First Impressions of Egress, a Battle Royale With Combat Inspired by Dark Souls
Egress is an upcoming battle royale title developed by Fazan Studios. The game is presently in a closed beta. However, the developers provided VGR with access so that we could experience Egress gameplay for ourselves. Our first impressions; the game is a substantial departure from the recent spree of other battle royale games. We also had the opportunity to interview the developers directly.
Egress Gameplay: What Sets Egress Apart
The first and most obvious thing about Egress is that the game’s combat is inspired by games like Dark Souls, rather than other battle royale games. That puts the emphasis on melee engagements, rather than playing like other battle royale shooters like PUBG or Fortnite. The game also incorporates some RPG elements, giving players the choice between several different hero classes. Five of those classes were available in the beta, and Fazan Studios plans to add three more before the full release.
The combat should feel familiar to anybody who has ever played a Dark Souls game; the combination of quick and strong attacks, evading, consumables, and thrown items is very reminiscent of FromSoftware’s traditional gameplay. Every hero class has a few unique special abilities which help define the character, and you can also find items to bolster them in-game.
The other key difference between Egress and other battle royale titles is its method of shrinking the battlefield. The established format for battle royale games is to have slowly shrinking zones on the map which force players into ever more confined spaces. In Egress, the map is all about verticality. Set in a Victorian-style city with strong Lovecraftian and Electropunk elements, Fazan Studios characterizes the dense urban sprawl with elevators and staircases which help players navigate upwards. Instead of shrinking zones, the city is slowly being submerged, forcing players higher and higher (and closer together). Items are still scattered around the map, but are often in out-of-the-way locations, making excursions to retrieve them risky affairs. If you can’t get back in time, you risk being overtaken by the rising water.
Final Thoughts on Egress
Thanks to these changes, and others, Egress is a very different experience to playing Fornite, for instance. Other recent battle royale titles, such as Boss Key Productions’ Radical Heights, have struggled to stand out from the crowd, quite possibly because they change too little of the standard formula. Egress, on the other hand, has a substantially different approach to the genre; perhaps enough to carve out a niche for itself in this highly competitive market.
At present, Egress does not have a firm release date. However, Fazan Studios plans to release the game before the end of the year. It will release on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The closed beta on PC began on the 1st of August, but the introduction of new players is currently paused. In an update online, Fazan Studios explained; “Due to testing, we have identified many problems that our team is already working on to correct. Closed testing will continue! Unfortunately, in the near future we will not be able to accept new players. The game needs a lot of improvement before we can invite even more people.”