Gravelord is a fast-paced shooter much like the very first Doom and Quake games with the graphics matching those games although it is much more polished.It is being developed by fatbot games who previously developed other first person titles like Vaporum and its prequel Vaporum: lockdown. It is currently in development for PC but Fatbot games have not yet announced a release date.
A Callback To The Era Of The First Quake And Doom Games
Its graphics and overall artstyle quite beautifully portrays its inspiration from the legendary Quake and Doom games which coincidentally only released 3 years apart, Quake in 1996 and Doom in 1993. Both games have the general gameplay of exploring a linear level beset on all sides with various kinds of enemies and weapons to add to your arsenal to prolong your killing spree but the weird twist here being there is a deep voice over delivering quirky lines as you go through the level.
Gravelord’s gameplay is heavily inspired from those games with dark underground corridors and it being eternally night while filled with all kinds of enemies and various kinds of guns from ones that shoot regular old bullets to ones that shoot out electricity everywhere. The main difference in gameplay is the introduction of the card system, cards are scattered across each level and picking them up will grant the player 3 choices each of them being a buff such as every 3rd attack inflicts fire damage or weapon specific buffs that adds ranged offensive capabilities. For example, the player can equip a shovel and cards may grant it the ability to shoot electric bolts that stun the enemy or the ability to trigger an Area-of-Effect (AoE) with each melee hit.
Its Unique Blend Of Pastel And Old School Graphics
While it is expected to be mostly set inside dungeons from the eighteen hundreds, as per the trailer, there will be no shortage of color inside them. All the collectibles in the levels shown look colorful but not to the point it is out of place. The arms of the player character look rough but it maintains its pastel look. The overall artstyle has a unique charm giving a blend of borderlands but a hint of cel shading to make it stand out from other games in this niche genre like the hugely underrated BPM: Bullets Per Minute or Metal:Hellsinger.
It’ll Definitely Have Some Banger Songs
It’s a staple to these sorts of games now, to have heavy metal songs play as the player literally rips arms and legs off or in most cases, blow them to smithereens as sick guitar riffs play in the background. The soundtracks of the 2016 reboot of Doom and its sequel Doom Eternal were made by Mick Gordon who also worked on Prey by Arkane Studios. It hasn’t been stated who is working on the soundtrack but if the music playing during the trailer for Gravelords is any indication it will be a phenomenal set of tracks to accompany the gore the player performs.
Next Year Is Going To Be A Banger
There are a number of titles coming out next year that are shaping up to be absolute industry gems, one of them being Monster Hunter Wilds, the Fable reboot, Doom: The Dark Ages and so many more. Gravelord, while a niche genre at this point in time will no doubt also make its mark and it may even make it among these triple A titles.
Big games that usually seem too ambitious is because it usually is but with Gravelord Fatbot games isn’t straying too far from their tried and true formula for a First Person Shooter (FPS), their previous games have also been FPS and this fact alone is enough for Gravelord to garner an audience because as of recent times what has been observed from triple A flops is that the developers behind those games strayed too far from game mechanics or general gameplay they are familiar with, be it orders from higher ups or poor direction from leaders. What is refreshing to see is a sense of creativeness yet something familiar from Gravelords which as stated triple A budget can’t seem to cover or buy.
