Mortal Shell

Mortal Shell is an action role-playing video game developed by Cold Symmetry and published by Playstack. It was released on 18 August 2020 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows.

Mortal Shell
Developer(s)Cold Symmetry
Publisher(s)Playstack
EngineUnreal Engine 4
Platform(s)
Release18 August 2020
Genre(s)Action role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay

Mortal Shell is a third-person action role-playing game focused on melee combat, where players control one of several "shell" characters with different playstyles.[1]

Development
Rotting Christ created the soundtrack for the "Rotting Autumn" update.

The game was developed by Cold Symmetry.[1] It was published by Playstack on 18 August 2020 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.[2][3] "Rotting Autumn", an update adding new shell shades (skins), a new quest, a photo mode, and an alternative soundtrack by the Greek black metal band Rotting Christ, was released in October 2020.[4]

The developers created Mortal Shell as they thought there was a gap in the market for video games evoking deeper emotional experiences. They were influenced by FromSoftware's 2011 game Dark Souls, similarly creating a setting with a dark atmosphere and populated with characters giving players cryptic information, and designing gameplay based around challenging melee combat, but still intended to change things up and create their own take on the concept. While some changes to the Souls formula were creatively driven, such as giving players only a limited amount of consumable health items to encourage use of the health-leeching mechanic, compared to Dark Souls' Estus flasks, other changes came from the limitations of being a smaller developer: for example, they could not develop the same amount of armours, weapons and character builds, and instead developed four "shells" with different play styles and backstories.[1]

An early prototype of the game, titled Dungeonhaven, was focused on procedural generation; the developers moved away from this, feeling that it was antithetical to the Souls style of games, and instead opted for designing the game's areas by hand, wanting players to feel like they were going on an adventure, traversing a space that made sense as a setting.[1]

Reception

Mortal Shell was met by generally positive reviews on all platforms, according to the review aggregator Metacritic,[5][6][7] and was nominated for Best Debut Game at The Game Awards 2020.[3] Reviewers frequently compared the game to playing Dark Souls for the first time.[8][9][10]

References
  1. O'Donoghue, Niall (16 November 2020). "Finding the Soul of Soulslikes – the devs riffing on the genre". VG247. Archived from the original on 17 November 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  2. Tack, Daniel (5 August 2020). "Mortal Shell Arrives On August 18". Game Informer. GameStop. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  3. Sheehan, Gavin (18 November 2020). "The Game Awards Releases The Complete 2020 Nominees List". Bleeding Cool. Avatar Press. Archived from the original on 18 November 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  4. Bolding, Jonathan (24 October 2020). "Mortal Shell's free update has pumpkin hats and black metal by Rotting Christ". PC Gamer. Future plc. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  5. "Mortal Shell for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  6. "Mortal Shell for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 23 August 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  7. "Mortal Shell for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 30 August 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  8. Saltzman, Mitchell (2020-07-02). "Mortal Shell Hands-On Preview: Finding Its Own Souls-Like Voice". IGN. Archived from the original on 2020-07-02. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  9. Hornshaw, Phil (2020-07-02). "Mortal Shell Hands-On Preview: Hardened By Dark Souls". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2020-07-03. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  10. Boudreau, Ian. "Mortal Shell reminds you how you felt on your first Dark Souls run". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on 22 August 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
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