Supraland is a Metroidvania-styled video game developed by Supra Games. The game was originally self-published for PC and left early access on April 5, 2019. Ports for the eighth generation of video game consoles, with Humble Games as publisher, were released on October 22, 2020. Players assume control of a toy figurine and explore a series of themed areas within a child's sandbox.
Supraland is primarily developed by Supra Games founder David Münnich, who wanted to create an adventure video game based primarily on the Metroidvania subgenre, which is primarily characterized by guided non-linearity as well as utility-gated exploration and progression mechanics. Supraland is played from a first-person perspective, which Münnich believes allows players to provides a superior sense of immersion within the in-game world as opposed to one that is played from a third-person perspective.
Supraland was met with mostly positive reviews, which praised the game's gameplay mechanics but criticized its presentation and production values. A standalone expansion, titled Supraland Six Inches Under, was released on January 14, 2022, and serves as a sequel to Supraland. A full-fledged sequel is currently under development.
In Supraland, the player controls a toy figurine who has come to life. The prince of a kingdom populated by "red people", the player character is tasked with uncovering why his people's water supply has been tampered with by "blue people" from a neighbouring kingdom.[1] Played from a first-person perspective, the entirety of Supraland'slevels are set within a child's sandbox, with each area segregated by a theme.[2] The gameplay of Supraland, primarily inspired by the conventions and mechanics of the Metroidvania subgenre, also blends disparate elements from multiple genres like puzzle video games, point-and-click games, and first-person shooter games.[2] Players are not provided with a map to navigate the in-game world: instead, large objects in the distant horizon provide visual cues for navigation. They serve as landmarks for players to orient themselves and deduce the appropriate direction to travel in order to reach their objective.[2]
Development and release
Supraland was developed by Supra Games founder, German video game developer David Münnich, across 16 months.[2] Supra Games previously developed Supraball, a free-to-play multiplayer sports game based on an early 2000s' mod for the video game Unreal Tournament, which features a similar cartoon graphic aesthetic.[3][4]
Münnich's initial idea for Supraland was to create a first-person action-adventure game. At the preliminary stage of his research, Münnich played his favourite video games and made a shortlist of every gameplay element he liked, before refining the list down to a small number of essential elements which Münnich described as the "Supraland formula".[2] The final version of Supraland is described as a cross between Portal, The Legend of Zelda, and the Metroid series.[5] Among the most important aspects of Supraland's gameplay is puzzle solving; Münnich aspired for Supraland's puzzle gameplay to reach the same standard of tactile quality as that of Portal.[2]
The choice of a first-person perspective for Supraland is considered an unusual design choice for a Metroidvania-styled video game.[2] Further, the lack of a map to assist players with navigation is a "central design decision" according to Münnich.[2] In an interview with PC Gamer, he described maps to be a source of comfort, but also a feature that degrades an entire 3D world to "meaningless geometry". For Supraland, he wanted to encourage players to "follow their natural curiosity without much guidance", and that they could discover a sense of immersion and satisfaction by being mindful and observant of their surroundings.[2]
According to review aggregatorMetacritic, the PC and Xbox One versions of Supraland has received generally favorable reviews.[8][9] Writing for Rock, Paper, Shotgun, John Walker declared Supraland to be his favourite video game of 2019.[5] Reviewing the original PC version of Supraland, Kyle Hilliard from Game Informer praised its puzzle design and expansive in-game world which rewards exploration, which offsets its otherwise underwhelming production values in his opinion.[1] In a positive review for the Xbox One version, Donovan Erskine from Shacknews lauded Supraland as one of the best sandbox video games he has ever played and described it as an essential experience for open world video game enthusiasts because it lets players define their own experiences. He praised its gameplay, which "feels like a love letter to a laundry list of classic games, doing justice to all of them", but also highlighted the lackluster design aesthetic for its characters and in-game items.[11] John Rairdin from NintendoWorldReport offered a less enthusiastic assessment of Supraland, summarizing the gameplay experience as a "gorgeous world to stumble through." Rairdin faulted the world design of Supraland for dragging down every other aspect of the game, and complained that its "fun moments" and "great idea" are constantly impaired by "confused wandering through what ought to be a much more interesting world".[10]
Supraland sold 50,000 units within one month of its post-early access release in April 2019, which far exceeded Münnich's own expectations, and 96% of its Steam user reviews were positive.[2] By March 10, 2021, Supraland reached over 600,000 unique players which prompted Dustin Bailey to describe the game as a "cult hit". [12]
Sequels
A sequel titled Supraland Six Inches Under was released for Windows on January 14, 2022.[13]Supraland Six Inches Under was originally intended to be the second DLC expansion pack for Supraland, but its expanded scope and the perceived lack of interest from Supraland players in DLC led to Münnich's decision to develop it as a standalone title.[14]
A second sequel, titled Supraworld, is under development, with funding to be sourced from the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter. [15][13] Unlike its predecessor, Supraworld is not a solo operation, as Münnich secured the services of a combat designer and a narrative designer as of May 2019.[2]
References
^ abcdHilliard, Kyle. "Supraland Review - Little Guy, Big World, Great Puzzles". Game Informer.
