Vortex Gaming

Nexon has released an in-game play video of 'Nakwon: LAST PARADISE (hereinafter Nakwon)', a PC stealth survival game being developed by its sub-brand Mintrocket.

‘Nakwon’, Mintrocket's next title after ‘Dave the Diver’, is a stealth survival game set in a post-apocalyptic world against the familiar backdrop of Seoul. Familiar places such as ‘Yeouido’ and ‘Nakwon Arcade’ reflect the era of the near future in ruins, realistically conveying the game's unique horror and tension. Players will scavenge for limited resources in ruined Seoul, flee from powerful zombies, develop their own tactics, or enjoy PvPvE gameplay where they can cooperate with teammates.

The newly released video is a generous 22 minutes long, giving a sneak peek at the game's general play style ahead of the pre-alpha test, which will be held from the 30th based on Korean time. You can directly check out various in-game plays, such as a player armed with a baseball bat full of nails walking through the deserted night streets, finding bandages in an empty pharmacy, or knocking down zombies blocking the road.

The game's rules are designed with a clear principle: infiltrate the 'Lawless Zone' to explore and return alive to the 'Safe Zone'. Users must participate in regular expeditions and find and bring back resources necessary for survival. A total of 16 people enter a session and can acquire items from various places such as piles of garbage on the street, boxes, inside buildings, and indoor structures.

It is also noticeable that the parts to be considered during stealth play are emphasized, such as the concentric circles under the feet that indicate noise becoming smaller when the player moves in a low posture, or the ability to choose to open the door quietly with a separate operation when opening and closing the door. You can also check the noise-related details in various parts of the video, such as the sound of bursting when an object is within the radius of the weapon when swinging a tool to hunt zombies.

In addition, various situations in the game appear, such as using a pistol accidentally acquired in the process of finding items necessary for survival, or encountering other survivors. There are no detailed rules for survival. Users can team up with other players and explore together, but at the same time, they can betray and plunder the opponent's items. 'Buddy activities' make it easier to farm items, but you can become the only survivor and monopolize more items. In actual play, quite a few people are expected to choose the latter, and encountering the remaining survivors is likely to be a more fatal threat than zombies with relatively low intelligence.

In the pre-alpha test, only the 'Jongno 3-ga' area will be opened as a lawless zone, and you must return to the 'Yeouido', which is a safe zone, with the acquired items. The quest goals to be achieved can be checked through the tablet that is always carried, and if the goal is achieved to some extent, you can escape the lawless zone through the exits displayed throughout the map. If you stay on the mission for too long, poisonous gas spreads like the 'blue zone' in Battlegrounds, and the dangerous area that cannot be moved gradually widens, adding tension. The video ends with escaping the lawless zone to avoid poisonous gas after completing several quests such as zone maintenance.

The motivation for farming and escaping comes down to 'survival'. The main axis of the game is not just farming items and escaping, but how to develop the life of survival after that. Although not all of it is shown in the 22-minute play video, Nakwon introduces life in the 'safe zone' in the form of a survival simulation. Users will be able to use the resources they have worked hard to obtain in the simulation part.

The safe zone is a place where survivors gather to create a living base, where a new class society is formed. You can use essential goods such as money to purchase various weapons and accessories, and you can also pay rent. In Nakwon, instead of forcibly initializing the material assets accumulated by users, we plan to implement many elements to consume to continuously maintain the motivation for 'farming' and strengthen the fun of escape.

In addition, the safe zone is divided into zones according to citizen grade. It is divided into a total of 11 zones, and only the 11th zone, the 'illegal alien zone', can be used when joining for the first time. If you are upgraded from the first class, 'illegal alien' to 'temporary resident', you can use the 10th zone and use a store called 'Yeouinaru Merchant'.

Developer Mintrocket has stated its development keynote from the early stages of game development that it will release the game to the market, receive user feedback, and gradually increase the game's completeness. In fact, since this build is a pre-alpha stage build, there are still many parts that seem insufficient, such as the striking motion during combat feeling awkward. It is expected that watching how the game can be supplemented through several tests such as the pre-alpha test and global feedback will be a point to watch.

Jang Kyung-han, director of Nakwon, said, “The only rule defined in ‘Nakwon’ is ‘Survive by any means’, and nothing else is set. I want to convey the joy and fun of surviving in the middle of desolate Seoul to the users.” He also said, “Although it is in the early stages of development, we have decided to conduct a pre-alpha stage test, and we will further improve the game by receiving various feedback.”

Mintrocket's new game Nakwon's pre-alpha test will be held on Steam from November 30th to December 4th, Korean time. During the test period, anyone can participate in the test through Nakwon's Steam page.

Webzine InvenPark Kwang-seok Reporter
2023-11-22