Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem | PS4

In a blend of mmorpg, and arpg sub-genres with inspiration drawn from the creations of three genre pioneers, "Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem" tries hard to make it's way into relevancy among the greats. What it brings to the table, and to the paying player is a Frankensteinian amalgamation of PoE (Path of Exile), Diablo 3, and Warhammer 40K's Inquisitor series.

It's basically a combination of slightly reworked systems from each of these three franchises inline with a story that also harbors hints of past creations. Coming together in such a way as to be somewhat more complicated, and less user friendly by comparison due to the amount of management options made available. Making access to features, and functions a cumbersome time consuming chore that eats away at half of the game's intended fun which is looting for builds via mob and boss battles. Culminating in a collective of conjoined content which is wholly centered around a deeply involved and ongoing religious conflict of fantastical proportions. 

Kickstarted in 2015 as project "Umbra" the would be 'Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem' isometric action rpg reached it's funding goals, and subsequently launched the game's campaign on PC through a series of incremental content updates. Something the developers were able to do while listening to fan feedback, and applying changes necessary for the game to live up to expectations. It wasn't until years later though that the game was then eyed for porting to modern consoles, and past-gen consoles like the PS4. A decision that may or may have not marred the reputation of Wolcen Studio and it's onboard developers ...

Online or Offline ...

Starting off with either online multiplayer or single player options turned on the gamer will be able to partake of the campaign as it unfolds in titled chapters with their own respective stories, and key character involvement. In doing so building upon the players' created character, and the lore surrounding their inclusion in Stormfall, a hired mercenary faction beholden to the Inquisitors, and as the adversary to the sworn enemy that are demons. A quest that can be taken on alone, or with joining friends through server matchmaking.

Creating a Character ... 

When starting on your Wolcen adventure you must first pause to create a custom character using a small amount of customization items including gender, hair, and eyes among other things. Leaving the naming to personally identify said character, and the chosen attack type to give stat based starter class bonuses. The attack type, in particular, acts as the game's classes, and includes melee, ranged, and magic options centered around a specific style of combat focus. Something that is not strictly bound to any created character as you can change your equipment loadout to any of these in-game as well as a combination of them, if you so desire. 

While there are definitely options in the custom creation they are minimalistic, and not well reflected on the model that is your soon to be character. A crude, and easily looked over cosmetic and class change display that is greatly overshadowed later on by the accompanying voice-over talent.

The Inspiration ...

Wolcen is not without it's inspiration. In fact genre veterans will be quick to notice character design similarities as well familiar systems that tie into character usage/management. First, and foremost the cover art character gives off heavy Warhammer 40K Inquisitor vibes, and this design definitely bleeds through into the military complex that is the game's good faction. Think "Warhammer 40K: Inquisitor Martyr", and the Inquisitor classes. 

Outside of the Warhammer 40K similarities lies the glaring imitation of PoE's class tree. A branching system of color coded, and class specific point to point branches that change the way the character functions in regards to class archetype. Often times buffing a character in ways to better suit melee, ranged, or magic playstyles. Of course you can allot earned points to any branching lineage on the tree. Creating a unique modified build suitable for the player's own preferred playstyle. With class blending/crossover potential.

Moving on from Warhammer, and PoE we find that the majority of technical inspiration comes from Diablo 3. Everything from the life and mana usage to potions for their refilling, and assignable skills with modifiers makes it's way here, albeit a different name. Even the hierarchy of equipment rarity, transmogs, gem socketing, and pets come with Wolcen's take on arpgs. The only discernable difference being the names chosen for these features, and the menus from which they are accessed. It's all very familiar though slightly reworked as to not be entirely copycat.

The Story ...

As familiar as the mechanics are the story also kind of falls victim to series' cliches. You play as a part of a mercenary group working for the Stormfall kingdom's Inquisitor faction. An order that combats witchcraft, and demons alike using arcane weaponry. 