^ abcdefghijklHorti, Samuel (May 14, 2019). "How first-person metroidvania Supraland became a hit, and what's in store for the sequel". www.pcgamer.com.
^"Epic Games award Unreal Dev Grants to Deathball remake, Bears Can't Drift, and a slew of others".
^Ian Birnbaum (5 May 2014). "Supraball: First person shooter mayhem on a soccer field". PC Gamer.
^ ab"Wot I Think: Supraland". Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
^"Supraland coming to PS4, Xbox One, and Switch on October 22". Gematsu. October 8, 2020.
^"Supraland Crash review -- Back to earth". July 3, 2020.
^ ab"Supraland for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
^ ab"Supraland for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
^ ab"Supraland Review - Review". Nintendo World Report.
^ ab"Supraland review: It's a small world after all". Shacknews.
^"Supraland reaches "over 600,000 unique players (plus pirates)" as dev teases sequels". PCGamesN.
^ ab"Supraland Six Inches Under, sequel to the cult classic Metroidvania FPS, is out today". PCGamesN.
^"Supraland: Six Inches Under review -- I want to go to there". January 14, 2022.
supraland, metroidvania, styled, video, game, developed, supra, games, game, originally, self, published, left, early, access, april, 2019, ports, eighth, generation, video, game, consoles, with, humble, games, publisher, were, released, october, 2020, players. Supraland is a Metroidvania styled video game developed by Supra Games The game was originally self published for PC and left early access on April 5 2019 Ports for the eighth generation of video game consoles with Humble Games as publisher were released on October 22 2020 Players assume control of a toy figurine and explore a series of themed areas within a child s sandbox SupralandDeveloper s Supra GamesPublisher s Supra GamesHumble Games consoles EngineUnreal Engine 4Platform s WindowsNintendo SwitchPlayStation 4Xbox OneReleaseWindowsWW April 5 2019Nintendo Switch PlayStation 4 Xbox OneWW October 22 2020Genre s Metroidvania puzzle video gameMode s Single playerSupraland is primarily developed by Supra Games founder David Munnich who wanted to create an adventure video game based primarily on the Metroidvania subgenre which is primarily characterized by guided non linearity as well as utility gated exploration and progression mechanics Supraland is played from a first person perspective which Munnich believes allows players to provides a superior sense of immersion within the in game world as opposed to one that is played from a third person perspective Supraland was met with mostly positive reviews which praised the game s gameplay mechanics but criticized its presentation and production values A standalone expansion titled Supraland Six Inches Under was released on January 14 2022 and serves as a sequel to Supraland A full fledged sequel is currently under development Contents 1 Gameplay 2 Development and release 3 Reception 4 Sequels 5 ReferencesGameplay EditIn Supraland the player controls a toy figurine who has come to life The prince of a kingdom populated by red people the player character is tasked with uncovering why his people s water supply has been tampered with by blue people from a neighbouring kingdom 1 Played from a first person perspective the entirety of Supraland s levels are set within a child s sandbox with each area segregated by a theme 2 The gameplay of Supraland primarily inspired by the conventions and mechanics of the Metroidvania subgenre also blends disparate elements from multiple genres like puzzle video games point and click games and first person shooter games 2 Players are not provided with a map to navigate the in game world instead large objects in the distant horizon provide visual cues for navigation They serve as landmarks for players to orient themselves and deduce the appropriate direction to travel in order to reach their objective 2 Development and release EditSupraland was developed by Supra Games founder German video game developer David Munnich across 16 months 2 Supra Games previously developed Supraball a free to play multiplayer sports game based on an early 2000s mod for the video game Unreal Tournament which features a similar cartoon graphic aesthetic 3 4 Munnich s initial idea for Supraland was to create a first person action adventure game At the preliminary stage of his research Munnich played his favourite video games and made a shortlist of every gameplay element he liked before refining the list down to a small number of essential elements which Munnich described as the Supraland formula 2 The final version of Supraland is described as a cross between Portal The Legend of Zelda and the Metroid series 5 Among the most important aspects of Supraland s gameplay is puzzle solving Munnich aspired for Supraland s puzzle gameplay to reach