Wildstrive

[b][quote][url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asset_flip]Warning: Asset Flip![/url][/quote][/b] Wildstrive is an asset flip, what Valve calls a "fake game". The "developer", MonsterGaze, took the [url=https://www.fab.com/listings/bc8e1ee8-5b82-40df-ad2c-226524ca6253]Easy Survival RPG[/url] game assets from the real developers, Easy Systems, changed the name, and dumped the result onto Steam. They're attempting to scam people into buying this, so they can get your money for someone else's work. The "developer" set out to try disguise their asset theft by mangling a bunch of stolen/plagiarised assets together, but never made a "complete" game (of course, with asset flipping, it's not about creation or making a real game, it's all about trying to get YOUR money by any means necessary, including dishonest misrepresentation, plagiarism/asset theft and abuse of programs like Early Access). It gets worse... "Easy Survival RPG" has also been shamelessly dumped on Steam by other asset flippers apart from MonsterGaze: [list] [*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1639090]Survival Isolation[/url]", asset flipped by 10 games studios/Candy games studios [*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/851570]Zombie Hotel[/url]", asset flipped by NifftyGameworks [*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1828410]Survive The Island[/url]", asset flipped by PhantomCore PUBLISHING/PhantomCore Studio [*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1339220]Matt's Project Zombies: Open World[/url]", asset flipped by Matt Sowards/Ravesta Games [*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1817670]SurvivalIsLand[/url]", asset flipped by Dust Studio [*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1423340]IronSurvival[/url]", asset flipped by CreativePower [*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1412190]BEACHED[/url]", asset flipped by Gradient Studios [*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1660520]Pirates[/url]", asset flipped by Witte Studio [*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1569130]Asset Flip[/url]", asset flipped by n00dbeaver Studios [/list] Take a look for yourself... these are all [i]exactly the same game template![/i] Since this is a "Digital Homicide" style asset flip, a sloppy, abandoned cash grab, it's worth pointing out some of the stolen/plagiarised assets too, to make it quite clear what this "developer" has done in an attempt to get your money. Here's some other of the plagiarised assets in this abandoned cash grab: [list] [*][url=https://www.fab.com/listings/bc8e1ee8-5b82-40df-ad2c-226524ca6253]"Easy Survival RPG"[/url] from Easy Systems [*][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5xSPtgbAOI]"Infinity Adversaries"[/url] from Epic Games [*][url=https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/item-detail/904d0336736745e08da0c082e3d14c02]"Infinity Lands"[/url] from Epic Games [*][url=https://syntystore.com/products/polygon-apocalypse-pack]"Polygon Apocalypse Pack"[/url] from Synty Studios [*][url=https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/stylized-ruined-village]"Ruined Village"[/url] [/list] So you can see what they were doing here... take a game template, other people's assets, and put a price tag on it... heck, they discovered they don't even need to "finish" the kitbash, they can still charge money for a bunch of assets through Early Access. Valve's Early Access and Steam Direct programs were well intentioned, sure, but the results have been disastrous... hundreds, if not thousands of scams like this one. The developer is also flogging keys to this game through key resellers and bundle sites where he knows it's advertised as a complete game, if you're not already convinced about his shady and unethical behavior. The products that result from asset flips aren't "real" games. They lack depth and content, because they're just simplistic copies of demos or tutorials. In this case, "Easy Survival RPG" is just an Unreal Marketplace complete game pack to teach people how to construct open world survival games, and doesn't have any merit as a proper, fully fledged PC game. It's just a minimum viable product, just enough to get through the non-existent quality control on Steam Direct. Not a real game. Asset flips don't involve any professional game development. Sure, sometimes they may change a few cosmetic things, swap out different assets etc, but at heart it's functionally identical to the asset they're ripping off. Asset flips like this are harmful to the gaming industry and to Steam because they reduce the visibility that sincerely made indie games should have, and make it harder for gamers to find real games from genuine developers. Now on to pricing and value for gamers. So, should you buy this game? Is this one of the best of the 140,000+ games on Steam? Wildstrive has the almost unethical price of around $8 USD, it's not worth it given the defects and shortcomings with the product, especially considering the unethical nature of the developer. For comparison, the $8 asking price for this game could get you games like "Mass Effect Andromeda", "Europa Universalis IV" or "Dishonored 2". Quality, professionally made games like those are frequently on sale cheaper than this. The poor quality of this game is reflected by how many people spent time with it. At the time of this review, SteamDB shows the all-time peak player number was [b]only 16 players[/b]. This is a remarkably low number, and now, the only player activity occurs once or twice a month, presumably someone loading it up to see what it is then quickly uninstalling it. Considering there's over 130 million gamers on Steam and well over 140,000 games for gamers to choose from, the overwhelming lack of interest in this low quality game is to be expected. There's enough defects and quality problems with this game that it's not worth recommending to gamers, but the unethical nature of the developer/their associates makes it completely impossible. Because this is just a fake game/cash grab scam, and due to the sheer unethical nature of the developer, you should avoid this completely. Don't reward this morally bankrupt, unethical behaviour from MonsterGaze. Remember what I often say... if you don't agree with what I've said about this game, by all means buy it and play it. My review is just here to inform your buying decision, and if you think I was wrong and you bought the game, then I've done what I really wanted to do... inform your buying decision. [quote][b][url=https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/marketing/profile]Profile Features Limited![/url][/b] Valve have marked this game as "Profile Features Limited" at the time of this review. This is usually caused by poor sales figures and low community acceptance for the game (to date). Until this status changes, this game will not give you +1 to your Game Collector badge count, appear in profile achievements or any other Steam meta-accomplishments, nor can it be displayed in some profile showcases. If these factors are important to you, it may be worth holding off before buying this game.[/quote]