There’s almost too much to do in the graphically impressive survival game Soulmask

We tried out Soulmask as a part of the Steam Subsequent Fest and had lots of enjoyable, even when the sport virtually overwhelmed us at instances

Play it someday, such demos usually solely final half an hour! I nonetheless have the phrases of my colleague Steffi in my ear. The truth is, the free-to-play model of Soulmask is meant to supply as much as 40 hours of content material, and solely so “little” as a result of our progress right here continues to be restricted. Nonetheless, this surprisingly giant and fairly survival sport is already doing lots of issues proper

What’s Soulmask really?

Initially, the title presents basic survival fare: we get up within the jungle with nothing however a scrap of clothes. So we gather wooden, stones and berries and a little bit later now we have constructed our first primitive instruments. In fact, we proceed with a small shelter, varied workbenches and the seek for water.

Nonetheless, the sport doesn’t actually get going till a lot later, when a component that we final noticed in Steam’s prime canine Palworld comes into play: placing collectively your individual survival staff. On this planet of Soulmask, we repeatedly encounter enemy warriors who assault us on sight.

As soon as now we have realized the appropriate talent, we are able to weaken them in battle, knock them unconscious after which recruit them as tribe members. We then assign our new associates to work in our base – be it cultivating fields, amassing and processing assets, or no matter else is required. Our modest shelter will then develop into an actual village and later even an actual fortress.

The place ought to I begin?

Within the first few hours I spent in Soulmask, I used to be solely capable of check out the basic survival a part of the sport. However even right here there was a lot to try this I virtually misplaced monitor. That is primarily on account of Soulmask’s quite a few, and generally complicated, development techniques. There are:

• The analysis tree: That is the place I study new applied sciences, similar to higher gear and weapons, but additionally new buildings and crafting stations. To progress, I want know-how factors and Consciousness Energy However how precisely I get the factors or improve my energy remained a thriller to me within the demo.
• The masks menu: Right here I can enhance my masks with crystals I discover and get passive bonuses. However I can even study lively expertise, similar to recruiting NPCs or a pulse that signifies close by enemies. Different, stronger masks can apparently even be discovered afterward.
• The character window: I solely found this a part of the character improvement by probability after a while. Right here it’s doable to speculate factors in values similar to energy or stamina every time I stage up, which give me smaller bonuses for every stage. I can even view my competence in sure actions similar to woodcutting, stitching or archery. This will increase as I take advantage of them and likewise provides me smaller benefits.

Along with the development techniques, that are helpful in themselves however require lots of coaching, there are additionally intensive crafting choices. Inside three hours, I had constructed eight completely different workbenches, every of which unlocks quite a few recipes

The primary take a look at the map

Whereas I might spend days simply crafting new gear, instruments and workstations, there’s additionally the truth that Soulmask has a extremely large open world. To this point I’ve solely been capable of discover a tiny a part of a jungle, however there’s an enormous map ready for me.

It’s nonetheless onerous to say whether or not it’s value exploring. To this point, the query marks on the map solely conceal smaller ruins the place we are able to decide up some loot and recruit warriors. Nonetheless, afterward we can even discover enormous pyramids and whole villages or be capable to tackle boss enemies similar to a sabre-toothed tiger. After which there are the secrets and techniques of the masks, which we are going to uncover over the course of the sport.

Multiplayer and endgame

Soulmask is unquestionably designed to be performed for a very long time. Even within the demo, the fixed unlocking of recent potentialities – whether or not higher instruments, recent talents or a bigger base – is motivating. Even after hours, I haven’t even begun to see the whole lot the survival sport has to supply.

And if I can imagine the trailer, I can later construct virtually whole cities for my tribe and might even compete with or in opposition to different gamers in multiplayer. The builders even promise actual tribal wars, so I can lead my subordinates into battle and assault different tribes and settlements. How nicely this works and, above all, how intelligent the AI warriors are will solely be revealed within the remaining model. And even then in all probability solely after dozens of hours

Editor’s verdict

I hadn’t actually regarded into Soulmask earlier than taking part in it and was fairly stunned by the graphics and scope of the survival sport. Although the official screenshots have been prettied up a bit, the title appears to be like fairly slick. And I can uncover a lot within the demo alone – from dungeons to boss battles, recruiting tribe members and breeding animals.

And up to now, all of it works fairly nicely. The action-heavy battles might take some getting used to at first, and the builders ought to urgently work on the readability of the menus, however in any other case I’ve only a few complaints concerning the demo. Technically, the sport runs fairly easily for me too.

I can’t but choose how nicely the multiplayer works, for instance, and there may be nonetheless a giant query mark hanging over the AI of my recruited villagers. Nonetheless, with its complexity, the already spectacular scope and the fascinating tribe idea, Soulmask positively has the potential to face out from the survival crowd.