Online game "Corepunk"

It's not easy to stand out in the MMO market these days — a huge number of games are constantly being released, and many of them are similar to each other. However, the creators of Corepunk, after 10 years of development, have finally managed to surprise — the game reached us quite recently, but it already has its own identity and a number of interesting distinctive features, which we will now tell you about.

Indeed, Corepunk is a long-term project, with development starting back in 2014. At the same time, the creators initially defined some key features of the game that have survived to the release, which took place in the fall of last year. But first, let's note the peculiarities of the setting itself, the game world — it combines fantasy, steampunk, and cyberpunk. The plot unfolds on the fictional continent of Kvalat, which once experienced a catastrophe that changed the entire universe. Moreover, it destroyed an ancient, highly advanced race of warriors known as the Space Conquerors, who once inhabited Kvalat. Now, only wastelands, anomalous zones, ruins, and devices (or rather, what's left of them) created using ancient technologies remain here.

Players arrive on Kvalat also thanks to high-tech devices — portals. Here, they must try to understand what exactly happened many years ago, and to do this, they need to penetrate the farthest corners of Kvalat and gather all possible and preferably truthful information. In the process, we will encounter representatives of four unique factions, each pursuing its own goals. For example, the Ilanian Kingdom, born in the harsh forests, relies on mutual aid and closeness to nature. The Yorners focus on the power of steam and money — their engineers invent various wonder-machines.

The Fiden clans, on the contrary, think about honor and valor rather than money, but they are also not averse to using machines — they roam the waterless deserts on mechanical steeds. Finally, the cyberpunk aspect of the game is represented by the Kadari faction — in the swamps, they have built a typical cyberpunk society where, alongside the proclaimed absolute freedom, corruption and crime flourish, and the struggling population spends their last money on implants.

However, before meeting the important factions and starting to solve serious issues, we will first have to simply survive by completing numerous tasks. The plot is presented in a traditional way — through quests. What's unusual by today's standards is that no one holds our hand — you won't be able to turn on an automatic mode where the game leads the character from one quest NPC to another, and our protagonist attacks enemies on their own. The creators initially wanted to make everything as old-school as possible and remove quest markers but reconsidered — in the currently available version, you can use a quest tracker that shows on the map where and to whom you need to go.

The catch is that often it only shows an approximate area, and you'll have to search for the right tent, bundle, or rat corpses yourself, poking under every bush — so the quest system in Corepunk is quite hardcore. And all this is further complicated by the fact that the «fog of war» effect is always active here, meaning we can't see the entire map but only the objects closest to the character — this makes the exploration process more challenging, inconvenient, and at the same time intriguing. Finally, the quests themselves, despite their template nature (go there, bring that, kill 10 bees, find 5 eggplants, etc.), can be interestingly framed («Find 5 joints for a stoned rastaman») and are often accompanied by bright, funny dialogues, rather than the usual set of clichéd phrases about the chosen hero and saving the world found in many modern MMOs.

On Kvalat, we are greeted with the phrase «Here, you're more likely to become monster food than find a toilet,» quests are introduced with motivational speeches like «Head to Martha's charity kitchen and grab some handouts — maybe you'll get killed afterward!» and in the very first shop, we encounter item descriptions like «Steroid implant is used to increase muscle strength. Extremely popular among high schoolers and B-list action movie actors.» In short, the humor here is on point.

Much the same can be said about the gameplay. It seems quite familiar, even template-like, but upon closer inspection, interesting and even somewhat unique features emerge. We communicate, complete quests, fight, explore an open and quite picturesque world, level up our character, and gather resources — from the very first steps, you can and should chop trees, mine ore with a pickaxe, collect herbs, skin killed animals, and so on. Then, at various workbenches, alchemy tables, and forges, we create consumables and other useful items.

Crafting and professions are given special attention in Corepunk — you can be a blacksmith, alchemist, herbalist, cook, mystic creating runes for artifacts, and even a butcher. Survival elements are complemented by the fact that health doesn't regenerate on its own over time — you need to use food or rest by campfires between battles.

Naturally, as in all MMORPGs, we fight regular, raid, and world bosses and clear various dungeons, including randomly generated ones — this can be done either solo or in a four-player co-op. Additionally, PvE includes a camp system with advanced artificial intelligence that regularly challenges players. And, of course, there are guilds and PvP battles between players, which take place both in the open world and on arenas and special battlefields where teams of players, depending on the mode, must capture flags or control points.

It all seems quite familiar. But the interesting features start with the class selection. Or rather, there are no traditional classes as such in Corepunk — instead, there are 6 archetypes (mercenary, paladin, champion, pain reaper, firestarter, and «bomber»), each with 3 weapon specializations. For example, a Mercenary can specialize as a sniper, engineer, or berserker; the Firestarter of War (who can suppress enemies with a barrage of fire and summon a forest beast for help) at a certain level chooses between commando, legionnaire, and shaman. And, for instance, the Pain Reaper, who combines fire magic and blades, can become a warlock, soul eater, or pyromaniac.

Generally, the role-playing system in the game is quite flexible — besides archetypes and weapon specializations, there are also a dozen general branches of passive talents, from which you need to choose three, combining them to your liking. This is complemented by a system of artifacts and implants that can enhance damage, speed, or, for example, the character's magic — and, in general, any combination of weapon specializations and passive talents. It is these artifacts, as well as weapons, that determine our power and other important characteristics — the usual equipment found in other games is used in Corepunk only for «cosmetic» purposes, to customize appearance.

Battles resemble what we see not in traditional MMORPGs but, for example, in Diablo or MOBA games: that is, it's not a slasher or World of Warcraft, where we just press hotkeys. In Corepunk, you need to skillfully and timely use the characters' unique abilities, each of which has a «cooldown time.» Hence, among the PvP modes, there is a typical MOBA. Overall, the creators strive to combine the old-school spirit of the game with modern trends — the game even has an extraction mode reminiscent of Escape from Tarkov (a large PvE/PvP location called «Prison Island»).

Finally, Corepunk features an interesting karma system. Here, you can attack other players almost anywhere except cities and safe zones. But in this case, the killer will accumulate karma points, which will eventually turn them into a criminal — and players with this status won't be able to visit cities and will lose almost everything upon death.

Karma is only not accrued in free PvP zones, but even there, the creators try to respect the interests of those who prefer a more peaceful existence — for example, on battlefields, even if you die at the hands of another player, you'll only lose what you collected in that zone. By the way, the signature «fog of war» also leaves a special mark on player battles — due to limited visibility, they can be quite unexpected and provide new experiences.

It's clear that Corepunk is still a very young game, actively developing and set to change further. But even now, it's obvious that this is one of the most original MMORPGs on the market, whose creators are trying to combine cyberpunk and fantasy, PvE and PvP, old-school and modern trends.

Zarium. September 2025