The popularity of games centered around overcoming extreme difficulty has surged tremendously in the last decade in the wake of the extremely well-received From Software’s Dark Souls, and later titles Bloodborne and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice to the point that other games that strive for this challenging, combat driven experience are often called “souls-like” or “soulsborne” games. One of the things these games tend to share is a focus on precise melee combat, and are primarily solo experiences. We recently stumbled onto Remnant: From the Ashes, a three player co-op third-person shooter with souls-like elements, a title proposing mechanics and gameplay loops that fans of the genre can get behind while also creating a new spin for something new.
Upon seeing the trailer for Remnant: From the Ashes, I was immediately intrigued by the addition of gunplay and cooperative multiplayer to the formula. Luckily, three of us here at Marooners’ Rock were given three review copies of the game in order to experience it to the to the fullest as a co-op title.
Developed by Gunfire Games (Chronos and Darksiders III) and published by Perfect World Entertainment (Torchlight and Neverwinter Online), Remnant: From the Ashes centers around a post-apocalyptic world that’s been beaten and ravaged by the evil that runs rampant in the world, The Root. The remnants of humanity are struggling and are running out of options. Their best hope is to take advantage of strange technology that allows them to create portals which eases travel and creates options to even go into other worlds that The Root have taken hold. The aim is to weed out the evil and save Earth and humanity from complete devastation.
The player takes the role of a created character that’s looking for a way into a tower they feel compelled to get to, leading them to seek out “The Founder” who may have answers that could help in the battle against The Root. The overall plot of Remnant: From the Ashes does leave a little to be desired, however, the lore, history, the worlds themselves, and The Root are fascinating. Little details, journals, audio clips, creatures, NPC characters, and signs of destruction are littered throughout every area and help fill in the history of what exactly happened here.
Just like Dark Souls, Remnant: From the Ashes is in third-person but instead follows many of the rules that most third-person shooters follow. Aiming and shooting, switching weapons, crouching, sprinting, are all present with the addition of a much more precise dodge action that most third-person shooters lack. The dodge mechanic is satisfying and has two options, a simple duck action or a complete roll away. It’s quick and snappy and responds as I expect it to every time. This meant if I dodged and got hit, it was because I got the timing wrong.
There’s also satisfying melee combat, powerful weapon modifications, and an upgrade crafting system. Seamlessly going between gunplay, melee, and dodging means that players can adjust strategies at a moments notice. The enemies are not forgiving either, they happily dish out damage and take advantage of player mistakes, and can overwhelm easily if crowd control isn’t successfully maintained. Bosses also deal out damage and can easily lead to full party wipes; each of them are unique experiences that add new levels of strategy and challenge to the combat.
Weapon modifications add a wide variety of options of customization from adding specific damage types, to summoning creatures, to decreasing melee damage and dishing back out more damage in return, and many many more. There is also a leveling system that allows one to spend points to increase specific stats, almost like a perk system found in many shooters. Starting with some specific ones dependent on class chosen, more skills become unlocked throughout the game, allowing further customization in things like increasing experience earned, armor, teammate bonuses, and there’s plenty more out there to uncover! This also adds a satisfying sense of progression throughout the game as more and more skills are found or earned through quests with some being unique finds with special circumstances. For example, in one session we found a weird tree and upon interacting with it we got some interesting dialogue and only my character was given a new perk to level up.
Adding multiplayer to this equation is a ton of fun. Communicating with friends, and working together to take down a challenging boss reminds me of the joys of Monster Hunter.
There are three classes to choose from at the start that encourage different roles in combat: the Hunter, a long-ranged specialist, the Ex Cultist, a support class with healing and power options, and the Scrapper who is focused more on short ranged combat and having heavy armor. These classes work together well and create a well-defined multiplayer experience as each person fulfills a different role but doesn’t lead to lulls for those taking support roles, like some MMORPG systems.
What is also fascinating about the multiplayer is each player has their own instance of the world that is randomly generated. So joining a friend’s game has one wandering around their particular instance of the game, featuring bosses in different orders and rearranged areas of familiar feeling locales. Likewise, when a friend joins your game, you go through your instance of the game. Progress is locked to the host of the game, so while you may see and experience and unlock things in your friend’s game, they will remain undone in yours. Likely though you’ll have leveled up and gained upgrades that allow for getting through the earlier content easier. Even better, players working together with can swap between worlds to keep everyone on the same page.
