Lioncode Games' upcomingWildkeepers Risingis the studio’s entry into the growing Bullet Heaven subgenre popularized byVampire Survivors. But what helps separateWildkeepers Risingfrom a growing number of games with a healthy amount of Poncle’sVampire Survivorsin their DNA is the game’s monster-collecting and RPG elements, which effectively transform the experience into a mic between classic Survivor-like gameplay andPokemon. That’s far from the only twist thatWildkeepers Risingbrings to the table, though, with its unique take on map design presenting some exciting strategic opportunities.
Mostgames similar toVampire Survivorstend to stick with maps that are a singular flat plane, with the occasional geometry thrown in to act as barriers to movement and ratchet up tension as mobs close in on the player character.Wildkeepers Risingintentionally switches this up by adding some depth and verticality to the game’s level design, including strategic use of bridges, water features, and choke points in some of the biomes for players to effectively route enemy movement to their advantage. In doing so, the game adds another variable to how players can influence their success or failure in each run.
Adding Geographical Variety to Wildkeepers Rising’s Maps Was a Conscious Choice
Following the recent hands-off preview presentation forWildkeepers Rising, Game Rant had the chance to ask Lioncode Games some questions regarding what was shown. One of the more striking elements on display inWildkeepers' preview build were the maps; not just the variety of biomes on display, but how varied they were in terms of their topography, depth, and dimension. It was clear that players could be strategic in their runs and carefully route enemy movement around or through obstacles and choke points to funnel enemies into “hot zones”, not unlikewhat players can do inDeep Rock Galactic: Survivor. Wildkeepers Rising’s director Sergio Garcas was quick to point out that this was a conscious design decision:
“…using the maps intelligently is specifically something that we designed for, and maps will have areas that are more open areas that are choke points. If you’re confident and you’re powerful, you can definitely go to a place like that and have enemies come to you and just slaughter them.
Other times, you might find that the opposite is true, that you’re hanging by a thread and now you’re cornered in a cul-de-sac somewhere, and you have to fight your way out of there. We think that this definitely adds gameplay compared to having, like, an open map where nothing is really happening, so we’re definitely adding different topography to the different maps.”
Even beyond the ways that the varied maps support the team’s gameplay goals forWildkeepers Rising, art director Lyle Moore notes that the design of the maps is something that the team put into consideration as a means ofenvironmental storytelling. Moore notes that the team wants the player to feel as if they’re “on an adventure when they’re moving around our maps and looking for secrets,” which becomes more likely when maps have actual topography rather than taking place on a flat 2D plane.
