The memories of being kind and stacking things on each other to build things are some of our favorites and most innocent. Behavior Interactive Inc. has brought this to a more mature setting with Meet Your Maker. Jumping on the train of user-created content, your goal is to build and beat levels. During raids, it has an FPS structure where you need to navigate traps, defeat enemies, reach the goal, and then escape safely. On the flip side, builds require you to use the level creation tool to stack blocks, place traps, order enemies, and make sure your system is efficient enough to earn you passive resources.
Why Meet Your Maker?
The post-apocalyptic genre remains as strong as it ever was with the aspect of rebuilding as a common trope. Meet Your Maker has a solid setup that’s simple and encourages you to do well. The setting is a world where humanity has been wiped out by a virus and all that remains are cybernetic shadows of what people used to be. However, among them are Custodians who are also caretakers of safe zones AKA Sanctuaries. Here, a wise and scientifically skilled being known as the Chimera has the power to restore humanity using untainted genetic material. Unfortunately, this material is harvested at well-guarded sites managed by other Custodians who are working against each other and against you. As a Custodian, your job is to clean up this mess as well as keep your own place clean.
A Proud Meeting
When it comes to games that rely on community input, the simpler to understand, the better. Meet Your Maker looks complex but is accessible to even the most novice of content creators. The building tool is implemented effectively with a tutorial that isn’t too overwhelming and intrusive. Within a few minutes, you’ll understand everything you need to know in order to build your own raid site. With everything based on blocks, the building is clean and quick with enemy and trap placement complementing it as such. It’s deceptively simple, but users have shown just how challenging and creative they can be with blocks, traps, enemy types, and a whole mess of mods.
Then there’s the raid part. To keep in line with the simple block structures, the FPS perspective provides a wide view and solid controls. Movement is deliberate and smooth with combat being easy to learn and hard to master as it should. With the different kinds of weapons, tools, and hardware, you’ll have a nice mix of loadouts to try out. You’ll also have different kinds of suits that favor certain types of gameplay. Of course, you can also buy temporary boosts for quick sessions and upgrade your character as you see fit.
Awkward Encounters
Though a user-created system opens the doors for a lot of creativity, it also opens the doors to a lot of problems. Meet Your Maker has managed to curb issues, but there are some things that could use some rethinking. The main one is the grind. Every little thing you want requires one of several resources, and you’ll need to complete lots of raids just to get a decent chunk. You can finish harder raids for greater rewards, but there can be huge spikes between levels with some being seemingly impossible if you don’t have enough upgrades.
This feeds into the other major issue that things are just too expensive. Every single thing that is available for purchase will cost more than you think. What makes matters worse is that multiple items will drain more resources. I remember hurting after seeing all my hard work raids vanishing in one fell swoop after buying a cooler suit.
Prepare to Meet Your Maker
Meet Your Maker is a 3D FPS user-content game about raiding precious resources from other players while building a setup to protect your own. All the tools work well and are easy to understand with the execution and gameplay being fast and effective. It will require a lot of time and effort on your part just to get enough resources for one thing, but at least there’s variety. If you’re planning a trip into the wasteland, you’ll meet your maker sooner or later.
