Developers: Zero Point Software
Publisher: Zero Point Software
Platforms: PC
Interstellar Marines – Preview
Interstellar Marines is a new AAA indie title brought to us by the Denmark-based developers Zero Point Software. The game is an action FPS set in a fictional yet quite realistic future. Inspiration was gained from several of the classic first person shooters such as Half-Life and System Shock 2 but there is also a clear influence from the Halo series. While Interstellar Marines cannot be compared to bigger titles, it does a stellar job at being one of the best indie sci-fi FPS titles out there – even at an early stage.
Story-wise there is not much I can tell just yet as the developers are currently focusing on the multiplayer and co-op modes but a singleplayer mode should be added in the near future. There is a test-mode where you can get killed by AI bots in a prototype map and annihilated you shall as the bots are vicious and rather precise. The spawn-system in this testing mode is also rather unbalanced to put it lightly but it is a fairly good start. All-in-all, I should say that the AI bots are too smart for their own good.
At first glance Interstellar Marines seems to be a mix of the latest Call of Duty, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Phantoms and definitely some Halo. However, the game is inspired by classics such as Half-Life, System Shock 2 and Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield and this shows in the gameplay itself. As an elite soldier set in a believable future, you are carrying a helmet – much like the ones in Halo. This helmet is possibly your best friend during combat as it will show you various information about the map such as captured zones and whatnot. Which is also the only available mode for multiplayer – for now at least.
As Interstellar Marines is inspired by the old school tactical FPS games, there are several features that I am missing. The first one being a map where you can see where your teammates are hiding and dying. You are still able to roughly pinpoint where they are by having icons run around in your map but roughly doesn’t always helps in tactical shooters. On that note, a feature that indicates from which side you are being shot at. While it wouldn’t help much since you die rather fast anyway it would be a nice feature to have, especially since there are no killcams available.Something else I’m missing is the customizable loudouts. You don’t need a large range of weaponry but being able to create a loudout that you feel comfortable with is a great feature to have and this has almost become a necessity in the modern FPS games. While it is fair that everyone plays with the same weapons – you have two – certain weapons are not for everyone. Several weapon concepts has been shown so a loudout is still a possible feature. I’ll be crossing my fingers on this one as I prefer my secondary weapon above my primary.
As far as the gameplay goes, movement is done traditionally with the WASD-keys but shooting feels wrong in many ways. Don’t get me wrong, the mouse works like a charm but the kickback on the weapons are quite big and the clip-sizes are rather small. If you try to spray-and-pray, you’ll most likely end up dead because you missed the enemy by a mile and you’ve ended up with an empty clip. Reloading is also rather slow – at least compared to modern FPS – but not something that would bug the player as you can always switch to your secondary weapon. This does bring me to the hitmarkers as there are none whatsoever.
Additionally there is a leveling system called the Training Ranks, which is easy to increase. Perhaps even too easy. A level is gained when you have 100 TP – or Training Points – so level 1 would be 100 TP, level 2 would be 200 TP and so on.. A rather standard number but also easy to achieve if you know that the training point rewards are fairly high. Killing an enemy will reward you with 15 TP, capturing a zone will give you 10 TP, respawning a team member will yield 15 TP. Winning and finishing a match that you are playing will both yield 25 TP. This means that even if you are terrible at killing an enemy, you can still gain a fair amount of training points by simply capturing a zone. The level cap for now is TR-100 and while this is great, for now there is no real use for the leveling system. Of course by implementing and testing the system already, they can go many ways and features for the leveling system can be endless.
Visually the game is stunning and with several details that didn’t go lost in translation. There is even a day and night-cycle in the game which would be great if the night cycle wouldn’t be pitch black even in the outdoor maps. The maps are cleverly designed although the spawn-points are poorly chosen so hopefully this will be looked into, especially since you can always get spawn-killed which is the worst kind of death you can have in a multiplayer game. The sound design is yet another job well done with a large variation of sounds depending on what type of surface you are moving on and what type of weaponry you are using.
For those that simply love livestreaming or be their own director, there is a movie mode with freecam when you spectate where you can switch between first and third person views. Excellent for those who’d want to spend hours recording and editing matches. This feature is also great for eSports however I don’t think Interstellar Marines will ever get this far because in the end, it still remains an indie title.
Conclusion
Interstellar Marines is, for an indie title, a great FPS. Surely it cannot compete with the modern AAA shooters but it does a stellar job in the indie genre. There are still many features lacking but the early access content feels balanced and well-thought of, making it an overall joy to play. Fans of the FPS-genre and Halo-like visuals will definitely be able to rejoice on this title.
Interstellar Marines - Preview,
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