Loot is gathered collectively, so if a friend picks up a new ring or gun or hat, everyone will receive the item. The same goes for scrap (in-game currency), consumable items, and crafting elements. It’s safe to say that if you can play Remnant: From the Ashes with friends, you are going to have a good time.
The graphics in Remnant: From the Ashes aren’t groundbreaking and they aren’t going to make jaws drop anytime soon. That said, the art direction and creature design just might. Each world held within Remnant holds dangerous denizens unique to them. From plant and tree-based creatures, to bone clad desert occupants, to straight-up aliens, and it doesn’t stop there! Remnant: From the Ashes continuously mixes things up visually to keep things interesting.
It was the creature design that was the final selling point that made me want to play. Seeing these tangled wood tree monsters made me want to know more about them and the history of the world they inhabited. There are also a number of details that make me appreciate the art direction even more. The Scrapper class has a large hammer for a melee weapon. While just giving them a large sledge hammer or even straight-up warhammer would have been acceptable, the devs took careful consideration into the fact that this is the apocalypse and resources are scarce. The hammer looks like it’s made out of a four-stroke engine. This, combined with armor made out of tire treads and other details, really helps fill out what living in this world is like.
Another thing that pushes the world within Remnant: From the Ashes is the sound design and music; it’s used extremely well. There isn’t always music playing in the background but when it is, it’s to great effect. The mournful theme that plays in Ward 13 really pushes the heaviness the people who live there feel. Going down into a sewer and only hearing the sounds of creatures making growling, guttural noises adds just the right amount of tension. The strike up of suspenseful music when a more powerful creature appears prompts the player to want to take action, whether that be fight… or sometimes run.
The only thing I’d expect to improve in the sound design is because it’s done so well I expected a bit of environmental accuracy in the way the sound works. I swear I’ll hear something just around the corner only to find an empty hall and that the actual source was in a closed off area that I wouldn’t have actually been able to hear the noise. This creates some confusion when wearing headphones.
Remnant: From the Ashes is how I imagine if Dark Souls invited DOOM, Fallout, and The Last of Us over for dinner, consumed them, absorbed their powers into itself, and then invited friends over to hang out and play games.
The gunplay is snappy, the dodge mechanic is satisfying, and the multiplayer adds a new level of strategy and fun to the entire experience. It’s a fascinating world that takes great advantage of well-placed audio and excellent art direction. While certainly playable as a solo experience, Remnant: From the Ashes truly shines as a cooperative multiplayer experience! Fans of Left 4 Dead, Monster Hunter, Destiny, and other cooperative driven games should definitely pick this up! But don’t just take my word for it, my colleagues Andrew and Alex have their say too!
“Remnant: From the Ashes has a lot of elements that bring it together in a way that is engaging during moment to moment gameplay with an interesting world that keeps players hungry for more. Even though instances of the game’s world are randomized, at least somewhat, it feels like each encounter was carefully crafted. Weapons also feel punchy and important since there are less things to pick up in Remnant as compared in games like Destiny or Borderlands. What results is this co-op experience that demands attention in order to succeed with mysterious foes that are worth studying.”
“Overall, I can’t wait to see how this game evolves overtime and I think it is one that will be in my regular rotation for a while.” – Alex McCumbers
“As I played the game, there was so much to do and explore. Even so, I realized a few things while playing with the others on the Marooners’ Rock team such as our worlds being different layouts, along with us having different bosses. A game that’s granting each of its users a different perspective is a major plus in my book.”
“During my time with Remnant, I was playing alongside Alex and all he hears is, ‘Oh shit, it has a sword!’ and the enemy itself was chasing me down. Of course, I died soon after. I had no clue of what sort of enemies to expect. However, the craziest thing while playing to happen was the end-game boss itself. I wasn’t expecting it, nor was I ready for it.” – Andrew Peggs
More information on Remnant: From the Ashes can be found on the official website. Three Steam copies of the game were provided for the purpose of review.
