Maroc - 3RD-STRIKE.COM - A La Une - 14/Dec 00:01

Wild Woods – Preview

Over the years we have seen party games fade out until Overcooked! rekindled the flame of a dying genre. Of course, staples like Mario Party never left, but long gone were the days of sitting in front of a TV with three other people laughing out loud while gaming together. Overcooked! spawned many clones, some better than others. Today we’ll be looking at the Early Access version of Wild Woods, a party game that puts a spin on the traditional formula. Instead of cooking crazy dishes or moving out furniture, we’ll defend a caravan from enemies lurking in the dark. To perhaps start off with a negative note, as Wild Woods sadly doesn’t have a story. It also doesn’t look like the full version will have an expansive narrative either. Luckily, the lack of a story is immediately forgiven when looking at the game’s visuals. Everything in Wild Woods looks cute and highly polished, and it was quite fun to see what the two currently available levels had to offer. The sound design complements everything very well as well. Truth be told, this preview will probably be short and simple, as Wild Woods is a very straightforward experience. You simply boot up the game and pick a skin for your character, and you’re good to go. You can either play solo or with up to three additional players. The game offers couch co-op play, online play, and also remote play options. You are then immediately dropped in the thick of it, and you’ll find yourself defending a caravan from approaching enemies. Enemies always come in a wave-based fashion, and at each crossing, you’ll have to decide as to how you want to progress. You can choose to take a safe route with a camp in which you can rest and purchase upgrades, but you can also choose to fight stronger enemies in order to gain more loot. It’s a straightforward process, and the game currently only has two levels to play through. Each level will take you roughly half an hour to an hour, depending on the choices you make and the overall management you might do in between. Defending the caravan is done by simply bashing enemies into submission. The game doesn’t do anything fancy in terms of combat, as it’s just a matter of slicing and dicing, with the occasional dodge thrown in for good measure. A skill system would add some variety here, as eventually, it all boils down to button mashing while avoiding enemy attacks. There are upgrades to be bought, but most of these offer passive boosts or upgrades for your caravan. Your attacks may increase in power, or you can run faster when gathering materials, and so on. Gathering materials is a key component of the experience, as you’ll have to collect wood and herbs. Herbs are used for healing, while wood is used to light torches so you can see in the dark when enemies approach and also to prevent your character from freezing. It’s a fun gameplay loop that did not fail to entertain us at all. At this point in time, you’ll have seen all the Early Access build has to offer in an hour or two. It’s entertaining, but we feel it’s a bit light on content. In the full version, we hope a lot of content is added, and that the combat system also is expanded upon. It’s already very polished, but we are currently missing something that makes games like Overcooked! an absolute joy to return to, even if you have already completed the game several times. Conclusion Wild Woods offers a glimpse into what might be a great party title, even though it currently has hardly any content to keep coming back to. The overall presentation was great, and what’s currently already there feels highly polished and almost like a finished product. In the coming weeks or months, we hope to see additional content being added to the Early Access build. This would be a surefire way for us to return to the cute little party adventure time in the future.