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Wild – Just what kind of game is the PS4 Gamescom hit?

Wild

We break down the launch video to try and work out what playing Wild will be like on PS4

Wild just came out of nowhere and blew our tiny little minds. Just like No Man’s Sky did a few months ago, Wild has us grasping for words. It looks to be another huge surprise hit for the PS4, and even if we can’t play it for ages, and it doesn’t live up to the hype that we’re about to contribute to, it’s great to have something else really different-looking to get excited about.

The Wild trailer all starts out fairly normally, with people and animals walking across a big and beautiful landscape. Developer Wild Sheep Studio has informed us that you’ll be able to play as any creature in the world, not just as the people, which is an intriguing idea, as playing as boars or wolves could lead to interesting experiences – and without the silliness of Goat Simulator.

So far, we can get our head around the idea, which is described as ‘an online survival adventure game, devoted to the wilderness. Set 10,000 years ago when nature and humanity were one.’

Then it all starts getting weird and ideas come at us with startling speed and oddity. We see a man riding a sheep, fair enough, then a pair of humans walking across a ridge, very pretty, but then we notice they are accompanied by a remarkably camp-looking skeleton in a headdress. It all looks beautiful by the way, with gorgeous vistas and little white flowers nestling in the grass.

Wild skeleton

Back to normality we see a man crafting a spear, pretty typical, and then two characters riding a horse, which we then click could itself be a third player, which brings up some interesting interactions between the tool-using humans and their faster steed buddy. Then there’s a quick shot of what look like some kind of mudman, an elemental creature? Or simply a man covered in mud? We see a pack of wolves stalking a boar, all players, only the boar, only the pack leading wolf? And then back to that rather flamboyant skeleton telling campfire stories.

Wild swimming and giant skeleton

But just when you thought it was all settling down, we see three players swimming, deep underwater past a truly gigantic seated skeleton, it’s real jaw-dropping stuff. Continuing the giant theme, a woman is chased by a giant fish, which she neatly skewers, showing that there should be combat both above and below the water.

Cutting to a man in the snow, a pack of wolves approaches and one morphs into a human-like figure, showing that players may not be limited to a single form even within a single character. A young wolf pup is shown, so we may get to birth and rear young, possibly new characters themselves.

Wild- giant woman in tree

Then it goes really crazy. A giant woman is shown climbing out of a massive tree. I so want to play a giant woman who lives in a tree, and if I can’t then I sure as hell want to find one and work out what she’s doing there! Then there are apparently giant eagles to fly, giant eagles to fly I say!

Wild giant eagle

So it looks to be a survival game, one where you have to work with other creatures and animals in order to best survive, and its online which suggest big worlds and people to co-operate with, and possibly even fight against. There looks to be crafting, though not building, which makes it similar to games like Dont’ Starve, but the whole thing is done on such a huge and luscious scale, wow.

Wild Sheep Studio is headed by legendary games producer Michel Ancel, responsible in part for Rayman and Beyond Good & Evil. This puts Wild well above a project such as No Man’s Sky in terms of the experience and presumably the budget. We can’t wait to see what craziness they unveil next.

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