the same standard of tactile quality as that of Portal 2 The choice of a first person perspective for Supraland is considered an unusual design choice for a Metroidvania styled video game 2 Further the lack of a map to assist players with navigation is a central design decision according to Munnich 2 In an interview with PC Gamer he described maps to be a source of comfort but also a feature that degrades an entire 3D world to meaningless geometry For Supraland he wanted to encourage players to follow their natural curiosity without much guidance and that they could discover a sense of immersion and satisfaction by being mindful and observant of their surroundings 2 The original Windows version of Supraland left Steam Early Access and saw a full release on April 5 2019 1 2 Ports for the PlayStation 4 Xbox One and Nintendo Switch are publishd by Humble Games and released on October 22 2020 6 A downloadable content DLC expansion titled Supraland Crash was released on July 3 2020 7 Reception EditReceptionAggregate scoreAggregatorScoreMetacritic PC 85 100 8 Xbox 82 100 9 Review scoresPublicationScoreGame Informer8 10 1 Nintendo World Report6 10 10 Shacknews9 10 11 According to review aggregator Metacritic the PC and Xbox One versions of Supraland has received generally favorable reviews 8 9 Writing for Rock Paper Shotgun John Walker declared Supraland to be his favourite video game of 2019 5 Reviewing the original PC version of Supraland Kyle Hilliard from Game Informer praised its puzzle design and expansive in game world which rewards exploration which offsets its otherwise underwhelming production values in his opinion 1 In a positive review for the Xbox One version Donovan Erskine from Shacknews lauded Supraland as one of the best sandbox video games he has ever played and described it as an essential experience for open world video game enthusiasts because it lets players define their own experiences He praised its gameplay which feels like a love letter to a laundry list of classic games doing justice to all of them but also highlighted the lackluster design aesthetic for its characters and in game items 11 John Rairdin from NintendoWorldReport offered a less enthusiastic assessment of Supraland summarizing the gameplay experience as a gorgeous world to stumble through Rairdin faulted the world design of Supraland for dragging down every other aspect of the game and complained that its fun moments and great idea are constantly impaired by confused wandering through what ought to be a much more interesting world 10 Supraland sold 50 000 units within one month of its post early access release in April 2019 which far exceeded Munnich s own expectations and 96 of its Steam user reviews were positive 2 By March 10 2021 Supraland reached over 600 000 unique players which prompted Dustin Bailey to describe the game as a cult hit 12 Sequels EditA sequel titled Supraland Six Inches Under was released for Windows on January 14 2022 13 Supraland Six Inches Under was originally intended to be the second DLC expansion pack for Supraland but its expanded scope and the perceived lack of interest from Supraland players in DLC led to Munnich s decision to develop it as a standalone title 14 A second sequel titled Supraworld is under development with funding to be sourced from the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter 15 13 Unlike its predecessor Supraworld is not a solo operation as Munnich secured the services of a combat designer and a narrative designer as of May 2019 2 References Edit a b c d Hilliard Kyle Supraland Review Little Guy Big World Great Puzzles Game Informer a b c d e f g h i j k l Horti Samuel May 14 2019 How first person metroidvania Supraland became a hit and what s in store for the sequel www pcgamer com Epic Games award Unreal Dev Grants to Deathball remake Bears Can t Drift and a slew of others Ian Birnbaum 5 May 2014 Supraball First person shooter mayhem on a soccer field PC Gamer a b Wot I Think Supraland Rock Paper Shotgun Supraland coming to PS4 Xbox One and Switch on October 22 Gematsu October 8 2020 Supraland Crash review Back to earth July 3 2020 a b Supraland for PC Reviews Metacritic Retrieved May 26 2022 a b Supraland for Xbox One Reviews Metacritic Retrieved May 26 2022 a b Supraland Review Review Nintendo World Report a b Supraland review It s a small world after all Shacknews Supraland reaches over 600 000 unique players plus pirates as dev teases sequels PCGamesN a b Supraland Six Inches Under sequel to the cult classic Metroidvania FPS is out today PCGamesN Supraland Six Inches Under review I want to go to there January 14 2022 SupraGames on Twitter Twitter Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Supraland amp oldid 1104760831 Development and release, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
