The hero of the planet Woanope has earned her rest, if by “rest” you mean an endless publicity tour for the Bureau of Shipping. After the events of the original Crashlands, Flux Dabes and her best robo-friend Juicebox were sent to every corner of the galaxy to recount their adventures, basking in the fame and admiration of an adoring public until burnout inevitably reared its exhausting head. Having done all she needed to, Flux quit her job and headed back to her friends on Woanope, where she settled down peacefully to live out the rest of her days and nothing adventurous ever happened again.
Turns Out Saving The World Only Lasts As Long As The Next Threat
Except for the bit where Flux’s ship was hit by a beam of strange energy above the planet and she and Juicebox had to make a hard landing in a malfunctioning escape pod, only to find that Woanope is being drained of its mystical juice by the Bureau of Shipping. Rest was a lovely dream, but it’s going to have to wait a bit, because as much as she could have used a break, there’s no way Flux can stand by and not help people in need. Starting off with fixing the house of the local she landed on, Flux and Juicebox begin their quest to save Woanope for a second time by helping as many of its residents as possible, one quest at a time.
Crashlands Launches for Xbox One with New Trailer
Crashlands 2is the sequel to, logically enough,Crashlands, picking up several years after the events of the original game. Concentrated to its basics it could be described as a crafting action game with a strong focus on its flexible combat system, but what it really is at heart is a crazy-fun adventure featuring a pair of ridiculously likable characters set in a world that’s usually bursting with humor, but is smart enough to know when to take itself seriously. The bulk of the time will be spent running all over the surface of Woanope, beating up the local wildlife and the Bureau’s robots while harvesting every resource the planet has to offer, but the various alien races fighting back against the draining of their planet’s resources are a lively bunch. And every single one could use a favor.
First, though, Flux and Juicebox need a home base, which will most likely end up being the house they’ve rebuilt for Graal. For one thing, when Flux loses a fight and the Deploying Emergency Decoy protocol kicks in (D.E.D. for short) she ends up back at the landing pod, which is about two steps away from Graal’s house, and having the first crafting station there makes things much easier when starting out. Very few weapons or items show up in anything but schematic form, and one convenient crafting station invites another. Soon enough it’s easier to expand Graal’s house than build a new one, and then as the story progresses, new roommates move in. Each one not only has their own story but also requested items to make their room more comfortable, with the reward being new research paths for structures, weapon upgrades, tools, decorative items a better variety and increased number of drops both from wildlife and natural resources, etc.
Resources are everywhere out in the wild, starting with plants and minerals and expanding to fishing, bug-hunting and farming, and each process has its own set of tools. Mostly it’s just a matter of popping out a plant harvester or fishing rod and kicking back with a little light gathering, although it doesn’t help that while the inventory is infinite, you can’t browse through it.Crashlands 2is desperately in need of an index so that when you’re harvesting out in the field for the components to create new furniture or weapons, you can know where an item comes from and how many you’ve got. It’s also a problem when being told to track down a certain creature for its parts that there’s no reference for what it looks like. The wildlife can put up a strong fight, and whileCrashlands 2’s combat isn’t incredibly deep, it does come with a large number of options for adding variety to earning all those resources.
There Can Never Be Too Many Different Ways To Carve Up Monsters
Flux’s loadout is divided up into four primary categories: weapons and armor, trinkets, tools and gadgets. Weapons are self explanatory and there are a good number to choose from with different elemental affinities for each. Trinkets are accessories, tools are items like the fishing rod and other resource-gatherers, and finally gadgets are more combat oriented. you may make up to five different loadouts and switch between them with a quick trip to the pause menu, and it’s worth thinking a bit about which items support each weapon’s play-style.
The fist, for example, has a short range and is part of the electric Capacitor set, and like all elements, gets bonuses when you have several of its type in your loadout. Equippping only one item from the Capacitor set does no more than whatever its base description says, but having a second one anywhere in the loadout grants Flux a stack of Static on each hit. Have four Capacitor items equipped and there’s a decent chance a stack of Static gets doubled, which is great for the powerful but slow-charging gadgets that require fifteen or more stacks to fire off. You only need four items of a set to max out its potential, so there’s plenty of room in a loadout for favorites that don’t synergize with the build’s primary focus like the chew toy that gives a nice upgrade to your pet.
