Ahhh Scavengers, the gamiest game that for a while was, but no longer is. It had guns, loot, zombies, a vague apocalypse, crafting, heroes with distinct skills, raid bosses, quests, some fantasy-ish elements, some sci-fi ‘stuff’, and oh my word it’s still dawning on me how little about Scavengers stood out from the competition. It had the PvPvE thing going for it, but lacked any persistent PvE content to meaningfully engage in, and vaguely cel-shaded graphics that never distinguished the art direction.
And it’s not as though any of these systems were incompetently executed. They never thrilled, but even when I previewed it months before its soft-launch onto Early Access in 2021, everything worked outstandingly well. That’s what makes this final outcome so sobering. Being polished isn’t enough – you need a distinct identity to stand out, and Scavengers could’ve managed that.
There were glimmers of potential – a dynamic storm system that affected visibility and could freeze your team if you weren’t careful, the need to manage thermal energy, and an engine made for crazy server-modifying events. So you could, for example, have a giant player fighting against hundreds of tiny ones across the map. It was novel, but you had to wade through so much banality to get to these glimmers of creativity.
Even the story of Scavengers was fairly hard to follow. Humanity is nearly dead, save for your motley group of titular Scavengers, and the AI overseeing the continued existence of humanity – her sole directive – decides to pit each fireteam against each other. There’s no nefarious plot, and seemingly you could be cloned again post-death anyway, explaining multiple instances of the same characters. It all sounds like it could be some sort of elaborate meta-narrative in the vein of I Have No Mouth But I Must Scream, but you wouldn’t even know this premise going by the pre-release footage.
It’s not as though you need the most stunningly original premise on the market to hook players. I play Paladins, a game with so many characters and skins riffing on various gaming archetypes that it can feel like an unofficial FPS Smash Bros equivalent. Except Paladins also has a charming art style, a simple-to-understand premise, and it knits all this together by messing about with those aforementioned archetypes. Yes, Raum is essentially the Cyberdemon from Doom – and that’s not exactly a character most FPSes let you play as. You instantly look at him and can see the power fantasy potential.
Other characters subvert expectations in refreshing ways, such as Lian, who at first seems like a ‘Barbie-ified Widowmaker’ rip-off, only for you to discover she’s actually a fairly accessible, mobile mid-range harasser. All of this is tied together with character-building dialogue that organically plays out mid-match.
By contrast, nothing about Scavengers’ moment-to-moment gameplay is evocative of what makes its heroes great without tons of digging. Just watch a few minutes, and other than gender and their snow gear, you’d be forgiven for having no idea what sets these heroes apart. Down at the design level, they certainly had unique kits tuned for the PvPvE landscape. However, nothing about a yellow parka says ‘this character can run fast’ and a red thermal jacket doesn’t exactly scream ‘Dome Shield like in Halo 3!’
Forget a straight PvP game like Paladins though, let’s look to another PvPvE game – The Cycle: Frontier. Everything I described at the start is present, save for unique premade heroes, but there are more crucial differences that work in The Cycle’s favor.
For one, the narrative makes sense, with the premise of everyone being prospectors like in the Old West. It’s simple with room for wrinkles to be elaborated on without raising any unfortunate questions. This narrative framing also drives the core gameplay loop – it’s about surviving as you take on increasingly risky missions with your allies. Those allies might stab you in the back, particularly if you team-up while soloing, but that only adds to the tension. Here, the PvE is just as important as the PvP, with a clear motivation to only take calculated risks since all but five pieces of equipment can be lost if you die.
The sense of urgency is constant as everything is out to kill you while teasing at greater rewards around any turn. This is bolstered by a lush environment that’s varied beyond just snow everywhere. It doesn’t all just blur together, ensuring the randomized elements stand out more, such as its weather system (which is similar to Scavengers). The Cycle might not be the most amazing PvPvE shooter on the market, but within seconds of playing it clicks despite boasting similar complexity to that of Scavengers. You understand what it’s going for.
And to address the elephant in the room – it’s easy to just say ‘be as personable as Overwatch’. However, the average game doesn’t have such an immense marketing budget or a dedicated CGI trailer division to sell every game they make, nor do they need to. Rainbow Six: Siege, one of the most identifiable, long-standing multiplayer experiences on the market, introduced itself with a scripted proof of concept of an ideal play session. In the years since, it’s had some fancier marketing, but all it needed to initially sell thousands of players was a sledgehammer breaching a wall for a flanking maneuver. In seconds, you get it.
By contrast, even as someone who’s played more than a few hours of Scavengers, I still really couldn’t tell you what the end goal was beyond “it’s live service!” and that’s a real shame. Just having an evolving world with all the standard elements ticked off a list isn’t enough. You have to have a core, a driving force, a true sense of personality to your game to get a chance of standing out. Otherwise, you’ll end up like Scavengers.
