It’s been a few years since Blue Manchu pushed the first person shooting of Void Bastards to the world, but now they are ready to go again, this time with the strategic twists of the spiritual successor, Wild Bastards.
We wanted to find out more about the game, ahead of release on Xbox, PlayStation and PC in September. Jon Chey from Blue Manchu was more than happy to sit down for a chat…
Can you please introduce yourself and your role in the development of Wild Bastards?
Hi, I’m Jon Chey and I’m the game designer on Wild Bastards. I run Blue Manchu, where we’ve made Void Bastards and Card Hunter. Previously I co-founded Irrational Games where we made BioShock, System Shock 2 and other games.
How would you pitch this game to potential players?
Play Wild Bastards if you like first-person shooters and want to try out a new twist on the genre. We try to add strategy and context to our shooter experiences.
So, you know why you’re in a battle and what you are trying to accomplish rather than just following along on a fixed storyline. It makes the battles matter and it creates a lot more varied experiences.
Also play Wild Bastards if you like tense, tactical Western gunplay.
What links Wild Bastards to Void Bastards, to which the game has been described as its spiritual successor?
Both games marry strategy and first-person shooter mechanics in a roguelike format. But Void Bastards was a survival game focussed around scavenging and crafting. Wild Bastards, in contrast, is a faster-paced action game focussed around team management and character growth.
It’s clear that replayability is a huge focus in Wild Bastards, but how are you and the team at Blue Manchu hoping to achieve this?
Wild Bastards is a roguelike game, so we generate a lot of the content. Planets are procedurally generated and encounters/battles on those planets are also procedurally populated. It’s all about how many multipliers we can apply to that generation process. So, for a battle, we have 6 different planet types that dictate the basic terrain of the battle, multiplied by a large number of enemy types, 13 different outlaws that you can take, a day/night cycle, weather, allies and a host of other modifiers that can be applied.
In addition, we provide a big variety of ways you can play through the game. You start with the narrative campaign which spans many hours of play. That unlocks a procedural campaign where you unlock the outlaws who form your gang in a randomly generated order. And we unlock a series of challenges which are mini-campaigns with custom modifiers to shake up the experience. In one challenge, you might have to work with just one outlaw in your gang, or figure out how to beat the game when the only mods (equipment) you can find are jetpacks.
Tell us about the planets that players can visit in Wild Bastards. What can they expect to see?
Each planet is a procedurally generated network of locations linked by roads that are controlled by roadblocks. To reach different parts of the planet, you have to break through these roadblocks in first-person battles.
Different planets will feature different terrain that makes these battles play out very differently. Desert planets feature long sight lines and sparse cover, but redwood planets are the opposite with lots of vegetation and huge trees with canopy platforms that provide opportunities to get the high ground.
The interactive locations on each planet are also very varied, making each planet a unique little puzzle to be solved. Should you break through a roadblock to reach some choice loot or distract the guards by cooking up a meal at a chowhouse? Can you make use of the teleporter network to avoid the pursuing posses or are you going to have to stand your ground and fight?
It’s quite the motley crew you can assemble in Wild Bastards. Can you tell us more about the cast?
At full strength, the Wild Bastards gang features 13 outlaws, all of whom have their own unique weaponry, stunt (charged ability), growth tree, personality, voice and relationship with the other outlaws.
One thing they all share in common though is that they are all outsiders and oddballs. Some are robots who have mutinied from their ordained jobs, others are mutants or aliens. Kaboom is a miner who has dissolved into a cloud of vapors while Rawhide is a robot controlled by a hive of sentient squirrels.
What makes each posse member unique?
Each outlaw has their own strengths and weaknesses and matches up differently against the huge range of enemies in the game.
Over time, you can choose to develop the outlaws in different directions by choosing ace cards which buff them in new ways. But, since each outlaw has a unique set of possible aces, they retain a very distinct style and role regardless of which way you choose to steer them. For example, Preach is a mutant cleric with a gatling gun. You might choose to develop her firepower by adding incendiary rounds to her gun, her health or her healing abilities.
What will players have to do to keep the ragtag bunch of outlaws working together?
The Wild Bastards are a fractious bunch. On a planet you can team outlaws up in a “bunch” that rides together. When you enter a combat you can dynamically swap between the two outlaws in the bunch so that you always have the best match up. This is very powerful, but working together leads to friction which may lead to arguments. And arguments create feuds, which prevent outlaws from teaming up. You can rectify these feuds by finding cans of beans which facilitate sit-downs where outlaws will patch up their relationships. And if you have a surfeit of beans, you can even engineer friendships. Outlaws who are pals will automatically help each other out in a battle, maybe by tossing out pickups for the pal or setting fire to some enemies.
There’s even more to this system, like feuds that occur due to narrative twists and turns and friendships that form when outlaws rescue another outlaw.
Who is your favourite character to play as and why?
One of my favorites is Sarge, a grizzled veteran rifleman who happens to be a horse. He wields a rifle, enhanced by his military grade HUD which identifies friends and foes for him. Because he’s a quadruped, he can get up a good head of speed when he starts to gallop, allowing you to reposition across the map quickly. Great for flanking and withdrawing from a tactically dubious situation.
Another is Spike, a surly rebel. His body is composed of a living crystalline material from which he can spawn super-sharp knives which he hurls at foes. These knives penetrate armor and do critical damage but are harder to aim and of much shorter range than a typical firearm. He needs to be played carefully with an emphasis on stealth and sneaking rather than frontal assault. But when you catch enemies unaware, he is brutally effective.
It’s not long now until Wild Bastards releases. What has the reaction to the launch date reveal trailer been like?
It’s been great to see people engaged with and excited for the game. We’re looking forward to people discovering the cast of outlaws and navigating through the huge variety of planets and enemies we’ve created.
And finally, which game are you most looking forward to in 2024 (aside from your own of course)?
Just one? I can’t choose between Slay the Spire 2, Tactical Breach Wizards and Judas.
Huge thanks go out to Jon for giving us some time in the lead up to release of Wild Bastards on Xbox, PlayStation and PC come September 12th 2024.
We’ll be sure to remind you when the game becomes available for play, and will be looking to run review too. If you’re interested in what Wild Bastards has to offer, hit up the Xbox Store page and pre-order for £27.99. It’s also on the PlayStation and PC (Steam) digital fronts.
