Miscreated (Early Access) Review – A Fierce Fight for Survival

Miscreated
Entrada Interactive LLC

I’ll never forget my first game of Miscreated, well over a year ago. A friend and I dropped into a server with a low player count so that we could learn the basics of the game, and not have to worry too much about being interfered with by other people.

We both spawned in at random places on the large island map the game takes place on. Since we knew that it was a post-apocalyptic setting, complete with cantankerous mutants scurrying around, we kept a wary eye out for any signs of danger. The only problem was that in Miscreated, if you’re playing with friends, you don’t spawn in together.

We looked around for major landmarks which could help us locate each other, or at least have a general idea as to where we might be in relation to one another. Suddenly, my buddy started yelling through our coms: “Oh my God! I’m being chased by a tornado!” After spying a tornado off in the distance, I hoped that it was the same one that was on my friend’s tail. Luckily, it was.

After the tornado chased us into our first town, we looked around for any signs of life—whether AI-controlled mutants, or human players. We remarked at how exquisite the graphics looked. In fact, to this day, Miscreated sports some of the most gorgeous visuals of any survival game on the market, at least in my humble opinion. Moments later, we watched in wonder as we experienced our first rainstorm. The sound of light pitter-patters quickly escalated into a thudding cacophony, as thunder roared and lightning flashed overhead. Again, this game has some highly immersive graphics to ogle at.

The interiors of houses and other structures were so dark and dreary, that we found ourselves having to use our flashlights in order to be able to see anything of value that we came across, even during daylight hours. Suddenly, multiple gunshots rang out and interrupted our scavenging hunt. We ran from the buildings and hid in some bushes nearby in order to take stock of our situation.

Moments later, I happened to emerge from the bushes at an inopportune time, as I stumbled right out onto a fresh kill-scene. A group of four heavily armed players stood around the prone bodies of around five dead bodies. The bloodied bodies belonged to other players. “Uh, hi there,” was all I could muster. After a tense standoff, the group invited us to join them. Since we were unarmed and they were carrying assault rifles, we immediately agreed.

Since that fun-filled first experience with Miscreated, I think I’ve been shot more times than not, when I first encounter other players. The game’s player base seems to have gravitated over into the Rust, kill-on-sight, zone. Personally, I don’t mind some KOS action if it’s justified, but when it becomes a main feature for which a game is known for, I’d rather stick to something a little less hostile.

The game itself is outstanding. Miscreated’s backstory describes a gritty, post-apocalyptic world where a handful of “Final War” survivors try to do whatever they can in order to continue living on. Most of the world’s population was transformed into mutated zombie-like creatures which hunger for human flesh, so survival is a full-time occupation for uncontaminated folks.

There are all of the hallmarks of the typical modern survival game here—crafting weapons and other equipment (and even furniture), building structures and defenses, stockpiling food, killing hostiles, etc. Strangely, however, after three years of development, many of the bases that you’ll construct in Miscreated have this odd glitch where they’ll seem to be floating in mid-air. I would have expected this jarring inconsistency with physics to be fixed by now, instead of offering more types of weapons and vehicles to the mix.

Also baffling is that you can’t hunt animals for food and clothing. Although there are all kinds of critters and varmints scurrying around in the game world, there is no way that you can kill them and then cook or skin them for pelts.

Mechanically speaking, Miscreated is very sound (besides the floating bases). There are many types of weapons that you can either find somewhere on the island, or craft. These include everything from 9mm pistols to AK-47 assault rifles. Personally, I have a soft spot for the baseball bat which you can wrap razor wire around. I also like the fact that all of the weapons feel weighty in your character’s hands, instead of light and floaty.

What impresses me the most about Miscreated, however, is the incredible atmosphere the game evokes. It’s just dripping with post-apocalyptic drabness, and you can almost feel the sense of overwhelming despair everywhere you go. There are also a large variety of locales to visit on the island, and they are all visually stunning—from dark forests; to cliff side beaches; lonely coves; small, decrepit towns; and even a large city complete with high rises.

Of course, just like in other survival games, the more urban environments are the places to go to in order to find the most valuable loot. So, naturally, there are also the locations where you see a lot of PvP gunplay happening, as players fight it out with one another over the rights to scavenge from these more loot-rich places.

In all, Miscreated can be a lot of fun game for those folks out there who have ample amounts of patience. Playing with friends is probably the optimal way to play the game, as not only will you be safer, but everything will also be less grind-y than if you play solo. I’m still looking forward for what’s in store for Miscreated, granted it ever makes it out of its Early Access stage of development.

SCORE: 73%

Miscreated features great graphics that make its post-apocalyptic theme come alive. However, you want to have a pretty beefy gaming PC or gaming laptop in order to play it at a decent framerate. So, you may just want to invest in a decent gaming rig:

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