Supervive Preview: Sublimely Setting Itself Apart From Hero Shooters

— previously known as — is an upcoming squad-based shooter that blends battle royale, sandbox, and strategy mechanics for an innovative competitive experience. It's the debut release from Theorycraft Games, which was founded by a team of developers that has previously worked on titles like,, and. With an emphasis on mastery and round-to-round variance, touts the goal of being a "" for players.

draws inspiration from many of its creators' past projects while also forging its own unique identity. The game's main mode centers on 10 teams of four players competing across a slowly shrinking map, using physics-based combat and upgradeable powers until only one group is left standing. A recent hands-on play session that featured multiple matches with blended teams of developers and press served as a great showcase of the game's creative chaos, and what players can expect from the eventual release.

Battle royale games, while not as popular as they were in the early 2000s, still have some solid entries to enjoy, some of which are free-to-play.

There are currently 15 playable characters in, with more slated for release over time. They're split into three main categories, each one of which has a primary attack, four abilities, and a passive: the damage-focused fighter, which range from gun toters to wielders of powers like electricity; protector, which has team-helping abilities like healing; and controller, which focuses on disruptive, more AOE-centric moves. Though there are character categories, doesn't mandate players to take on any certain roles within a team — a squad could be entirely one type of hunter and still have a chance at success.

Each hunter has a difficulty level on a scale of one to four, which represents how complex their particular move sets are to utilize. Even in my few hours with the game, the potential mastery elements interwoven into it were evident. Getting better at nailing down move sets and properly timing them proved to be very satisfying,