In Gord, your brave subjects are torn by hideous monsters that have the same mythological background as in The Witcher. We were able to see some first gameplay.
The world is bad. Especially when you live in the world of Gord and as a subject you have to put said Gord (a kind of camp) somewhere in the wilderness. Not only is the world of Gord in a perpetual night, it also seems to rain non-stop. And while you are marching through the mud and spending your day chopping wood or digging iron, the neighbours suddenly start gossiping about poisonous eggs in the nearby swamp.
This causes even more resentment. People are afraid. No one really wants to be eaten by a monster or catch a plague one day. So you do the only sensible thing: You march straight to the bailiff and demand that he do something about it.
That”s what he wants – but of course he doesn”t stomp off himself. Instead, he assembles a group of villagers, thrusts rusty axes into their hands and sends them off on a hunt for poisonous eggs, grinning encouragingly. And of course you are among the poor dolts. Because, as I said, the world is bad.
And with that, we”re already in the middle of the gameplay presentation of one of the gloomiest construction games that await us in the near future.
More than just a build-up game
It”s been over a year now since I told you in great detail about this building game from former Witcher makers. Back then, there were only a few screenshots and a short trailer to see from Gord. But now, just in time for gamescom, I finally had the chance to look at several minutes of real gameplay and ask studio founder Stan Just for another interview.
However, there wasn”t an extraordinary amount of building in the overall gameplay. That”s because the team didn”t want to dwell so much on the standard. Gord remains a building game at its core, but does not set any standards in this area. What sets Gord apart from other construction games is something else. And that is the scenario I described at the beginning: The monster hunt!
Whereas hunting almost sounds a bit highfalutin. It sounds as if a gang of hardened monster hunters were setting out or Geralt the sorcerer sharpening his silver blade. In reality, however, we are actually sending a group of ordinary people into the middle of the wilderness to take on the beasts. It”s really not our fault that they can die or come back emotionally scarred.
In the gameplay shown, it is Hayden, Kamir, Nevan, Meryl and – er, Reiner who set off. The group is sent across the large map in real time. So the swamp really has to be explored in detail. This almost seems a bit like an oldschool RPG, in which the characters attack automatically on command, but with the help of the pause function we can always position the group strategically and cast a few spells to support them.
A monster squad like in The Witcher
Admittedly, the journey of the four warriors through the dark swamp is not yet spectacular. They fight against wild forest dwellers, mutated pigs, snakes, monkeys or toads. But the gameplay is also from an early point in the campaign, when Gord obviously doesn”t let the biggest monsters out of the cage yet.
The monsters in Gord are actually diverse and, as in The Witcher, were largely inspired by Slavic mythology. The biggest challenge, according to studio head Stan Just, is to somehow remain original. He is well aware that they do not always succeed. That some monsters can seem generic. But especially when it comes to legendary creatures, he wants to challenge himself and his team:
“There is a very fine line between credibility and originality, that is, not copying everything from someone else. Even if you design a snake-like creature, it should be original in some way”
Depending on the enemy type, there are also quite relevant gameplay differences. For example, Just explains that in Gord, each enemy falls into one of four categories and behaves accordingly or offers certain rewards.
- Beasts
This category includes all creatures that are normal (albeit extremely aggressive) animals in the broadest sense. If your subject was eaten by a wolf in the forest, overrun by a wild boar or crushed by a bear, then it was a beast. Sounds brutal, but these enemies should pose the least challenge. More important here: Beasts guard resources. So they are important for the building part of the game. If you want to open up new resources like gold, clay or iron, you have to eliminate a horde of beasts. - Monsters
According to Gord lore, monsters were once human beings. However, they somehow came into contact with a horror and were mutated by these creatures into abominations. Here creatures like Gazer, Chmoks or BloodwormsDisgusting Creatures
, as Just calls them – but which are also just always connected with Slavic mythology. Monsters, too, are basically guard dogs, but they protect treasures and special finds. - Humanoids
Since, as in The Witcher, the monsters are not the real problem in many cases, there are also human enemies in Gord. Here Just keeps a low profile and only talks about wildlings for the time being. These are feral humans who live as bandits in the forest. With human enemies it is important to strike first. Because such groups will attack your Gord sooner or later. - Horrors
The Horrors are then almost the biggest stars in Gord. They are very special monster types, of which there can only be one on each map and which all have their own individual camp. Horrors are quite capable of creative thinking, but are usually driven by a demonic motivation. They are very difficult to defeat, but can be appeased by completing special challenges. The only question is whether we would be morally willing to do so. Is a child sacrifice worth it all? Each horror embodies a different reprehensible character trait such as pride, greed, gluttony or aggression.
In addition to all these adversities, illnesses can make life difficult for our inhabitants, and the weather can change. Then it”s not only harder for us to see the map, some monsters also get situation-dependent buffs.
Depending on the confrontation, the encounter with an enemy can disturb a Gord inhabitant so much that his mental health eventually declines and he falls prey to madness. As I said, the world of Gord is anything but kind to its inhabitants.
Building, of course, is also
With all the monster hunting, you can almost forget that Gord is actually a building game. And as indicated, there hasn”t actually been much of that part of the game to see yet. But I know our readership and they go into raptures at the thought of the next well-designed building challenge. And so I asked Stan Just a few more questions on this very subject.
After all, the game is called Gord and said Gord should play a role. Which it does, because this wooden fort needs to be cherished by us. At its core, as in many building games, it”s about surviving as long as possible. But also about overcoming a certain challenge. For example, defeating a horror or solving a larger quest.
To do this, the camp is built up piece by piece. Looking at the screenshots, one might think that the construction area is limited to this circular camp. In reality, however, we can shape the wall to our own taste. For example, the Gord can also look like a Batman logo. In addition, if there is a lack of space, the gord can still be extended with attached warehouses.
However, you should by no means expect a scale like in an Anno or Farthest Frontier. Most of the time, a building generates a single finished good, so efficient production chains are not necessary.
How motivating the building part of Gord actually turns out to be is difficult to assess at the moment. But it is very likely that the expansion of the Gord is not a guarantee of long-term motivating fun.
What Gord is really about
In the end, the reduced build-up part, the few goods and the fight against monsters are due to the basic philosophy of the development team. Because as Just says himself, Gord is not meant to be predictable at all. Gord is not the typical building game in which every cog reliably meshes and in which ultimately the best efficiency calculator leads to success.
Gord aims to tell interesting stories. As players, we should be surprised and first and foremost enjoy the experience. This may put off some construction purists, but it can certainly be fun. But Gord also has to guarantee that his stories are worthwhile for us. That we are amazed by the monsters and soak up the gloomy atmosphere with pleasure.
Editor”s Verdict
I am extremely excited about Gord and it is very noticeable what kind of people are behind the game. Because both the atmosphere and the background evoke the best Witcher memories for me. I actually feel sorry for the people in the Gord that there is no friendly witcher in the neighbourhood. Geralt would certainly not suffer any lasting psychological damage from fighting a bloodworm. But as soon as said bloodworm eats the father of a simple peasant woman – then she has every reason to flee the town in panic.
But when I look at Gord”s gameplay, I”m still sceptical. Because even the new gameplay couldn”t quite tell me how much fun it all is in the end. Exploring the swamp and fighting monsters or humans seemed interesting, but does it challenge me strategically? Questionable. But this is exactly where the challenge must lie. Because from the sound of it, Gord isn”t going to be the most complex building game. Let”s hope that story and exploration make up for this weakness.
