Tencent Unveils Light of Motiram: A Bold Entry into Open-World Survival Crafting
Krzysztof Jankowski
02 Dec 2024
encent is set to unveil its much-debated open-world survival crafting title, Light of Motiram, on multiple platforms including the PS5, mobile devices, and PC. Tencent has made the announcement via its official accounts on popular Chinese social media platforms such as Weibo and Bilibili. Developed by the Shanghai-based Polaris Quest, this free-to-play survival game explores the theme of the interaction between nature and technology.
Early visuals and gameplay clips demonstrate a striking resemblance to Guerrilla Games’ well-known franchise, featuring mechanical creatures in a devastated world. Requests for comments from both Tencent and Sony remain unaddressed. Recently, Tencent released a new seven-minute video showcasing additional gameplay features of Light of Motiram. It opens with a sequence reminiscent of the iconic introduction from Destiny and proceeds to display gameplay elements that appear to draw inspiration from titles like Capcom's Monster Hunter and Pocketpair's Palworld, which also faced criticism for its similarities to Pokémon.
In Light of Motiram, players have the opportunity to cultivate relationships with different mechanisms, either solo or collaboratively. Players are tasked with establishing a base camp and can ride their tamed mechanicals, which assist in tasks such as logging, farming, and crafting. These mechanisms serve varied functions as transportation, supporting players in encounters, and aiding resource collection. Tencent has highlighted that Light of Motiram incorporates hundreds of authentic survival mechanics. Notable features include the necessity for careful tree cutting to avoid negative consequences, the importance of shelter ventilation before starting a fire to prevent suffocation, and the dangers of being caught in a storm while wearing metallic items.
These elements can be strategically utilized during gameplay, like using lightning to electrify fish, significantly simplifying the fishing process. Though the multiplayer survival aspect is not present in the Horizon series, the aesthetics and atmosphere of the characters, creatures, and environments in Light of Motiram bear an undeniable resemblance. Meanwhile, Guerrilla is actively developing a multiplayer, live-service title within the Horizon universe, suggesting that Light of Motiram may be encroaching upon its territory. However, further details are awaited to clarify this situation.