This article was sponsored by Rend.
Rend is a survival game that leverages elements of many game genres like MMOs. You spend the earliest stages of cycles building yourself up and working to strengthen your team's defenses, and at this stage engaging enemies recklessly isn't worth the risk. But like in MMOs, once you're more established and combat does inevitably break out, it's on a much larger scale. You also have more space to build your character exactly the way you want rather than rushing a more linear build. Suffice it to say, Rend is a unique game, and it can be difficult to understand until you've seen it play out. With that in mind, I want to share the high points of the first few days of my current cycle of Rend—cycles take weeks, remember—so that you can see just how many options the game gives you.
I start by joining The Order, the battle-loving orange faction. Hunting is one of my favorite parts of Rend, whether it's hunting creatures or players, so I figure it makes sense to join the team that likes to fight. I spawn near my faction's modest base in Hearthhome, a relatively peaceful grassland. Naturally, I am naked and own nothing. It's time to get gathering.
My teammates are also just starting out, so to avoid fighting over resources, I strike out on my own and find a nice empty spot to scrounge up the basics. Besides, if I can't fend for myself, what use am I to The Order? I grab some vines, sticks and rocks and craft my basic tools: an axe, a mallet, a pickaxe, and a sickle. I don't need a hammer just yet since I'm not doing any heavy building, but I definitely need a bow, so I make one of those too. I also spring for some stone arrows rather than the basic wooden ones so that I can hunt stronger game.
Before long, I've made everything in the basic crafting tree, which acts like a tutorial and helps you get the basics down pat. I've got my tools, my bow and arrows, and some beginner armor. I'm also hungry, which means it's time to go hunting. I down a few tusked, boar-like Grunters and cook their meat over a campfire I crafted, pairing it with some rock salt I mined so that it restores more energy. Thanks to my stone arrows, I'm able to kill the Grunters pretty quickly, and soon I'm overflowing with meat. I can't possibly eat all of it myself, so I take it back to my faction's base and share the wealth. Hunger is one of the biggest hurdles in the early game, and I know full well how nice it is to have food to spare.
At this point, our base is more like a crafting station exhibit. We've got the basic utilities installed, but not much else. It occurs to me that I haven't been much help in improving that situation, so I stop hunting for a spell and help set up some wooden walls using the excess logs I gathered while harvesting sticks for my arrows. A few teammates join in, and soon we've got a respectable perimeter.
While I'm here, I stop to check out some crafting stations. I want to explore the forested Stagswood, but I'm going to need better armor and weapons to do so. I need a bunch of leather, vines and wood, so I get to work. Before that, though, I spend the ability points I've saved up from hunting. I dump my points into my Survivor Archetype, specifically the Marathon Runner ability which lets me run faster and for longer periods. I figure it'll pay dividends as I hunt and gather. I also pick up my first active skill, which lets me slow enemies with the opening shot from my bow. I choose Assassin for my second Archetype since it likes bows as much as I do. And with that, it's back to hunting.
A few dozen animals and a few hundred vines later, I've got most of the materials I need to make my new armor and bow. I have to work my way up to it though, mastering other recipes before unlocking the ones I want. I don't have to research anything new, luckily, but this process still burns through more resources than I expect. I ask my teammates for advice, and they recommend checking the community crafting chest. Luckily, it's full of the stuff I need, so I happily borrow some. Bam: new armor, new bow.
As I look up from my crafting station, I notice that our base is quite a lot nicer now, with thicker walls, multiple levels and plentiful chests. Someone has clearly been putting in some work while I've been out reducing the local Grunter population. I can't help but feel a tad guilty since I've really only taken from my teammates until this point. And I'm pretty confident with where I stand now, so I decide it's time to give back. I've already learned the recipes for my armor and bow, and we've got plenty of unused resources lying around, so I ask my teammates if they'd like me to make them some gear.
To my delight, they would. My selfish start paid off: I have one of the best bows and one of the highest crafting levels on our team currently. I have access to a higher tier of equipment which I can share with my teammates. I eagerly fill a box with a few bows and armor pieces, which are hungrily snatched up by teammates who've been focusing on base-building and gathering resources—you know, the stuff that's absolutely vital to your team's success and which I've done very little of. But hey, we're armed thanks to me, and more importantly I was able to play the way I want while still finding a way to help my team.
I was getting a bit tired of the lone wolf thing anyway, so I decide it's time to settle down for a bit and fill in some of the blanks I've skipped. I've overlooked a lot of crafting recipes in my pursuit for a nicer bow, many of which require materials not found in Hearthhome, so there's plenty to do. I'd like a mount, too, come to think of it. A big Warg would be nice, especially if I can find one in black. We also have our first Reckoning event coming up, and I get a strange satisfaction from knowing that some of my teammates will be defending our base from the incoming assault using bows that I made.
I think I've treated Rend too much like a traditional survival game, and I'll be more mindful of my teammates moving forward. That said, I still had a lot of fun getting to where I am. Improving yourself is part of strengthening your faction, after all. I also like that there's room to specialize, and that you can work as a team without feeling chained together. It makes me wonder what route I'll take next cycle, but I've got a long way to go before that. I haven't even hunted my first player yet.
Rend will launch on Steam Early Access on July 31. You can find more information about Rend on its official site.
