| Venture | |
| Developer(s) | 1001 Spears |
| Publisher(s) | Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment |
| Director(s) | Brendan |
| Designer(s) | Brendan |
| Artist(s) | Brendan |
| Platform(s) | * Nintendo Switch
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| Genre(s) | * Action/Adventure
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| Series | Venture |
| Successor | Pathways: Jacob's Fortune |
| Release Date(s) | * Unreleased (in real-life)
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| Mode(s) | * Single-Player
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Venture is an action/adventure video game.
Gameplay[]
Venture plays like an open-world action/adventure survival game, with few set goals other than quests, "flashback missions" set in the past, and achievements (or, in the case of the PlayStation versions, Trophies). Players start with almost no items and must survive for as long as possible by making tools, weaponry, shelter, and collecting resources. Hostile creatures roam certain areas, and players can kill them in a few ways; while combat is possible, the player‘s character isn't as powerful as many creatures (i.e. lower health, slower speed), and may use the environment against enemies in addition to standard combat. Weapons and items may make combat easier, but can also break from extended use.
The game’s combat mechanics are based on those from Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. Players can engage in melee, ranged combat, or stealth approaches, with certain quests giving extra rewards for completing the mission in a particular manner. The combat uses an attack-chain system that enables the player to perform special moves after building the chain to a large value. The player can also block and dodge attacks. Stealth is a critical element in certain levels; should the player be caught near a nest, a call will sound and an enemy pack will arrive in an attempt to kill the player’s character.
In addition to combat, players use tools to solve puzzles (e.g. cutting through vines with swords). Other puzzles require specific items found in levels, and other items must be found to complete levels.
Players may use a variety of tools (i.e. picks, hatchets, spades) to destroy existing structures, flora, and natural formations to collect basic resources, mainly timber, minerals, and metals. The player may use these materials to construct shelters, barricades, or other structures, which are made from different combinations of four construction pieces; walls, floors, roofs, and stairs. Such construction pieces can be edited to add windows, doors, and/or trapdoors provided the player has enough resources.
Combat moves are done either by left clicking or using a combination of keys pressed. For example, a sword's slash defaults to X on an Xbox controller, while Y is used to counter or evade enemy attacks. Players can also press A to vault over creatures they have a height advantage on (any creature below 5' can be jumped over).
Players can craft a variety of things in Venture. Items include armor, which lessens damage from attacks; weaponry (such as blades or bows), which kill creatures more easily; and tools, which can destroy objects and gather resources faster. Some items have many tiers depending on the resource used to craft them, with high-tier items being very efficient and strong. Players can build forges, which can cook meals, process ores, and turn materials into other elements. Players can also swap assets with non-player characters known as "Dlabs" through a bartering system, which involves selling jewels for different goods and vice-versa.
The game Venture has an inventory system enabling players to carry a restricted number of items. Upon decease, items in the players' inventories drop around the player's area of death, although this feature is optional. Players revive at their spawn point, which defaults to wherever players first spawn in the game but spawn points are reset by resting in a bed or using cheat codes. Players repossess dropped items if they reach them before they get taken or destroyed by other creatures or players. In addition to the above, players gain experience points (XP) by slaying creatures and other players, mining, smelting ores, breeding animals, making food, and completing quests. Players spend experience on performing magic charms on tools, armor, and weaponry. Bewitched items are stronger, degrade slower, or have other unique effects.
Setting[]
Venture takes place on the aptly titled Planet Venture, a planet very similar to Earth. Levels typically take place in notable areas of the planet, including deserts, snowfields, rainforests, plains, alps, woodlands, caverns, oceans, or reservoirs. Portals allow access to different “dimensions” of Venture, including a volcanic plane known as the Underworld that is filled with abnormal creatures, and the Wyve, an isolated archipelago surrounded by a colossal pit.