5

The story is still a work-in progress but the whole concept of “the world has gone cray cray and you (the nobody) needs to clean it up” is really appealing for me.

Verdict: 4/5

Survived By is in overall a really fun, good-looking and promising F2P hardcore MMORPG bullet-hell game. Why? Because the game brings something new and fresh to the MMO genre, and for once I don’t feel stressed out while playing an MMORPG.

Title: Survived By

Developer: Human head Studios

Format: PC

Genre: MMORPG/Action/Bullet-hell

Resolution: Highest possible for PC

Release date: 2018 (still closed beta)

Difficulty: Hardcore

Spent time: +6 hours

Average grade internationally: TBA

PEGI age rating: +12

Price: F2P with in-game store

Credit:

Robin Ek – Editor



Jonas “O.J” Ek

The Gaming Ground

Twitter: @TheGamingGround

SHARE THIS: Twitter

Facebook

Reddit



More by Jonas Ek:

Tags: Digital Extremes, Human Head Studios, Indie games, Mmorpg, PC games, PC preview, Survived by