Ukrainian Forest Reigns received an 8-minute trailer — Paris after the apocalypse and three game styles

Kyiv-based VG Entertainment has unveiled a new 8-minute trailer for its first-person shooter Forest Reigns.

The project will take players to post-apocalyptic Paris, where nature takes revenge on humanity. In the video, the developers demonstrated three different approaches to mission completion. The creators emphasized the variability of the passage, as well as the freedom of choice and the player’s influence on the world.

The main feature of Forest Reigns is the «living forest», which can become an ally or an enemy. The player interacts with nature, which is not just a decoration, but an independent force in the game world. Some plants or their parts have a red and black color, which is somewhat similar to the substance from Zelda BOTW / TOTK. But in the Ukrainian game, judging by the trailer, you can walk on them and they don’t cause damage, so the similarity is purely visual. Interaction with plants is a bit different there — some of them can absorb enemies, and weather changes can affect combat.

The trailer showed missions in which the player chooses one of three options:

• Direct combat: clashes with enemies in open combat, the use of heavy weapons and the ability to «unleash» the aggressive power of the forest on opponents
• Stealth: a quiet game using the environment, luring enemies into traps and hidden kills
• Research: searching for alternative paths, using equipment for unique opportunities. For example, in the trailer, a character finds a gas mask that allows him to get through poisonous gas and avoid conflict

Forest Reigns also has a faction system — every decision of the player will affect the plot and his relationship with the groups fighting for control of the ruins of Paris. However, little is known about the plot so far, and it is also unknown who the main character will be.

The game is being developed on Unreal Engine 5, which allows creating realistic lighting, detailed textures, and a living world. In some places, the graphics look not «polished», but the trailer is not the final version, so it is likely that the picture quality will change.

Forest Reigns already has a page in Steam where you can add it to your wishlist. The exact release date of Forest Reigns is not yet known, but the new trailer shows that development is in full swing. The game will have Ukrainian text localization, but no Russian language is planned.

As noted above, a game about a post-apocalyptic world is being developed by VG Entertainment — a Ukrainian video game development studio, formerly known as Vostok Games. It was founded in 2012 by former employees of GSC Game World after the company was canceled development of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 due to the temporary closure of GSC Game World. Later, the studio changed its name from Vostok Games to distance itself from the Soviet heritage, in particular because of the association of the name «Vostok» with the Soviet spacecraft.

One of the studio’s projects was online shooter Survarium, but he didn’t gain much popularity and was closed, although the creators tried to recreate the atmosphere of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Currently, the developers have decided to return to deep story-driven FPS with non-linear progression.

Against the backdrop of Ukrainian gamedev, it is also worth mentioning La Quimera – a sci-fi shooter from Reburn. This studio was formed by former Metro developers from the Ukrainian office of 4A Games, although At first, they denied it. The project is currently under development and has a similar approach to variable gameplay. In addition, 4A Games confirmed the new Metro.

Source: IGN