Renown
Preview
Fragile Fantasy
EA SCOUT the last line of defense for buying on Steam's Early Access
by Ingvi Snædal
previewed on PC
That juxtaposition of fantasy and reality sums up the current state of Renown. It sounds amazing on paper, but in reality, it's empty servers, constant networking issues, game crashes, and more grinding than gaming.
Big Words
Renown is described as "an intense medieval multiplayer survival experience set in a vast, ever-evolving world." 'Intense' may be a bit of a stretch, since most of the time, you'll be running around the world collecting resources completely alone. The game's map is not small, but when you're used to Arma III, Just Cause 4, and Assassin's Creed, 'vast' is overselling it.
But did I enjoy it? Oddly, yes. Well...kinda.
The Struggle is Real
You start the game on a beach wearing nothing but peasants' clothing and carrying a stick. Around you, you'll find debris from a shipwreck (kinda cliché, I know) and some barrels you can break, stones you can collect, and the occasional sack you can loot. But for the love of everything unholy, don't spend too much time here. You are easy pickings for higher-level players who love nothing more than using noobs as target practice, so get deeper inland as soon as possible.
With resources in hand, you can build your base, research new technologies, upgrade your structures, and trade with NPCs for items you can't craft yourself. At this point, moving in shadows and being sneaky is a good skill to practice because you won't stand a chance in a fight. The developers have included a nifty speed boost for anyone looking at your back, which allows anyone you're trying to run away from to catch up with you – even if you're practically naked, carrying a small carving knife, and they're wearing a full suit of armour, lugging around a greatsword.
I experienced that first-hand when I tried to see how well the bows work in the game. I let one arrow fly into a player ganking noobs on the beach, and he immediately caught up with me and slew me in one fell swoop. So don't bother with PvP until you're all levelled up and ready to contribute to the fight. Ranged weapons are fairly useless against anything other than wildlife.
Claim Your Plot
You'll have to build a flag and claim your land as soon as you can. Before you do, any structure you build could be standing on land claimed by someone else a minute later, rendering all your effort for naught. Don't log off anywhere other than in your base, because you'll appear as a dude sleeping on the ground naked if you do. Anyone can walk up to you, give you a knock on the head, and loot anything you're carrying. This is especially irritating considering how often the servers kick you out for no apparent reason other than networking issues.
But logging off in your base doesn't mean you're safe either. Your base can be raided at any time – even when you're logged off – so spend your cash on research as soon as possible. Knowledge is the only thing they can't steal from you.
Heaps of Potential
Early Access games are a mixed bag. Some are very polished and just need more play testing to perfect their already-polished gameplay mechanics while they work on the rest of the game. Others are half-baked proofs-of-concept that need at least a year more in the oven before exposure to the public. And while I did enjoy collecting resources and building my base in Renown, I'm afraid the rest of the game lies too heavily in the second category for me to be able to recommend you buy into it now.
There's huge potential here, and if all their plans come to fruition, RDBK Studios will make one hell of a survival game. Renown is just not there yet.
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Watch
The game has potential, but we're not ready to jump in with both feet. If the game interests you, look, but don't touch - yet.
