Savage - PC review - Pocket-lint

1 March 2004 0:22 GMT / By Stuart Miles

A cross between a roleplaying game, real time strategy and a first person shooter, Savage is an interesting mix of genres, but one that won’t quite work for most people. The idea is simple. Take the fast paced action of the online multiplayer first person shooter and then introduce the need to build and manage a base and finally a sense of character development and voila - you have Savage.

The game which is purely online, is team based with the majority of players out on the battlefield doing the fighting. One player however, has to stay behind and harvest the crop and keep the homestead going.

For the players on the battle field the usual array of fantasy weaponry is available, axe’s swords, and lasers among other things. Here the role playing element shows its head, and the more you use a certain weapon group the more skilled you become, chose an axe for example and your melee level will rise, decide to do some harvesting or mining and your labouring skills will go up instead.

Money and therefore expansion is determined by how much labouring you can get done while fighting. Just as with an RTS, you must make sure the harvesting continues if you hope to keep the cash flow coming in. Cash as always, is king, and will buy you more weapons, defences and other such necessities.

Because of the prominent slant toward the first person shooter, the graphics are designed towards this genre, large valleys, tall waterfalls and green rolling hills make up the landscape. Graphically they are adequate for the job in hand, but nothing stunning that will blow you away. Admittedly this is probably been to speed up online play, but graphics here represent FPS from three years ago rather than cutting edge design.

Verdict

Imagine your favourite RTS and then imagine being one of the foot soldiers that you send out into the mist to do battle with the on coming horde. That is what this game is like, and for some that will be very appealing. However for others the quick fix of the fragfest that is normally the agenda with FPS the idea that they have to build and develop the base will just be a hindrance. The other lacklustre element is the fantasy setting. This is obviously a nod to the role playing market, but this game isn't really a role playing game. If the scene had been set that you're the dirty dozen left out high and dry it surely would have made for a more gripping and appealing storyline than defending some patch on the planet Zorg.

Overall this game probably will appeal to a number of online players looking for something different, however with the lack of a single player campaign and the inability to load in bots for practice, this won't for everyone.

Score

Review Recap

Made by: Digital
Price as reviewed: £35
The good: Adds action to two slower genres
The bad: No singleplayer to entice new players that often
Quick verdict: Straddling three genres is a step too far and makes the finished product suffer. Try any demo or stick to any specialist MMO.
Score