An indie studio from Berlin is currently working on a new survival game on Steam that lets you fight for survival in the Teutoburg Forest. A concept that might work well, but the graphics still make players skeptical.
What game is this about? Lost Legions is a new survival game on Steam from the indie studio Tarock Interactive, which is based in Berlin. There is no release date for the game yet as developments are only in the pre-alpha phase.
The official Steam page states that Lost Legions is a historical exploration and survival game set in a hand-crafted world that you can explore with up to 4 players. The game is played on servers hosted by players.
A first trailer now gives you a look at the setting and world of Lost Legions, in which some people might feel right at home:
In Lost Legions you become a Roman soldier in Germany
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What is behind the concept? In Lost Legions you take on the role of a Roman soldier fighting for his survival in the Teutoburg Forest after the Battle of Varus. So in time you are in the year 9 AD in a forest in the middle of ancient Germania.
You have the choice between four playable characters, all of which have their own past. All NPCs in Lost Legions should also have their own detailed backstories and personalities.
As a legionnaire, you are unsurprisingly not welcomed in the Teutoburg Forest and lose everything you have due to a Germanic ambush. After that, you first have to learn to survive with what the forest offers you. As is typical for a survival game, you have to collect, cut down trees and hunt in order to create your first weapons, equipment and tools.
Some of the core features of Lost Legions:
In Lost Legions you can expect a gripping story about betrayal and the fight for survival. Topics such as colonialism and imperialism should be discussed.
“Concept 10/10, animations 3/10”
What criticism is there? Even if the concept and setting don’t sound bad at all and could certainly work well, there is still some criticism of Lost Legions at the moment. Especially under the trailer (via Tarock Interactive and IGN) you can read a lot of comments that criticize the graphics and performance.
What is particularly noted here are the animations and less the graphics of the environment or characters themselves. The character’s movements would seem unfinished and would not run smoothly. A user notices that running alone with the character causes the frame rate to drop.
In general, many users simply comment that the graphics look unfinished. “Is this pre-pre-pre-pre-pre-alpha material?” asks user Alice.59. Since Lost Legions is actually in the pre-alpha phase, it’s not even that unlikely that a lot can still change and improve graphically.
In his comment, user seanduncan9722 rates the concept a 10 out of 10, but the animations only a 3 out of 10 and notes that they urgently need to be revised. In their response, the developers write: “[…] We are in the pre-alpha phase, so there is still a long way to go before release. Luckily, animations are easier to improve than the concept.”
The developers seem to be taking the reactions seriously and may be working on better animations in the future. It remains to be seen whether and how they will succeed.
The release of Lost Legions is far from known, but you can already look forward to the following games this year: 8 new survival games that you can look forward to in 2024