“Honey, I return to children.” This is a bit of what comes to mind when attacking Ground connected 2After the first survival and adventure game of the same name designed by obsidian and launched in 2020. As in the first opus, they are small characters to the size of an ant and forced to survive in front of a disproportionate fauna and flora that blocks its path (with a threatening company in the background). A simple repeat bis? No, Obsidian says.
“It is much more than a simple extension, but an ambitious review developed with the precious help of the community,” he describes in Tech & Co Marcus Morgan, executive director of the game in Obsidian. Grounded He largely exceeded the 15 million players who joined their concept of survival, exploration and combat. “Ground connected 1 It was filled as much as possible with what technology could offer at that time (with the Xbox One, an editor’s note). Gonna Ground connected 2It is to get rid of the limitations, take advantage of Unreal Engine 5 and guarantee the vast world that fans want, “explains the manager.
Always small in an even bigger world
And it is true that the American study, also behind The external worlds 2 AND DeclaredIt is more ambitious. It is always about building its base and protecting it, manufacturing your equipment and exploring to discover how to return home, in normal size, while a threat rumbles. But everything rises a level, even the characters to choose from archetypes that will bring their own style (warrior, magician, saved, rogue, etc.).
The game area also extends considerably. In the first work, the characters were released in the garden of the house, as in the movie. In the second, they are transported to a community park, Brookhoolow Park. A change in the scale and clear ambition. “We wanted a bigger world, without loads, more fluid and, above all, capable of welcoming a great novelty: buggies,” says Marcus Morgan.
These buggies, claimed by the community, are in fact complementary insects to mount and develop. They will facilitate exploration and fights (one tank of facts, the other remote attack), will help collect resources. An “essential for the new game” design and thought since the beginning of reflection, because technologically it was not possible to graft them in the first title. Among the first available buggies of this July 29 in the early access, there is a red soldier ant and a goldsmith. Its contribution will also modify the dynamics of the multiplayer mode (in cooperative up to four players), will offer “more chaotic and funny situations,” he promises.
An “authentic nostalgia”
More fun and a refreshing atmosphere: these are the ambitions of Ground connected 2 It is relocated, but also changes from the moment. Goodbye the 1980s, welcome to the 1990s with its multiple references that “explode” throughout the park (a camera, a player, period food, iconic objects, music, etc.). A symbolic choice too and an “authentic nostalgia” for developers who grew at that time. “Our characters are more mature, we too,” Marcus Morgan laughs. “The aging of the characters also corresponds to the natural evolution of the players who grew up with the license.”
The game also gains maturity with “richer and more varied fights, the addition of elusive and counterattacks to be more strategic. Because, according to Obsidian teams, the game attracts three different profiles of players: explorers who favor history and discovery; Survivalists who like boss fights; Obviously, manufacturers that appreciate the sand box and the creative side of the game. “The ambition of Ground connected 2 It is satisfying these three profiles without forcing the player in a single way to explore the park, “he insists on the creative director.
And to also satisfy players with disabilities, accessibility parameters have been particularly reinforced a mode of arachnophobia that makes spiders less impressive, even non -existent, of customizable subtitles, adjustments for Daltonians, a reading mode aloud, etc.
Co-Construction with the Community
And it should be said that the sequel to the game, previously exclusive Xbox/PC and now available in PlayStation as Nintendo Switch, has taken advantage of its growing players community to enrich the returns of the latter. A true “co-construction” assumed and accepted by the obsidian. “It is very important. We have seen how the game is enriched when developing it with the community, which really influences the feeling of the game, the creatures that will be added, etc.”, insists on Marcus Morgan, who explains that the teams took advantage of the teachings of the first game to adjust the frequency of the updates, the choice of the assemblies or a stronger narrative approach (and since the beginning of the game, what has been decided in the game! The main lines of Ground connected 2But the balance was easily found among the “open elements to co-creation” and those “more protected” to preserve “a strong and coherent narrative vision.”
Ground connected 2 So it is still faithful to the recipe that made the success of the first episode, a family survival game in the midst of a quiet nature that has become hostile, for the first or third person, which is richer, more immersive and more cooperative than ever. Early game of the game, as for the first, is not a way of launching an unfinished game. “We play the game together,” proclaims Marcus Morgan. “This is what he did Ground connected 1 Much better, we start the experience again. “ Because, for the obsidian, having an active listening to her community is part of the DNA of the project, a “collective adventure philosophy”, with influences of flagship adventure films of the 1980s more than evident and assumed. “It’s a bit of our Thugs For us, “says Marcus Morgan.” And we hope the players have so much pleasure to discover it that we had it to create it with them. “
Closing 2: Available on July 29 in the early access to the Xbox series and the PC, in the game of the game and in the cloud.
Source: BFM TV
