Oh My God, Oh My Gord
Team17 have so many upcoming titles of late, and all are different to the last. Perhaps most resembling Age of Darkness: Final Stand, Gord is an RTS where you take a group called the Tribe of Dawn, establish a settlement and then help them survive rather than live the life of Riley.
This preview build shows some quest-based challenges – a mixture of fortifying your base but an equal balance of exploration and peeking out what lies in the darkness. Sun dodgers will love this premise as it’s dark.
‘Dark’ as in mild gamma adjustments, but also content. Surviving in the wilderness without broadband is always going to be a struggle. Still, once you fend off the initial attacks on your settlement from the local wildings, it looks like Todd McFarlane has been called in to create some beastie concepts to fight or sacrifice your young to.
Gord Preview Build
In a world somewhat overpopulated with RTS titles mainly doing the same thing, Gord stands out for several reasons. While it isn’t a rogue-like, there are elements of it – that is, you’re doomed from the outset. Ok, it’s not as negative as that, but your subjects are up against the odds.
The basic mechanics aren’t far removed than most; operating the camera controls with the mouse and/or keyboard, assigning people to specific roles, sourcing materials, and having the population bump uglies so that you have more bodies to throw at ‘what like beneath’. Well, out in the wilds.
Perhaps what is so different about Gord is the focus on your people’s well-being – not just a full stomach, but their sanity levels too. Among the facilities on offer, besides the typical lumber mill and fisheries, numerous structures focus on wellness, such as general health after a battle, but also their mental state as the wilderness can cause a heap of ailments. Some major.
The only thing missing from this setup is a beanbag and some lo-fi.
Folklore Whisperer
However, life is all about progression, and staying in one spot isn’t good enough. Once a palisade has been erected and there’s some production line, you build a scout tower and head out. Naturally, there are wolves and other nasties, and it soon becomes apparent the people will need better weaponry and armour. But you know what’s even better? Magic.
The Tribe of the Dawn can perform incantations that work as an offence, defence, and support in battles, and after a brief interlude, you’ll meet Whisperers that perform even mightier spells. Just remember to keep the faith. That’s not a Bon Jovi reference, but incantations rely upon prayer to give them a boost.
Between all this resource gathering and exploration are some superb cutscenes. Sure, you don’t play the cutscenes, but it massively adds to the atmosphere, tension, and engagement – I care about this motley crew. Also, the lip-syncing for the characters and their respective voice talents are some of the best I’ve seen in a while.
Based on Slavic folklore, Gord has a distinct vibe and shows a lot of promise, depicting some oddities we might stumble across in the Witcher series. Funny that; some of the developers from Covenant.dev are former CD Projekt RED agents. Either way, this is undoubtedly one to watch when it’s released in early August 2023.
Try the demo now on Steam!