2019-03-01_PC_Gamer

None of these events were part of

questlines. There’s no such

regimentation in Kenshi, no tangible

sense of scripted behaviour, just a

web of vicious systems so numerous

that they sometimes tangle and

fumble and descend into absurdity.

Upon creating your

squad of up to six

starting characters,

you’re dumped into a

dauntingly large

post-apocalyptic world.

All of your skills start at

or around zero, and

you work on them

simply by doing. You’ll

probably spend your first several

hours as a lowly scavenger – sticking

to the shadows, levelling up your

stealth and scurrying in after

skirmishes between the various

factions and fauna to loot the dead.

Beyond that? Perhaps you search

the wilderness for artefacts or lore

titbits, hunt down bounties for the

myriad factions, join up with

anti-slavers, or set up shop on a trade

route and try to make a living.

Through bar-crawling and chance

encounters with escaped slaves and

other vagabonds, you can recruit new

people, who you then take control of

just like your original characters. You

can have several squads in different

parts of the world if you wish, or

train new members as farmers and

labourers so that you can build a

self-sustaining settlement.

At this point, Kenshi

becomes a surprisingly

effective management

game as you research

technologies, construct

buildings and assign

people long lists of

automated tasks like

mining, farming and

construction.

Settlements present their own

dangers: out in the wilderness you’ll

face bandit and animal attacks, while

settling near cities may subject you to

taxation and other regional rules.

There are a few missions you can

pick up by talking to people, but the

best stories are those that emerge out

of Kenshi’s systems. For instance, in

the early game, my first companion

and I were beset by slavers, who took

one of us captive while the other

managed to escape. I licked my

wounds, gathered my wits and took it

upon myself to rescue my friend.

After some hours of scavenging, I

saved up enough money to hire a

mercenary band. We raided the camp

and rescued my comrade, but it didn’t

end there, as his shaved-head-and-

shackles look meant that authorities

would identify him as an escapee and

attempt to recapture him. So began a

survival experience in the wilderness

while his bounty expired.

OLD SCHOOL

Kenshi’s mechanics and UIs have an

arcane MMO feel, which can get

cumbersome. Combat is automated,

though you can set defensive

postures, order ranged attacks and

play around with formations.

Movement, meanwhile, is mouse-

based, with the WASD keys

controlling the camera. While the

combat is functional, given how many

people you can end up controlling,

things can get fiddly when you’re

managing inventories, transferring

items between ten or more people,

and trying to get your settlement

running as efficiently as possible.

The early game can be cruel; basic

survival plans can be derailed by a

guard who plants drugs on you and

demands money you don’t have, or by

finding yourself in a region inhabited

by vicious alien giraffes. It can all get

a bit grindy, too; it takes a long time

before you can handle yourself in a

fight, grow food and travel.

After around 30 hours, I still feel

like I’ve so much to uncover. I’ve still

got to expand from a dustbowl

community to a fortress; to send an

expedition of warriors out into

distant wilds while back at the

township workers rake in profits

thanks to the clockwork-like regimen

I created. Kenshi is huge, amoral and

opaque enough that I’ll be

deciphering it for a very long time.

NEED TO KNOW

WHAT IS IT?

Avast,rusticRPG

survival sandbox.

EXPECT TO PAY

£23

DEVELOPER

Lo-Fi Games

PUBLISHER

In-house

REVIEWED ON

Core i7-4790k, Radeon

390X,16GBRAM

MULTIPLAYER

None

LINK

http://www.lofigames.com

84

Work through the

ugliness and technical

awkwardness and you’ll

find an experience of

frightening depth.

VERDICT

The best stories

are those that

emerge out of

Kenshi’s

systems

I

n my time with Kenshi, I’ve crossed swamps so vast that I haven’t

dared return. I’ve been beaten shitless by a pack of goats that were

intended to feed my rabble of listless nomads. I’ve been a

shopkeeper and a thief, a lone wanderer and a slave, and I’ve been

an entire community of people working together to – one day –

erect our own city in the wasteland. One day.

FROM ZERO TO...

Become a ruler, a nomad or a frustrated

nobody in KENSHI. By Robert Zak

SYSTEM OVERLOAD Three stories from the systemic mind of Kenshi

AWARMWELCOME

Igotintoabarfightbyshitmouthing

alocal.Townguardsstreamedinto

thebar,batteredthemtonear-death

anddumpedtheminthestreet.

SLAVE TO GRAVE

Idroppedabountyoff,onlytofindall

thecellsfull.Tomakeroom,Ibrokea

prisoner out. The freed captive was

then killed for being a fugitive.

TA X INVASION

A nearby city sent a squad to rough

me up for tax evasion. I hired some

mercs, made a murder party in my

camp and looted all the bodies.

Kenshi

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