It’s an exciting time to be a fan of both Red Dead Redemption and survival crafting games like Minecraft, as the horizon is looking surprisingly promising at the moment. This month, former Overwatch lead Jeff Kaplan revealed that he was working on the RPG The Legend of California, which promises an ambitious, open-world survival crafting Western. That’s not the only option on its way, though, and another contender has its own points of appeal.
Forty-Niner, an upcoming Steam game, promises a “Wild West World” with “survival, role-play depth, and sandbox freedom.” Rather than the generally realistic style of The Legend of California, Forty-Niner embraces a simpler, low-poly approach. With a focus on building and mining, this might just be the perfect way to take survival crafting out west.
Forty-Niner Is A Combination Of Red Dead And Minecraft
Two Titans Collide
Unlike a lot of survival crafting games, Forty-Niner isn’t focused on a lonely experience. Instead, it seems to be interested in recapturing the liveliness of Western towns that makes Red Dead Redemption so memorable. The Steam page describes “a world where every NPC has a life and schedule of their own,” meeting the standard set by Red Dead Redemption and other open-world classics like Skyrim.
As for the Minecraft element, the low-poly aesthetic contributes to a world that can be properly deformed, with dynamic weather conditions and mining that chips away at cave walls. The building systems naturally skew toward the type of assets you’d expect for the Wild West, so making a saloon or a church will be easier than a skyscraper, but I’m sure it won’t take long for players to start pushing the game to its limits.
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Keep A Weather Eye On The Horizon
Forty-Niner isn’t out yet, and when it does, it’s launching in Steam Early Access before its eventual full release. Developer VowelA Games plans to “gradually increase the price leading up to the official release,” so Red Dead Redemption fans who don’t want to spend too much might want to get in on the ground floor.
There’s no shortage of survival crafting games on Steam already, but if Forty-Niner can pull off what it’s promising, it might have one of the most compelling hooks. The best part, perhaps, is that Forty-Niner supports online co-op and PvP, which could provide equal opportunities for cooperative homestead projects and dramatic duels in the street.
Hopefully, we’ll hear something about an Early Access release window or date for Forty-Niner soon. As is the case with The Legend of California, it looks like Red Dead Redemption and Minecraft fans will just have to wait for the time being.
- Released
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May 18, 2010
- ESRB
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M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs
- Developer(s)
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Rockstar San Diego
- Engine
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rockstar advanced game engine
