I’ve had my eye on Pioner for some time. I like my MMOs in ‘shooter taste,’ for essentially the most half – Future 2, Fallout 76, and the like. So after I noticed GFA Video games taking Stalker-esque vibes and a post-apocalyptic setting and throwing them within the MMO pot, I used to be instantly . Now, it is lastly hit Steam Early Entry and is firmly on my weekend to-play checklist (admittedly, alongside a few dozen different video games proper now). Whereas that is trigger for celebration, and it is reaching four-figure participant counts already, it does seem like in barely tough form, with efficiency points and bugs being the principle cause for a fairly bleak person rating.
Mixing story-driven exploration, social areas, and PvE and PvP zones of assorted difficulties, Pioner takes place on a sprawling, 50km² island within the aftermath of an enormous catastrophe. Previously a Soviet territory that is now dilapidated and affected by anomalies, Stalker enjoyers will completely really feel at dwelling right here. A faction-based development system enables you to develop your fame with the island’s varied key figures, and the extra you facet with them, the higher the gadgets you’ll purchase from related distributors. Oh, and even in these post-apocalyptic wastelands, there’s nonetheless time for fishing. It is an MMO important, at this level.
Your survival abilities will likely be examined simply as a lot as your purpose when embarking on actions. You will need to handle your starvation and relaxation ranges to make sure your energy stays as excessive as potential, and also you higher be sure you’ve acquired sufficient sources packed for no matter quest you are embarking on – make good use of crafting benches to assemble what you want earlier than heading out.
All of it appears to be like and sounds proper up my avenue, and regardless that that is an early entry launch, Pioner’s drummed up an honest quantity of assist for an unbiased MMO – on the time of writing, its participant depend sits at over 1,200 gamers and it is nonetheless climbing.
Nevertheless, as with so many early entry releases, there seems to be an extended checklist of points to type out. Whereas a hotfix has already gone dwell as we speak, Wednesday December 17, to enhance main ache factors like load occasions, facial animation bugs, and server stability, these points have led to a variety of unfavorable opinions which can be diluting the constructive ones. In truth, gamers are fairly cut up down the center in these early hours of Pioner’s life, with the sport sitting on a ‘combined’ person rating of fifty%, primarily based on over 400 opinions.
Work to be executed, then, however I nonetheless suppose the premise of Pioner will carry it by means of. Plus, GFA goes to waste little time progressing the sport’s sci-fi-inspired narrative, with the primary drop of recent story content material arriving “as early as January 2026.” The developer additionally says {that a} roadmap of its future plans will likely be launched very quickly. If you wish to test the sport out, you are able to do so at its Steam web page right here.
Whereas I believe it’s going to take a small miracle for Pioner to turn out to be one of many greatest multiplayer shooters on Steam, I positively do not see these early wobbles and unfavorable opinions as a loss of life knell. It is a powerful time to launch an MMO, however as long as you possibly can maintain a modest however devoted group coming again for extra, you’ve got at all times acquired an opportunity of survival.