After creating your character in this established world you are dropped smack dab in the middle of such a conflict. A war that was being waged well before you got to bare witness to it's origins as the joining player. Creating, in it's wake, a catch up scenario in which you not only get to know where your character's loyalties lie, but also about their innate power that borders on demonic itself. Fearing the ramifications of the display of your seemingly unholy power you abandon your crew in a climactic fashion, and try to find a way to make sense of what's happened. Hopefully without drawing negative attention to the fact that you transformed into a winged angel, and began giving a demon what for. 

From there your adventure opens up through character driven conversations, side quests, and mainline quests. All centered around the Stormfall hub, and surrounding lands. A place not unlike Diablo 3's hub in Sanctuary. It is here that you can partake of the wares and services of vendors as well as storage chests for items and equipment. Using the center portal you can even venture off to previously unlocked waypoints where the quests can be continued and completed. Leaving the story to be built upon through said questing. This, in turn, leads to the typical combat situations involving mobs, sub-bosses, and bosses. That, and the looting and leveling opportunities that drive the class building economy. 

Along the way from point to point, and location to location you'll also come across the Diablo 3 equivalent of cursed and blessed chests that will require the killing of spawning mobs. There's that and plenty of destructible items, chests, and corpses to loot. Loot as you might have guessed is definitely freely given, and while a lot drops you'll need to pay more attention to rarity as on person storage space is very limited. Only allowing for the dropping of what you don't need in order to free up needed space. As far as picking up loot goes it's made somewhat difficult due to a lack of detailed PoE loot management options.

Dungeon Crawling ...

Overall the dungeon layouts in Wolcen adhere to the traditional Diablo 3 formula with winding and branching paths as well as sectional levels divided by loading screen entry points. In the way of world design there is an interesting variety of themed terrains wherein these pathways and transitional areas exist as well as bustling city hubs filled with speaking NPCs that give the guise of a living community. Sometimes leading to optional side quests, and additional feature unlocks, in kind. 

On some outings or quests you're not alone. Your pet will also come in handy as a tracker that can track the scent of demonic presences with a pointer icon acting as a compass for direction sake. There are also tag along characters tied to certain quests as well as shrines that will gift a joining creature that will help assist your efforts with mob and boss clearing. 

Though dungeons tied to quests are the main focus in the campaign chapters there is end game content, and different game modes available to play through. Allowing for the carry over, and fine tuning of your custom character's loadouts/builds. The builds being the end all be all of such an arpg experience, and the reason as which one would grind repeatedly for better and better gear. 

The Presentation ...

Wolcen is a visually muddy, and crude looking experience on the PS4. Created characters' details are almost blurred out. Even the cutscenes, and artistic cinematics have this hazy/blurry appearance that dumbs down the visual presentation. Not even allowing it to come close to what it's competitors have achieved on the PS3 and PS4. Worse still is some of the movement issues, and glitchy texture pop-ins. 

I've also heard complaints from the community of assets not rendering properly. The sad thing is that beyond this broken facade lies a decent attempt at borrowing and competently implementing the best features of the best from within the genre. Functionally Wolcen isn't all that bad. It has potential, but to see that potential realized fully on console it needs to also look the part. Even on PS4. It currently does not.

The Verdict ...

Wolcen is one game that probably should not have been ported to the PS4. I feel like the developers only later worked on the port, and did so by stripping out visual enhancements that the PC had in place. This is not the way to go about it. Having played the Diablo IV open beta recently I realize these types of modern takes are still very doable on PS4 consoles which puzzles me when looking back at Wolcen in hindsight. In fact Diablo IV, aside from it's server issues, looks really good on the PS4 by comparison. 

Whatever went wrong in the porting process did not do Wolcen Studio any favors. The game needs a graphical overhaul fit for the consoles it's ported to. Not a stripped down PC port lacking it's visual polish from there. The PS4 has the capability to render some very polished arpg designs, and despite being a last-gen console I know it can still be a welcome home for a game like Wolcen or Diablo IV. As is I cannot rightfully recommend Wolcen though. It needs polish, badly. Outside of that there is a competent effort made towards combining inspired mechanics and features.