What was I just describing? Ubisoft’s new title I Am Alive? The Wachowski Brothers’ classic, The Matrix? None of the above I’m afraid, I was, in fact, describing the new Cyber-Punk-multiplayer-simultaneous turn-based strategy game, Fray, developed by an independent studio based in France.
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| "soldiers of the future must hate airport security" |
Okay, the premise for the game isn’t exactly the most original, (and the development team have admitted Akira was a major influence when designing the game) but Multiplayer games have never been renowned for their stories. However, what Fray lacks in originality storyline-wise, it makes up for in gameplay.
“Although there is Frozen Synapse... We had never heard of it during development. At the time we started developing this, there weren’t any big multiplayer... turn based strategy games out there on the market. There were [a few] but... squad-based-turn-based-strategy was pretty much a dead genre, and we wanted to update that genre.” said Alex, lead designer at Brain Candy.
Unlike your standard turn-based-strategy game, Fray’s approach is to have everyone make their move at the same time, then have those moves play out all at once in the ‘Resolution’ stage. “If we do a traditional turn based strategy game... with two players its kind of slow because you always have to wait for the other player to finish their turn, but how do you mange with four, or eight players? How is that even playable? You have to wait all the time, and we didn’t like that. We wanted something more dynamic, and that’s when we started looking into Fray.”
Despite the twist in gameplay design, the game modes you have access to will be your run-of-the-mill bag of tricks. Seeing as the game is currently in Alpha stage, all we had at hand was the standard Deathmatch: A PvP game where you took it in turns to attack each other. The winner was the one who scored seven kills, or bagged the most points. Amongst other things, points were gained by collecting items, and finishing your turn quickly.
Other modes included four player Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, King of the Hill, and a Survival mode, which plays out like a last man standing mode, where losing a character doesn’t get you a respawn. Unfortunately, there is no vs computer option, and Brain Candy don’t envision putting one in for the final product. It’s a shame because this option could have allowed people to hone their skills and play the game without having to worry about friends or the availability of other players.
There are three factions to choose from: Aros, the paramilitary corporation and Cronacorp, the scientific corporation. The third, Magtyde Industries, is being saved for launch, and so we didn’t hear much about them. Each player chooses a corporation at the beginning of the session, and at the end of each day there will be a ‘winning’ corporation and two ‘losing’ corporations. Everyone that is part of the winning corporation gains a bonus ranging from more damage points, to movement bonuses; whereas the losing corporation receives an XP bonus. It all boils down to what you’re looking for from the games you play. If you want that extra edge on the battlefield, you’d pick the winning corporation, but if you want to climb the upgrade ladder faster, you might prefer to pick the losing corp. Of course, depending on how the day pans out, you can pick a winning corporation, only to have them on the back foot by the end of the day.
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| "they say the shortest distance between two objects is a windy line... right? |
After choosing the faction, the player then goes on to choose their squad. There are four slots to fill and seven classes to choose from: The standard Assault, Medic, Sniper and Tank, as well as also available are the Shadow, an assassin-style character who relies on sneak tactics, and Support, the jack-of-all-trades style scout.
The squads balance well; For example, you can’t have more than one of each class in your line-up. Alas, three tanks and a medic riddling the battlefield with bullets is just not an option. One squad option is to have a Sniper, Shadow, Support and a Medic, and try and hide in the fog of war, picking off the enemy from afar. Each player will develop their own play-style, and the question of whether or not to allow your opponent to see your squad before you play is still being debated in the studio. I personally found myself leaning towards a tank, medic, assault and support squad. The tank and medic would push forward, soaking up the enemy fire, providing support for each other, and the assault and support would skulk off round a corner, to find an alternative route to flank the opposition. Or at least that’s what I tried to do.
The controls are simple enough to get your head around. Point here, click there - but mastering the overall game will take time. One of the cons of simultaneous turn-based combat is you have no idea where your enemy will be. While you can plan your next move with great aplomb, when it comes to executing it, the enemy will be somewhere different entirely, and the whole thing can become a very jerky game of cat and mouse. Players will find themselves walking straight past each other, missing opportunities and walking right into an ambush because you can’t work out how the game works in terms of attacking and movement.
The graphics look really clean and fresh, with visuals and aesthetics not dissimilar to Timegate’s Section 8 and Sega’s Vanquish. Apparently influenced by the games of the 90s such as Unreal and Quake, it’s easy to pick up on the whole future-soldier vibe. “X-COM but with more up-to-date graphics” was what the team were going for.
The maps, which were all set in Paris, all had a similar Cyber Punk Metropolis-nearing-an-apocalypse kind of feel, which did get a tad generic. We were assured however, that more were being developed, and that their looks would take advantage of the premise of ‘simulated worlds’.
The layout of the maps worked well, with narrow corridors for intense close-combat action leading onto big-open areas for epic fire-fights. However, the tall Skyscrapers did tend to get in the way of your field of vision unless you spent a lot of time fighting with the camera, and when there’s a countdown ticking away on the top of the screen, having to wrestle with the view can become very time consuming. Having said that, I’m looking forward to playing a Team Deathmatch game on one of these maps, as I have a feeling that players will benefit greatly from a little communication and organised teamwork.
While the Alpha build seems promising, and the team’s enthusiasm seems genuine, one has to question whether or not the project will make it off the ground. The lack of a vs CPU option is a big blow for the game, which, although finding a gap in the market in regards to turn-based-combat, has jumped into the deep end of the already overflowing pool of multiplayer PC games.
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| "Paris 2098: Apparently this is the best the imagination machine could come up with" |
The question is; will it sink, or will it swim? After playing it, and listening to all the promises of what’s going to be added to the final product - dynamic kill cams, leveling up etc, Brain Candy’s goals of feeding the fast paced combat of an FPS into a turn-based game have still managed to fall flat. Fray is by no means bad, but at the end of the day, it is turn-based, and that’s what the developers need to focus on. It’s hard to be drawn into the heat of battle when you and your opponent run straight past each other in the middle of a firefight, and no amount of stylistic adjustments are going to change that.
I think Fray will be a worthy investment when it’s finished for those fans of turn-based strategy. Especially if you can persuade your mates to buy it too, which will bring it lasting value. For those of you who are looking for a game that will mix things up for a retired genre, be sure to keep a close eye on Fray’s development.
Fray will be coming to the PC sometime in 2012.
Most Anticipated Element: I’m looking forward to playing a Team Deathmatch game on one of these maps, as I have a feeling that players will benefit greatly from a little communication and organised teamwork.
