In PUBG: Dednet, death is only the beginning, or at least that's the one-liner plastered over its marketing campaign. The new instalment from the creators of the phenomenon that popularized the battle royale genre, Dednet has learned a lot from its predecessors, taking and shaking up lessons from what came before to apply the same chaotic thrill to a multiplayer FPS by leveraging roguelike elements.
Set in the gritty '90s Pacific Northwest-inspired region of Cascadia, one design throughline is clear – this is the PUBG's edgier younger sibling Talking to creative director Dave Curd, it's clear that ethos extends beyond the grungy, graffiti style visuals that make the map pop with color. Curd says Dednet is spreading "the gospel of PUBG," and doing so by providing an "infinite" amount of gameplay opportunities in a distinct form.
I'm in
The best example of this, as Curd explains, is that this game is not balanced fairly by design. In their previous title, a lot of care and attention was given to ensure that all starting players have the same opportunities at the start of a match.
PUBG: Dednet however is not that game. The biggest contributor to this is its roguelike mechanics. It's commonplace in battle royales to wash out and go again. With Dednet, not only is this factored into the game's design, it's encouraged. Each run you're more powerful than the last, regardless of your placing, and with this comes opportunity to tip the scales.
"What if an OK player on a long run crashes into a very good player at the beginning of their run, like what does that do for balance?" asks Curd. We've seen imbalance like this before, as Call of Duty experiments with alternative approaches to traditional skill-based matchmaking, and the infamous XDefiant ditched it altogether.
But, that friction seems to be exactly what Dednet is aiming for, just on a smaller and faster scale.
As Curd puts it, it’s a game for those who are "tired of games being too safe." With each run you earn more ways to gain the upper hand, and with each punishing loss, the urge to jump back in to redeem yourself. "What if you could go on a run where I'm on my eighth game and I catch you on your first game, and hey, if you're still a better gunfighter, you're probably going to win – but I might get you," says Curd, describing the loop as "a chip that's so spicy, you can't just eat one."
It's a risky approach, and sure to turn players not so gluttonous to punishment away, something Curd has already observed in previous builds. "I think early on we had a real big power discrepancy. [...] If you had five powers and I joined as a new guy, I would have zero powers, and we would just smash into each other. It was really tough, and it was a very love it or hate it feature, and I think it really bounced [off] a lot of new users that were just like 'Guys, you're killing me!"
Killing with unkindness
We want to encourage conflict and shenanigans.
Dave Curd
Effort has been made to bring control to the imbalance. Each player has five powers, which activate at intervals during the game. At phase one, all players are roughly equally matched, but by phase five the gloves are off, and the players on their 5th, 6th, or higher runs will have the clear advantage.
This promotes risky aggressive strategies, as the longer the game lasts, the harder it becomes for players on fewer runs to come out on top. "We want them to have fun with the powers. We want them to enjoy the chase and play freely. The second we noticed players stopped taking fights and started hiding, we were like: 'Ooh, ooh, ooh! Don't do this. This is wrong.' There are other games like this. We want to encourage conflict and shenanigans," says Curd.
Dednet is about speed and momentum, extending a gameplay session beyond the usual amount of games, and creating a snowball of a character build, enduring gruelling losses until eventually coming out on top through sheer perseverance and an increase in both skill as well as powers.
PUBG: Dednet looks like an ambitious and chaotic new approach to the Battle Royale formula, but it remains to be seen just how much punishment new players will be willing to take before the new roguelike mechanics sink their teeth in. After all, spicy food isn't to everyone's taste.
Gaming to-be-played hitting a ded end? Unlikely. But, we still have plenty to tempt you for more like this, from our games like PUBG recommendations, to our best co-op games ranking!
