''Wrack'' is a

single-player A single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the gameplay. Video games in general can feature several game modes, including single-player modes designed to be played by a single player in add ...

cel shaded Cel shading or toon shading is a type of non-photorealistic rendering designed to make 3D computer graphics appear to be flat by using less shading color instead of a shade gradient or tints and shades. A cel shader is often used to mimic the ...

first-person shooter A first-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre, video game centered on gun fighting and other weapon-based combat seen from a First person (video games), first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action directly through t ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

developed and published by Final Boss Entertainment for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

. The full release of the game was on September 30, 2014. The game was mostly inspired by games such as

Doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (1934–2020), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitche ...

and

Mega Man ''Mega Man'' (known as in Japan) is a video game franchise developed and published by Capcom, featuring the Mega Man (character), protagonist of the same name. The Mega Man (1987 video game), original game was released for the Nintendo Enter ...

Gameplay

Wrack is a single-player, cel shaded first person shooter where the player takes control of the protagonist named Kain from a first-person perspective. The player has to fight through many levels of aliens and

cyborgs A cyborg (, a portmanteau of ''cybernetic'' and ''organism'') is a being with both organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.

in a

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

scenario. The game is structured in chapters, where the player has to activate switches to proceed to the next room and every chapter includes one boss battle. The design is mostly comparable with Doom, where in every level are health, armor, ammo, secrets and new weapons to find. The protagonist can carry every weapon and doesn't have to reload. The game also includes a kill chain system where by how many enemies you kill in a short time can enable your weapons perform a special attack. After taking damage, health and armor can be regained by finding health packs and armor throughout the level. The enemies in the game vary in their attacks: some shoot projectiles, other use melee attacks or kamikaze. Next to the first person shooter parts the game also has some small platforming and puzzle parts. The game employs a save system that gives you lives. In the beginning you will get three lives and through the levels the protagonist can earn extra lives by earning points or picking up an extra life pickup. Throughout the game offer checkpoints. After you lose lives the protagonist has to start the level all over again from the beginning of the level.

Plot

In the year 2052 the world has found a way to make infinite resources. Thanks to this the world has demilitarized because they don't need armies to protect themselves from wars. Kain, a wracketeer, is sure something bad is going to happen thanks to this. Kain is right, because shortly after the world gets attacked by the Arcturans. Aliens, who want to conquer the world. It is Kain's mission to stop the Arcturans conquering the world.

Development

Brad Carney started development of the game in 2008 on his own WrackEd

game engine A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games which generally includes relevant libraries and support programs such as a level editor. The "engine" terminology is akin to the term " software engine" u ...

. The game was initially called ''Project Vega'', then ''The Last Bastion'', before finally being titled ''Wrack''. The title of ''The Last Bastion'' was changed to ''Wrack'' to avoid confusion with the similarly titled

indie game An indie video game or indie game (short for independent video game) is a video game created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A ...

''Bastion''. Carney wanted to avoid potential copyright claim issues and also believed ''Wrack'' was an easier name to remember. His reasoning toward developing the game was his belief that the presence of ''

''-like shooters were missing during that time from the gaming market. Carney later stopped the project and worked at other game development studios. When he resumed work on Wrack, he had to get it through

Steam Greenlight Steam is a digital distribution service and storefront developed by Valve. It was launched as a software client in September 2003 to provide video game updates automatically for Valve's games and expanded to distributing third-party titles in l ...

. The game was eventually greenlit and went on to Steam as an

Early Access Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release Software release life cycle, developm ...

title. As he continued to work on Wrack, he hired other artists and developers to help him. He asked

Bobby Prince Robert Caskin Prince III, known professionally as Bobby Prince, is an American video game composer and sound designer. He has worked as an independent contractor for several gaming companies, most notably id Software and 3D Realms. Some of hi ...

, who composed for ''

'' and ''

Duke Nukem 3D ''Duke Nukem 3D'' is a 1996 first-person shooter, first-person shooter game developed by 3D Realms and published by FormGen for MS-DOS. It is a sequel to the platform games ''Duke Nukem (video game), Duke Nukem'' and ''Duke Nukem II'', published ...

'', to provide the game's score and sound design. On September 30, 2014 the game moved out of the Early Access phase.

Reception

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, a

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

, rated it 68/100 based on four reviews.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2014 video games Commercial video games with freely available source code Episodic video games Indie games First-person shooters Single-player video games Video games with Steam Workshop support Science fantasy video games Video games scored by Bobby Prince Video games developed in the United States Video games with stereoscopic 3D graphics Video games set in the 2050s Video games with cel-shaded animation Windows games Windows-only games Early access video games Fiction set in 2052