If you’re searching for a game that has it all, or at least has aspects of games that you like, Rend may be the game for you.

The development team encompasses people with experience from all sorts of games such as World of Warcraft, Overwatch, League of Legends, and WildStar. I had the absolute pleasure of meeting with Frostkeep Studios at E3 to learn about this survival RPG game inspired by Norse Mythology called Rend. There’s a lot to love about it so let’s dive right in.

Source: Frostkeep Studios

First off, Rend is a survival RPG game with factions, but it’s also more than that. The analogy best given to me when I met with the developers was consider it like another cult-favorite survival game Don’t Starve. Like most survival games, the objective is to, well, survive. You gather items, craft weapons for hunting and defending, and build a home base. All of that you will find here. And this game considers every applicable aspect to the character’s environment. For example, if you’re in a swamp and your character is dying of dehydration and you drink the swamp water, you bet your behind that you’re likely going to get sick. So the environment essentially becomes another character that the players get to interact with.

Image of the user-interface screen

Not only that, if you’re a Dungeons & Dragons fan like me, this game may also pique your interest. Because this game is multi-player (should you chose for it), you can pick from four playable classes what sort of character you want. For example, you can be a survivalist and an assassin or a mystic and a soldier. Each role has its own pros and cons, and ultimately teams can create strategies of who plays as what in order to best utilize the game. Like most any other multi-player game, a good team composition could be the key to winning.

Image of a developed base

Now if those don’t tickle your fancy and you want a game where you can just fight people, this game has that for you too. Because this game is multi-player and people are sorted into factions, as a player, you have to defend your base against other factions or try and capture their base. In those encounters, players get to a PVP (player-versus-player) experience. Once again, this is where a good team composition could come in handy because you can have a fighter but also consider having a healer (Please always protect your healer!! Signed, a former Mercy player).

Okay, now even after all that you still aren’t sold, how about animals? Magical animals. You get to train and ride on (most) of the animals in the game. You get to have magical animals as a pet or a partner or just a friend. And there are all sorts of animals in the game that your animal-loving heart could desire.

Image of the magical Elk

And after all that amazing gameplay, what struck me the most about Rend was the art. Sometimes it’s easy to dismiss the visual beauty of games, but that’s hard to do here. Every biome, every creature and plant, all are beautifully mastered. The scenery is fit to be a beautiful computer desktop and the screenshots here do not do the game justice. Certainly, playing will put you into the game, but the art and visuals have you diving straight into the magical world.

Overall, the game encompasses a lot of different aspects of various games without being overbearing. Because of that, so much of the game allows people to gravitate to their preferred style of playing. And if there’s still ways you want to change up the game or put a little personal spin on it, you can even do that through mods. In fact, the developers encourage players to modify the game because sometimes the players come up with the best ideas.

Image of the Hills Biome

There’s a lot of things to consider when playing the game because there’s a lot of moving parts in order to do well: constructing a solid base, gathering enough resources, and even leveling up your own character. And while there’s a lot going on in the game, it’s easy to pick up for casual players or for people more invested in the experience. Beyond that, the team behind the game actively listens to its players. They realize that oftentimes, it’s the players who know the game best and how to make the game even better and more fun for everyone. So, like I said, Rend has it all and there’s a lot to love about this game.

If you’re interested in playing Rend, the game is currently in its alpha testing stage, and will officially be released for all later this year on Steam.

Published by Josephine L.

Josephine L. // Super Sailor Senshi by moonlight View all posts by Josephine L.