On August 19, Void Bastards will become free on the Epic Games Store. Alongside Playtonic Games' Yooka-Laylee, this will replace Rebel Galaxy, which is currently available for no cost on the site. While Yooka-Laylee is a bit of a wildcard, Void Bastards gels thematically with a lot of the other games offered for free in August. It ambitiously portrays a science fiction vehicle and the strategy associated with maneuvering it across the universe.
Both upcoming free titles would be generous offerings in their own rights, and having them release together is a further demonstration of the Epic Store's free game generosity. Void Bastards has never been on the Epic Games Store before, so it will join the long list of games that have debuted free on the platform. Yooka-Laylee is another of those games, despite one of its sequels already being on there. This will be Blue Manchu's first game on the Epic Store. It was one of the most interesting indie games of 2019, and it being free on the Epic Store will hopefully build an even stronger fanbase for it.
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Void Bastards is not only a witty and vibrant FPS but one that switches up the traditional formula in an interesting way. It is not just about the moment-to-moment battles across desolate space stations, but also the strategy that gets the characters there in the first place. In spite of that focus, the game still makes the moment-to-moment gameplay very exciting, with very real stakes around character death. Ultimately, Void Bastards allows players much more agency than a lot of great sci-fi games, as the entire setup process is also down to them as well.
Blue Manchu's breakout FPS-strategy hit takes place across the far-reaching Sargasso Nebula. The player has to transport a hastily gathered group of misfit prisoners through the void of space. These titular Bastards can have a huge variety of personality traits, and a limitless supply of prisoners makes each playthrough deeply diverse and fraught in different ways. Indeed, the permadeath mechanics of the game mean that players are unlikely to keep a consistent group of prisoners for very long. This is is similar to the mechanical loops in the best roguelike games, where death does have some kind of impact on the main campaign.
Another crucial element to Void Bastard's success is the incredibly consistent aesthetic choices. Similar to FPS games like XIII, it leans heavily into a comic book style. Even the game's HUD is made up of comic frames, so players are aware of it at all times. Rather than damage numbers or health bars, big cartoon "splat" graphics leap up above enemy heads during combat. Enemy designs, too, are a healthy blend of cartoony and sinister, with some of them appearing as sprites that jerkily move through abandoned ship corridors. The distinctive graphic novel art style coheres wonderfully with the central tone of the game.
Blue Manchu uses this strategy element in conjunction with the semi-persistent roguelike gameplay threads to create something a touch unique in the modern FPS landscape. However, the game is not that unique in the context of who made it. Blue Manchu's founder is Jon Chey, a 20-year industry veteran. In his time, Chey worked on Theif: The Dark Project, and also co-founded Irrational Games with Ken Levine and Robert Fermier. Founding Irrational proved to be incredibly important for not just Chey's career, but the games industry at large. During his time with Irrational, Chey designed, produced, and programmed games like BioShock, Freedom Force, and System Shock 2.
Void Bastards makes much more sense when thought of as a very cheeky spiritual sequel to BioShock and the other Irrational Games sci-fi titles. While it mostly drops the more serious tone of those games, it commits to a more satirical take on prison labor, pulpy sci-fi, and the real existential terror of the eponymous void. Players will send veritable hordes of prisoners through the game, and while there is a constant sense of levity throughout, the game does lack slightly in the story department, arguably falling short of the lofty heights reached in the narratives of older Irrational Games products.
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Unfortunately, Void Bastards received mixed critical acclaim on launch, mostly due to its slightly lackluster story and replay value. However, a good portion of fans absolutely adored the game, and still routinely revisit the game. Looking at the game's Steamcharts page is particularly interesting. Steamcharts tracks the number of concurrent players for any given game on the platform. Of course, Steam was not Void Bastard's only platform, but the statistic is still interesting to track. Especially in comparison to the other August 19 free Epic Store game of Yooka-Laylee. Yooka-Laylee's release was much higher profile than Blue Manchu's game, reflected in the 4,000 more peak concurrent players that the game boasts.
On the other hand, the concurrent player number for both titles is radically different right now. In June and July, Void Bastards had more than double Yooka-Laylee's concurrent players. This potentially demonstrates that the game has some kind of replay value that perhaps was not appreciated immediately during the review period. The game was one of the most interesting indie games of 2019 and only had a 12-15 hour campaign.
If such a comparably large number of players are still coming back to the game (despite its short play time), that means it is a potentially brilliant free Epic Games Store title. Blue Manchu is likely using the Epic Store to boost the game's player base, making it even more relevant in the 2021 indie games market.
Void Bastards will be free on the Epic Games Store from August 19.
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