Wickland Preview

Don’t tell the folks behind Fallout, but war has changed. The age of simple, pick-up-and-play arena FPS games is long over. Call of Duty, Battlefield and the like have shifted the focus onto both realism and scale. The core concept is still the same (you know, kill people), but the way in which that is brought about has changed quite a lot since the late ‘90s when Quake, Counter Strike and Unreal dominated the market. For those who still look back fondly on those days, there hasn’t been a whole lot to get excited about in recent times. CS:GO is a viable option, but what if you’re looking for something a little more... spectacular. Mad Ram Software, emanating from Taiwan, has a solution to your problem.

Its name is Wickland, a true ‘90s style arena FPS that comes locked and loaded with a selection of playable monsters. So there’s your Counter Strike beater right there. The gameplay is ultra-fast, which leads to matches that bear a closer resemblance to a mosh pit than a clean-cut military operation. You’ll begin games as just a lowly human armed with a fairly capable (and incredibly quick-firing) crossbow, but the real strategy and fun of the game comes from those monsters that any player can morph into simply by walking into a ‘morph point’ (?). Remember when you had to pick up weapons scattered around the map from little spawning points? Those.

Once you’re in beast form, you have a powerful primary and secondary attack as well as a whole extra life. The monsters can be stacked too, so players tend to be pretty reckless when it comes to self-preservation; when you’ve got four lives to work with it’s much easier to go charging in. Remember the mosh pit analogy, that wasn’t really a joke. There are eight monsters currently in the game (at the moment it’s in Early Access on Steam), including a giant lizard-thing, giant monkey and devil-looking-dude. It’s a familiar cast of wacky freakazoids, but the art design makes them all look, and feel, really cool. Saying that, there is this one electro-fish thing that’s actually quite creepy and unlike anything you’re likely to have seen before.

As well as looking unique, the monsters also have differing attacks that work in varying ways. The Ram-thing (I’m going to stick with these names) throws an explosive flame-skull, for instance, while that fish-thing can zap enemies with a long-range lightning bolt. They all have secondary attacks that can often be just as deadly, so playing as the monsters quickly becomes about choosing the right attack at the right moment. Plus, you’ve only got a limited supply of ammunition, so despite the fast pace you have to be conscious of how often you’re shooting. Running out of ammo is all but a death sentence in a well-occupied game.

Of course, getting a decent number of players into one is currently Wickland’s primary issue. A rather niche indie project such as this isn’t going to garner a whole load of attention under the Early Access programme, but hopefully once it’s released the servers will be a little more full. Still, it’s certainly possible to find a full game at the moment, you just need to pick the right time. What’s more, the mad gameplay means even having a few players in-game can get hectic in a hurry. Testament to that fact is the duel game mode in which two players go one on one. It’s surprisingly enjoyable, largely because the maps do a good job of funneling players towards one another.

At the moment there are three of those maps available, each of them rather maze-like and a tad similar. But five more maps are promised for release which will hopefully feel a little more unique. The core game is based on standard deathmatch mode, and it’s this mode that will feature in the upcoming tournament. With an obvious eye on proper competitive gaming, Mad Ram Software has already set up a tournament series, alongside E-sports organisers ESL, that will see players battle for some genuinely decent prizes. It’s great to see an indie dev have this kind of confidence in the community of its game, and it’ll be fascinating to see how the tournament pans out and garners interest towards the game.

So far, Mad Ram has done a fantastic job of making Wickland truly feel like an online FPS game of the ‘90s. Thankfully, only the visuals are the big difference. Aside from this, the experience will be pleasantly familiar to anyone who has experience with Quake, while younger players may take an interest in the the ultra-fast pace and unusual FPS presentation. There’s certainly an argument that shooters have long since ditched the limited player, power pick-up, PC only days, but while the industry has moved on, there are plenty of gamers who haven’t. Wickland could be the perfect game for those players, so here’s hoping Mad Ram Software can continue to deliver a quality experience as they develop the game.