At this year's Gamescom, Paradox Interactive unveiled their new IP—Afterworld, a post-apocalyptic survival grand strategy game. GameSpot, after trying out the demo, stated that this new grand strategy game leans more towards a survival RPG than we imagined.
GameSpot Preview:
Undeniably, Afterworld is a traditional grand strategy game in many ways—vast fog-of-war maps, territorial conflicts, macro and micro decisions—but its post-apocalyptic setting offers Paradox an opportunity to elevate the genre further. Even during the short hands-on session at Gamescom, we already felt many differences.
Firstly, Afterworld places great emphasis on world-building, which is often overlooked in other historical games. If you play as a Roman general or a post-industrial capitalist, players usually understand the preceding historical events because the game provides a brief historical background through information screens before moving to the next stage. Afterworld is different: the story takes place about 100 years after a mysterious fictional apocalyptic event called "The Fall," containing much for players to explore.
At the start of the game, you are given a vague choice on how to act in the early campaign. In the demo, we played as the de facto leader of a group of residents who had recently emerged from a shelter (does that sound familiar?), with our reactor about to explode. A ranger was quickly sent into the distant fog, and our people evacuated to a safe distance from what was about to become a smoking crater. There are other starting scenarios, but it offers seemingly endless opportunities to change your role through various horrors and triumphs. The opening is not as important as the choices you make afterward.
Instead of traditional nations, the game features various tribes, each with established belief systems and leaders—some are friends, some enemies, and others are ambiguous, purely mercenaries. You will soon confront them head-on, and if they don't strike first, you might integrate them into your society by spreading your values, finding common beliefs, offering comfortable housing and political representation, or forcing them to submit to your military power. Besides managing resources and territory, you must also manage the moral and ethical codes of your tribes. As the game progresses, you will gradually grasp the complexity. Decisions made early in the game can be quickly overturned as new ideas emerge.
Instead of a traditional tech tree, the game features an ideology tree that builds a knowledge system by unlocking specific clusters of knowledge through exploration. Your tribe will almost immediately begin crafting its own narrative. If you lean towards certain aspects of the ideology tree, you might become a group of peace-loving herders, a band of brutal cannibals, or a cult pursuing enlightenment at any cost. You can accept or reject ideas from the old world, and make difficult choices for survival, but these decisions may impact your leadership. A personality cult only works if everyone agrees; if people start starving, dying, or being neglected, you will face rebellion.
Due to the need for survival, your people are likely to be more nomadic than those in most grand strategy games. In the mid-to-late game, you can pursue conquest if you wish, but the primary goal is survival. You won't always find habitable places—procedurally generated disasters will determine your circumstances. Your next destination might be radiated, plundered by scavengers, or filled with warring tribes. You need to gather food and resources, but establishing a permanent home may take some time.
Some of the most powerful entities in the game are the Ancients: warlords and religious idols with immense power whom you can appease, worship, or provoke into becoming your enemies. If you are confident you have enough support, you can even curry favor with them or stage a coup. Unlike other grand strategy games, you cannot choose powerful existing nations as allies; in Afterworld, you are always the underdog. You are not the protagonist of the story; you are simply someone who must survive and seek well-being for your people. The developers have clearly stated that the world will continue to turn whether you participate or not.
When you join the game in this state, you gradually learn the mechanics as you explore the game world. A tentative expedition might bring you resources, inspiration, or technology, but it could also leave you stranded. The consequences of "The Fall" are far-reaching, with fragments of the story scattered across the map, waiting to be discovered. Ruined cities can be rebuilt, ancient weapons reforged, and the technology of the ancient world in the game remains as distant and sci-fi-like in real life.
Compared to most other grand strategy games, the victory conditions in Afterworld are more closely tied to survival. It might even be closer to Frostpunk than Paradox's previous titles. Theoretically, you could spend all your time and resources repairing a bunker, then retreat inside, close the door, and live out a short life in blissful ignorance. Alternatively, you could build an army, foster religious fervor, challenge the ancient races, and replace them; or you could develop advanced technology and escape to the stars—whatever your definition of survival, Afterworld allows you to make it a reality.
Afterworld is coming to PC, but no release date has been announced yet.
