Devastation - Preview

Burn your enemies to death.

The last time I saw Devastation was at ECTS (European Computer Trade Show) 2002, and although it was being demonstrated in a rather small booth, completely overshadowed by various other stands, I considered it my pick of the show. That’s right, I loved it. As much as I love multiplayer FPS (First Person Shooters) such as Unreal Tournament 2003 which was also on show, I feel that a single player experience can be much more fulfilling to a player. Of course it won’t last as long as a multiplayer oriented game, which is why Devastation has a rather expansive multiplayer as well as being attractive to me primarily for it’s great single player.

It doesn’t have a massive developer behind it. Digitalo was founded back in 1995 and has managed to keep itself almost undercover, whether by design or not. So it is to everyone’s surprise that the (until recently) little known game, Devastation, had recently become a great buzz within the industry: Everyone who hadn’t played it, at least.

Learn the story

Set slightly in the future on a post apocalyptic Earth, Devastation follows a group of resistance fighters who are trying to restore peace in a world where the remaining corporations rule what’s left of society with Pacification Squads, a brutal private police force. Your job is to head a resistance group in travelling the globe and bringing peace… by killing everyone.

Devastation begins with some decent in game cinematics that help the back-story through the game. Twists and turn litter the plot, and our heroes have pretty nicely performed voices. Using the latest version of the Unreal engine means that these cutscenes and in fact the whole game can benefit from a large polycount, which Devastation certainly uses, especially with the garbage system in place.

Audible pleasures

There are some cool looking scopes for the sniper rifles.

Now let’s back up a bit; the sound is absolutely stunning, with music that creates a gritty futuristic atmosphere that reminded me of Deus Ex to an extent. Ambient sounds are effective and draw you into the levels nicely, but the real showstopper comes with the garbage. In Devastation, hundreds and probably thousands of pieces of garbage litter each level, and although they serve a nice cosmetic purpose too, the bonus comes with the level of interaction you have with them. Coupled with the awesome physics engine within the Unreal engine, as you run through each locale you will knock about empty cans, bottles and even newspapers that react beautifully to your presence. Devastation is the first single player game in which I have seen advanced real time physics successfully play a major role.

Each of these interactions is complimented by a nicely realistic sound that can either bring you further into the world, or just serve to aurally inform everyone where you are. This obviously works both ways, for example you can pick up this rubbish and stack it up next to a doorway so that you will have an early warning when anyone tries to get through. In the single player game however, this might not seem as useful, since you generally assume most single player FPS games to be a case of the player running through the level, coming across enemies that are standing where the designer has put them. This is not how most of Devastation works.

Multiplayer and weapons

You see those hanging objects? Even they can be shot around.

Strangely, without wanting to spoil the surprise, Digitalo have managed to link the single player and multiplayer sides of the game a lot more closely than I’d expected, which implies that players should complete the single player portion before venturing online to enjoy one of the many varieties of standard game types (Deathmatch, Capture the Flag) and especially the rather clever ‘Territories’, which asks you to stage an assault on your enemy’s base while protecting your own at the same time.

Of course, to stage an assault, you’ll need weapons, and Devastation certainly delivers, firstly in volume, with over 40 unique weapons. From handguns to rifles, machine guns to smoke and gas grenades, you’re able to find the right weapon for any situation. They sound powerful and realistic, so taking someone down with a couple of shots seems about right. Of course I couldn’t ignore the rat drone, which is basically a bomb in the shape of a rat. Squeak it over towards a pack of gun toting madmen and on detonation you’ve got a shower of limbs, unless of course you decide on a more conservative amount of gore.

Beautiful graphical detail.

In terms of enemies, you primarily fight humans, with turrets and various other frightening worldly elements taking the back of the stage. To be fair, the constant onslaught of human enemies that seem to come in a rather small variety is realistic, but I can see it getting tedious throughout the whole game. Once introduced to the rat drone of course, you’ll develop a serious paranoia of any rats that come near you, even if they aren’t mechanical, so it is not uncommon for your team-mates to follow you into a room only to find you duking it out with a pesky rodent who’s best form of defence is running into the garbage.

The biggest question that needs answering at this stage however is whether or not the game is fun. Well, whether you’re into the strategic realism of quick kills or up for a bit more gun blazing action, Devastation will suit you because of the addition of a feature that lets you choose Action mode or Simulation mode. Simulation mode makes the weapons all more realistically powerful, with enemies crumbling after a single well placed shot (although you go down just as easily), but comparatively, Action mode sets you in a traditional action movie, where you can take a few bullets before biting the proverbial dust.

Realism effects

The contrast between light and dark for hiding in the shadows?

The variety in the gameplay forces you to change your playing habits depending on the mode, because of the change in even the simplest battles. Many is the time I’ve enjoyed kicking an explosive barrel past some cover that a group of enemies are using to shield themselves, shooting it once to get fuel leaking from it’s casing and again to detonate everything.

The much-praised OFX particle system created for Devastation to compliment the Unreal engine default system doesn’t go to waste in any sense. Firing at almost any object will shower fragments around, with dust coughing up from all around you. Running through a subway system with earthquakes dislodging tracks and dust is very immersive. The scalability of the graphical settings allows the game to run well on any system above the minimum specifications, although I can’t state strongly enough the joy of seeing this game in all it’s detailed glory.

Devastation has come along leaps and bounds since I last saw it, and with the performance still being improved, when the game comes out, I’m going to make sure I don’t miss it.