The free co-op shooter gets off to a brilliant start, but the release is marred by a few problems
Today is an exciting day for fans of co-op shooters:The First Descendantis celebrating its official release and is already attracting impressive player numbers at launch. With over170,000 active playerson Steam, the game has made a pretty impressive start.
What is The First Descendant?
The First Descendant is aFree2Play co-op shooter from the South Korean development studio Nexon. In a dark, post-apocalyptic world, you take on the role of the so-called Descendants – genetically modified warriors with supernatural powers who must defend humanity against an overpowering alien threat.
The game offers a mix of fast-paced, action-packed combat in the style ofWarframeand places great emphasis on customizing your characters with weapons, armor and other items that you earn on missions, in dungeons and in boss battles.
At the start of the game, you can choose between three descendants: a frost sorceress, a grenade specialist and the tank Ajax, who demonstrates his skills in the following video:
Promising start
The numbers speak for themselves: 170,000 players on the first day clearly show that The First Descendant has struck a nerve and many people are keen to try out the free-to-play shooter
The situation is different, however, when it comes to Steam users’  ratings, only half of which are currently positive. The following points are currently being criticized:
- Technical problems such as crashes when compiling the shaders or black screens.
- The purchase of the premium currency Caliber is billed, but the currency is not immediately available in the game.
- New heroes cost 300 or 600 Caliber, but the currency can only be purchased in the store in packages of 250 or 520 units.
- Many negative reviews were submitted before the release because players were unable to connect to the game during the preload phase.
But there is just as much praise for The First Descendant:The graphics are impressive thanks to Unreal Engine 5, the gameplay is successful and Pay2Win is supposedly not an issue, as with enough grind you can unlock all content without spending real money.
How are you doing? Are you going to try it out or are you not interested in The FirstDescendant at all? Let us know in the comments below