Developed by NetEase Games in conjunction with Behaviour Interactive, Identity V is a 2018 free-to-play asymmetrical multiplayer survival horror game that is being loved by game players around the world. It is a unique game set in some eerie context.
Oletus Manor is the backdrop for the game's story, one rife with frightening secrets. Players first embody Orpheus, an amnesiac detective. He gets a letter of the mysterious commission and inters the manor to solve a missing person case. The more Orpheus unravels the history of the manor, he learns that there are “games” where hunters and the hunted go against each other. Because these games are all about danger, mystery, and knowing what needs to be done, the manor has its own background with a troubled past of tragedies and odd happenings.
Identity V is one versus four. With five players, players are split into two factions. One player takes on the role of the hunter, whose objective is to track down and eliminate the four survivors. The hunters pursue survivors and can trap them in rocket chairs, an important tool in killing survivors. Meanwhile, survivors are forced to collaborate for escape. They have to decipher cipher machines, usually five of them, to unlock the gates out and escape. If there’s only one survivor remaining and at least two cipher machines decoded, they can also exit through the dungeon.
All the characters have unique abilities and the variety of characters involved is enormous. Survivors have different specialties, including the doctor, who can quickly heal wounds, and the “charity-man,” who can use a flashlight to stun the hunter. Hunters also have special skills and “secondary skills” or talents that might give them an advantage in the match. Some hunters, for example, may have fast movement, while others have strong-AoE abilities. Survivors can also take advantage of the terrain of the highly detailed and immersive maps, crouching or hiding in bushes or behind obstacles to try to slow the hunter down.
Using any of the four purchasable currencies in the game is unrelated to any core gameplay but serves the purpose of building and customizing your character. You earn clues through matches, which unlock new characters and purchase decorative items. Fragments can be used to buy cosmetic items such as character skins or effect accessories. These are inspirations for the game's character skin gacha system, where players spend money for a chance to get rare skins. The most significant of these are Echoes, which can be purchased with real money, and can then be spent directly on most items in the game.
There’s what’s called an “intrinsic persona web” or persona system. It will grant extra talents in matches to both hunters and survivors. Different personas provide conditional benefits. Survivors, for example, might improve the showing of nearby allies, and hunters might find their attack recovery time reduced. Players earn points while playing matches, with up to 120 of them available for permanent distribution to the ingame stats of their choice.
Identity V has a ranking system with eight tiers and subtiers. Whether they ascend or descend the ranks is determined by their performance in ranked matches. You gain rank points for winning ranked matches and lose them for losing. Upon reaching a certain number of rank points, a player can be promoted to the next subdivision after earning rank points in their next ranked match. The tier bracket a player falls under at the end of each season determines the rewards they receive. Each new season resets the tier divisions so all players start anew.
In a word, Identity V is a shiny and invigorating video game with a special Simon game. Whether you love the thrill of the hunt as a hunter or the cooperation and strategy needed as a survivor, Identity V has something for every fan of the survival horror and multiplayer genres.
By Jerry | Copyright © Gameyaya - All Rights Reserved
