Wander is a new MMO from an independent development team in Melbourne, Australia. It’s been in the works for some time now and recent trailers have shown the fruits of hard labour with lush settings and beautiful vistas being the backdrop for some interesting characters. If you’ve got any questions about the battle system, keep them to yourselves, this is a non combat, non competition, collaborative exploration experience focusing on the beauty of the natural world. It was recently announced by the team that they are confident on a late April to early May release date, though they are not prepared to state a fixed date yet. The game will be available on PS4 and Steam for PC. I should add that it runs 1080@30 on PS4 since resolution appears to be a hot topic at the moment.
From the official website www.wanderthegame.com:
“You begin as a giant tree. Storms that affect the known planets transform you, and continue to influence your path. A rare flower has many powers that can alter your course. Enchanting opera singers guide you.
As you explore, you begin to discover others in the the sprawling rainforest. Working together, you unlock new experiences, piece together the plot and enjoy the varied beauty that Wander has to offer.
Wander features a gorgeous landscape, large scale non-competitive play and immersive sound design to create a world like no other.
Wander: Welcome to the rainforest”
In a market dominated by battle and competition focused titles Wander gives a different take on the MMO scene and hopefully a breath of fresh air to the genre altogether.
Wander has already picked up a good handful of accolades at various events such as Most Innovative and Best Indie MMO at PAX East 2015, was nominated for Best Narrative and received an honourable mention for Best Art and Best Design at FreePlay 2013 and was nominated for Best Accessible Game at the Australian Game Developer Awards, as well as being nominated for Best Graphics at hóPLAY 2013.
Indie games are generating more and more buzz these days. Whether its through Steam Greenlight or the major consoles’ push to include small development teams more or the sweat from their own brows, indie devs seem to be finally getting their time in the sun. Got any thoughts on this non combat world? Or indie games in general? Let me know in the comments!