The pirate-themed multiplayer survival adventure game Crosswind has opened up its Alpha Test on Steam, and anyone can now request access for a chance to join and check out this interesting title. This Alpha Test phase will run for at least four weeks, and there is no NDA, so those who are selected will be able to share their impressions, images, and videos captured while playing.
The following content is available in this build of Crosswind:
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Three unique biomes, each with its own resources, enemies, and environment twists
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Three bosses, each offered in several difficulty tiers
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Three playable ships plus one NPC merchant vessel
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Ground combat, ship-to-ship battles, and the very first pass at boarding actions
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Roughly 30+ hours of content if you take the time to explore
In a recent Steam blog post, the Crosswind Crew also clarified that this is a survival adventure game first and foremost, and that's the focus of this playtest, while an MMO-like layer is planned to be added later.
The game's structure is as follows: 'A player-controlled world plus various shared zones'. Each player has their own world in which the main story unfolds. This is a large archipelago comprising a dozen islands, a variety of biomes, resources, enemies and secrets. Most of it is procedurally generated, but some of the key points of interest are hand-crafted. This means that your world won't be the same as your friend's. You have full control over who can visit your world. You can keep it private. Alternatively, you can invite your friends to explore, craft and build with you, or even fight alongside you.
The MMO part of Crosswind consists of shared zones for various PvE and PvP activities. As you progress through the main story, you will unlock the ability to travel to other locations. These are shared among players. For example, in the upcoming playtest, we will have an early prototype of Tortuga. For now, it's just a place to trade goods and meet other players, but in the future, we'll transform it into a bustling social hub where you can discover new activities, make new friends, and even challenge someone to a duel! Other zones and activities, such as a naval PvP zone, will be added later in the development process, thus expanding the MMO part of Crosswind. We see PvP as an additional way to enjoy the game. It will be optional and take time to implement properly.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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