What a concept
I’m not looking for a new multiplayer survival game that I’ll become wholeheartedly obsessed with for one solid weekend and then talk myself out of ever playing again. I’ve fallen into that trap enough. I still feel those twinges of guilt. But I can at leastentertainthe idea, right?Where’s the harm in that?
Last Oasismight look like standard post-Rustsurvival fare depending on which snippet you come across, but the twist — the singular aspect that got me invested enough to write this article — is another matter.Last Oasishas mechs that are made out of wood and powered by the wind.
Let me say it again: Wooden. Mechs. The intricate walking contraptions can be “adapted for travel, transportation, harvesting, combat, or used as mobile bases,” and just like that, I think I’m in.
The lore ofLast Oasisis just as intriguing, though I’m unsure how much of it will be genuinely felt in-game and how much of the world-building will be slightly-less-tangible food for thought.
After a cataclysmic event halted the Earth’s rotation, the planet was split into two extreme and deadly environments. Only a narrow band of space between the hot and cold halves of the planet has conditions that can support life. This band moves at the pace of the planet’s rotation around the Sun, and all life on Earth must migrate with it to survive. In order to keep moving, the remnants of humanity have built nomadic machines, and a walking city called Flotilla.
You’re still out there hoping to live a humble existence, gathering day-to-day resources with which to craft resilient gear and eventually those all-important wooden machines, but larger forces are at play. Most survival games become more or less stationary once players establish their stomping grounds, so I appreciate the nomadic theme here as a way to push back on those hermit-like tendencies.
The game’s Steam summary is peppered with cool-sounding concepts that may or may not play out quite as the developers envision. These were some of the talking points that caught my eye:
Oh, and there’s ballistas and grappling hooks.
Developer Donkey Crew will kick things off this spring in Steam Early Access and continue production for an estimated 12 to 24 months leading up to the full release ofLast Oasison PC. Along the way, “new weapons, armors, and tools for players will be implemented by expanding the tech tree.” The team hopes to “rely strongly on the input from the communityto improve balance and performance. The goal is to achieve an entertaining online world where people create the stories themselves.”
Worth noting: Donkey Crew began as “a small team of passionate gamers working together” on mods forMount & Blade. Having watched the trailer, that background definitely adds up.
Last Oasisisn’t short on compelling ideas, but whether those ideas pan out in a live game with real human players in the mix remains to be seen. There’s a lot of potential for treachery, that’s for sure.
