Guns of Icarus Online

Join a crew of four in Guns of Icarus Online and blow up steampunk airships while trying to prevent your own from blowing up in a multiplayer, team-based setting! Developed and published by indie company Muse, Guns of Icarus Online is available for Windows, OS X, Linux, and the Playstation 4, digitally distributed through Steam.

the empire wants you!

You and three other mates get to fly around in a steampunk airship crossing over the resulting deserts of a past war. This is a game that my friends and I were greatly anticipating when it was first announced. We had the four-pack pre-order and we were ready to hop aboard and become scrappy pirates of the skies.

The core game mechanics surrounds the airship and her crew. The crew is allowed to select from three distinct classes: Gunner, Engineer, Pilot. Everyone gets at least one of each tool for gunning, repairing, and piloting, but each respective class gets to have three of their specialty, making them more versatile and effective at their task.

The Pilot is a special role in of itself. The Pilot picks the ship and guns, all of which have different strengths, weaknesses, backstories, and different combinations of guns of different ships allows for various types of approaches in those aerial battles. Everyone aboard the ship places his or her trust in the Pilot as he grabs the wheels and throttles the ship into combat. The interactions of the crew and the interactions of Pilots on the same team are complex but allows for intricate battle plans and maneuvers to be carried out.

it isn't steampunk unless you have top hats, right guys

Sounds really neat, doesn't it? However, Guns of Icarus Online is a very niche game. That isn't to say it has, or will continue to have, a low player base (it kinda does right now)- the game is a bit difficult to get into. A big part that played into accessibility that I noticed is that nobody really wants to play as the Pilot. The Pilot is a crucial role and a bad Pilot can mean a disastrous 5-0 score in the end. There are times when I played Pilot that I felt absolutely helpless: my partner ship got blown up, my engines were shot dead, and my hull could not take the continuous beating of flak cannons and flamethrowers. The worst part is that it mostly falls on you as the Pilot to have gotten your team into that situation. Playing Pilot boasts a really steep learning curve that new players may have difficulty navigating. 

bring me closer, i want to hit them with my wrench

There is also a staunch lack of feedback when you're gunning. One of the mechanics in the game is damage type. Certain parts of a ship are more susceptible to certain damage types and more resistant to certain damage types- makes sense, right? The only kind of feedback you get when you deal damage is either a) visual or b) hitmarkers. The visual approach only really lets you make two conclusions about the state of an enemy ship: "their balloon is deflated" and "shits on fire, yo". If you've just picked up the game, the hitmarkers feel arbitrary. Does a bigger hitmarker mean more damage? Is there damage fall off? Just exactly where am I supposed to aim with this particular gun?

Now, the game does have an in-game manual where it lists everything, but it's a chore and an ineffective way to teach players. Why isn't an option like displaying damage numbers available? It's a perfect source of player feedback and doesn't hurt gameplay at all- it will allow players to gradually learn by playing the different damage types and resistances. 

runs off the unity engine

Right now, the only game modes are skirmishes between teams of airships. While fun and tense at times, it slowly begins to lose steam. Once the steampunk and film noir filters come off, you realize there isn't much to the game. There is player customization with monetized hats and whatnot, but there isn't anything you can do to pimp out your airship in any way. No banners, no skins, nothing. A rudimentary reward system gives an incomplete sense of progress as you slog your way through finishing grinding tasks.

But when you look at the game, you can see there is a universe waiting for its story to be told. There's not much content, but the niche dedicated community makes the maps and fictional places come to life. You'll be flying over a map and think "Why is there a giant engine turbine in the sands bigger than my airship? What came before?"

relic of a battle long ago

Muse is a small indie development team dedicated to doing what they love and I admire them for it. Their offices weathered Hurricane Sandy and despite all the setbacks, they continue forward with greater passion and enthusiasm. 

I'm cheering for Muse- I really am. But I'm worried, too. With the promise of a greater Adventure Mode kind of gameplay involving town interactions, factions, and bigger battles, I'm worried that Muse might be undertaking a task it cannot handle. And when projects get too big, corners are cut, and the result is sloppy execution. However, I am glad to see that Muse is working on some co-op game mode in a form of PvE setting that may be a precursor to the Adventure mode gameplay. Although the new Adventure mode will probably end up being something like a paid DLC, I do look forward to seeing what kind of universe Muse is crafting as it is sure to breathe new life into a game that has been through a long developmental process of betas and patches. 

Guns of Icarus Online is fun despite its flaws- do not doubt that. If you ever do get the chance, do pick it up in the Steam store and give it a go.  Guns of Icarus Online is a game with a fantastic amount of potential from a group of a very talented and dedicated developers.