What Crashlands 2 really is at heart is a crazy-fun adventure featuring a pair of ridiculously likable characters, set in a world that’s usually bursting with humor but is smart enough to know when to take itself seriously.
While Juicebox is a great friend it’s no help in a fight, but all monsters have an egg hiding somewhere in the world. Bring the egg home, set up its room just right according to the instructions in the quest log, and soon enough it will hatch into a young helper. Each pet has two stages of growth after the egg hatches, with specific requirements needed to earn them, and the reward is not just a powerful sidekick but also a pair of upgrades that activate when the critter is tagging along. The only problem with upgrading the pets is they use the same rare juice gems used to give Flux’s suit permanent increases in power, and it’s surprisingly easy to sacrifice that upgrade path to try and max out all the pets.
While there are a good number of combat options, the actual fights themselves frequently don’t manage to live up to all the prep-work you’re able to put towards them. Flux’s abilities come down to the standard attack, dash and gadgets, which can give a good number of options in a fight, but the enemies simply don’t react to a hit. Every enemy attack is well telegraphed and you can have a good number of them all firing off at once, but the dodge-swing-swing-dodge-gadget pattern doesn’t have much impact to it. Defeated enemies explode in resources that all home in on Flux after a second, and when there’s a lot happening all at once, the screen gets nicely chaotic, but for as much fighting as you’ll be doing, it ends up being decent rather than great. So much ofCrashlands 2is fantastic and a complete joy to play through that combat being serviceable ends up standing out more than it would otherwise. On the plus side, most of Woanope’s critters have it in for each other, so it’s always fun to aggro a small herd of one type into the hunting grounds of another and then step out of the way.
Closing Comments:
There’s more than enough inCrashlands 2to make the return to Woanope a thoroughly enjoyable journey. The 2D art looks great, with lots of details everywhere from the thin lines of the reed walls to insects and other crawlies wandering around the landscape. The various native races are all creative and distinct and it’s always fun to interact with them in each new cutscene. The writing in particular knows when to have the characters rib each other and when to back off, leading to dramatic scenes that actually feel like recognizable interactions rather than overwritten melodrama. The crafting, building, exploration, story and even the combat all come together to make a ridiculously fun adventure, with Flux and Juicebox running from one side of Woanope to the other to solve all the problems a world in need can throw at them.
Crashlands 2
Version Reviewed: PC
Return to Woanope as Flux Dabes, intergalactic trucker, and disgruntled corporate employee. After years away from the planet under a lucrative (if morally dubious) spokesperson contract for the Bureau of Shipping, you return to visit some old pals and recover from corporate burnout. But before your vacation can even begin, a mysterious blast from the planet’s surface sends you crashing into a new land, far from friends and alone in an alien wilderness.Explore a Dynamic Alien WorldWoanope is alive, thrumming with ecological interactions, curious creatures, friendly alien societies, and heaps of stories to uncover. Lure a Trunkle into an explosive meadow, fish up some Pho-rays by moonlight, or help those mischievous alien kids commune with a (probably) harmless multidimensional being. What could go wrong?Fight on Your TermsAs you explore Woanope you’ll discover and craft all manner of gadgets, elixirs, and weapons that deliver mix-and-match playstyles. Fight using stealth, traps, environmental hazards, and distance weapons. Or chug an Elixir of Juking, stun your opponent with a Space Wok, and jump right into the fray. Or just get… weird? Turn fish into bombs, or make a Pact with the Void to convert your pain into martial prowess.Construct a Home Away From HomeAfter a long day of exploring the wilderness, fighting Sluggabuns, and getting sneezed on by Trunkles, you’ll need a place for you and your alien pals to relax. Build a cozy home-away-from-home where you’re able to retreat from the outside world to craft, chat, fish, and farm – or tame that orphaned Sluggababby you adopted – in peace. Just don’t forget to make space for your newfound friends… and potential roommates.Build FriendshipsMeet a colorful cast of characters in your journey across Woanope, each with their own unique skills and knowledge. Befriend them, help them with their goals, and discover new crafting recipes together through the power of friendship.Raise Adorable PetsFind creature eggs out in the world, figure out how to hatch them, and raise them as little companions. You’ll teach them the ways of the world and help them grow into formidable beasts. In return, they’ll keep you safe during your adventures.Change the WorldBeing zapped out of orbit was a pretty big clue that something is going awry on Woanope. But what!? Join the locals to figure out what’s gone wrong, who’s responsible, and how to make things right.
