Ravaged Preview – Post Apocalyptic Vehicular Manslaughter

Ravaged is a first person, online multiplayer only shooter with a focus on vehicular combat.

The first title from 2 Dawn games was born out of a successful Kickstarter program in May. Despite being the first game from the studio, the team has worked on several past projects. They created the Desert Combat mod for Battlefield 1942 and were picked up to work on Battlefield 2 as well as Frontline. Their past game projects are evident; this game feels like a lot like a Battlefield game.

Ravaged  is set in post apocalyptic environments. Several maps include American monuments with the  post apocalyptic backdrop like a toppled Statue of Liberty and a Broken Golden Gate bridge. The levels are all huge in size, except for one that takes place on an oil rig, which is the only map shown that didn’t have vehicle support.

The emphasis of vehicles and teamwork is prevalent.  While participating in the beta, it was only the teams that worked together and made good use of the available vehicles with strong communication that came out on top. Which is another similarity to the Battlefield games.

The ground vehicles are easy to control, and fun to drive. If you’re familiar with how vehicles work in the Battlefield games, driving won’t be a problem at all. The larger vehicles can hold three or four players at once with one player driving, one operating a turret on the back and one riding shotgun.

In addition to the cooperative vehicles the game also has smaller, solo transportation options. ATVs offer single riders a quick way for players to traverse the maps. While using the ATVs, players can shift their weight to make tighter turns or to land a wild jump.

Despite the accessibility of the ground vehicles, the air combat options have a very steep learning curve– that is of course unless you can fly a helicopter in one of the Battlefield games, because it’s exactly the same.

2 Dawn Game’s community manager Carsten Boserup explained that making the helicopters a difficult to master skill prevents them from being too overpowered.

The game modes are pretty standard, with a CTF style mode where players try and steal the other team’s fuel tank while capturing different spawn points around the map. There’s also a territory control style mode, as well as standard team deathmatch.

Ravaged will release as a digital download on October 17 for $24.99. If you and three friends are planning to buy the game you will be able to save by purchasing a four pack of licenses for $60.