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Grounded (video game)

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Grounded
Developer(s)Obsidian Entertainment[a]
Publisher(s)Xbox Game Studios
Director(s)Adam Brennecke
Producer(s)Adam Brennecke
Designer(s)Andy Artz
Bobby Null
Matthew Perez
Programmer(s)Roby Atadero
Artist(s)Kazunori Aruga
Writer(s)Mitch Loidolt
Michael Chu
Composer(s)Justin E. Bell
Finishing Move Inc.
Marc Rebillet
EngineUnreal Engine 4[2]
Platform(s)
Release
  • Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
  • September 27, 2022
  • Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
  • April 16, 2024
Genre(s)Survival
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Grounded is a survival action-adventure video game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Xbox Game Studios. It was released for Windows and Xbox One in early access in July 2020. It was fully released on September 27, 2022. The Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 versions were released on April 16, 2024.

A small team of 13 people in Obsidian began working in Grounded following the completion of Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, while the rest of the team began working on The Outer Worlds. In the game, the four protagonists are shrunk in size following a science experiment and must survive in a backyard, combating against various bugs and insects. The core premise of the game was inspired by A Bug's Life and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. The game received generally positive reviews from critics and attracted more than 20 million players upon launch. An animated series adaptation based on the game is currently in development.

Gameplay

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In Grounded, the player characters are shrunk in size. They must survive in a backyard while fighting against various insects and bugs.

Grounded is a survival game that can be played either in first-person or a third-person. In the game, the protagonist is shrunk to the size of an ant and must strive to survive in a backyard. In the game, the player character (Max, Willow, Pete or Hoops) needs to consume an adequate amount of food and water, or they will lose health due to starvation or dehydration respectively.[3] The backyard is filled with various bugs and insects, such as spiders, bees, dust mites, ladybugs and many more. The specific microfauna featured in the game suggests the setting to be somewhere in North America as the majority of species featured may be readily found there, although a few (such as the Orchid Mantis) are not native but could reasonably be considered invasive. Different insects serve different purposes in the game. For instance, spiders are one of the game's apex predators that will hunt down the players, ladybugs can lead players to food sources, and aphids can be cooked and consumed for food. Players can also cut down grass to collect dewdrops.[4] The game has an accessibility option for players who have arachnophobia, which allows players to decide how scary spiders are going to be in the game.[5]

As players progress in the game, they will visit new areas in the backyard. The game's difficulty would slowly increase and enemies that are more dangerous would be introduced. Throughout the game, players need to scavenge resources in the world in order to construct a base so as to defend themselves from hostile enemies, in particular during nighttime as some of the insects become more aggressive.[6] The resources can also be used to craft different tools, traps and weapons, such as axes, spears and bows and arrows, to defeat enemies.[7] Players also need to manage their stamina as the playable character may become exhausted in sustained combat.[8] The game can be played solo, though it also has a four-player cooperative multiplayer mode.[9]

Synopsis

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In 1990, Pete (Max Mittelman), Max (Luke Youngblood), Willow (Ozioma Akagha), and Hoops (Charlet Chung) are the latest four teenagers in a string of disappearances. The teens wake up to find themselves shrunken down to the size of a small insect and trapped in a backyard, but have no memory of how they were shrunk or how they ended up in the yard.

As the teens explore the yard, they come across recordings left behind by a scientist named Dr. Wendell Tully (Zachary Levi), who invented the SPAC.R, which can shrink objects and people. The teens discover that they are in fact in Dr. Tully's backyard and find the SPAC.R. However, the device malfunctions and causes an explosion in a nearby oak tree. The teens head over to investigate the explosion and find an entire miniature lab built inside of the tree. Inside, they find Dr. Tully's robotic assistant, BURG.L (Josh Brener). Unfortunately, the explosion damaged BURG.L's memory, so it cannot help them repair the SPAC.R until the teens recover its memory backup chips stored in Dr. Tully's labs scattered across his backyard. Despite its memory loss, BURG.L assists the teens by providing them blueprints and knowledge on how to survive in the wilderness and defend themselves from hostile insects.

As the teens locate Dr. Tully's labs and recover the memory chips, they also begin to recover their memories, and recall that they were kidnapped and experimented on by a company called Ominent. Once they were shrunk and the experiments were complete, the project's leader Director Dalton Schmector (Roger Craig Smith) ordered the teens to be disposed of. However, one of the scientists took pity on the teens and secretly smuggled them into Dr. Tully's backyard, as he is the only person that can help them. BURG.L recovers its memories and explains that a side effect of using the SPAC.R is a condition called Raisining Syndrome, where the shrinking process goes out of control and the person suffering from it eventually shrivels up like a raisin. Ominent was experimenting on children since they appeared to be immune to the effects of Raisining Syndrome, and managed to find a cure. However, Ominent still has been unable to replicate Dr. Tully's secret Embiggening Formula, which is needed to reverse the shrinking process.

BURG.L sends the teens to Dr. Tully's last known location. They find a recording left by him explaining that he had begun to suffer the effects of Raisining Syndrome and retreated to an underground lab in an effort to find a cure. The teens head into the lab and find Dr. Tully barely being kept alive by a life support pod. Dr. Tully further explains that Schmector used to be his supervisor before he left the company to work on the SPAC.R, and is angry that Ominent already built their own version. Seeing the predicament the teens are in, Dr. Tully instructs them on how to formulate the Embiggening Formula. However, Dr. Tully also warns the teens that once they start mixing the formula, Ominent will become aware of it and send their army of mind controlled insects to attack. The teens then have the choice of going ahead with the mixing process or confront Schmector's surveillance robot first. If the robot is defeated, the teens will recover a disk containing all of Ominent's research data, including a cure for the Raisining Syndrome.

The teens then mix the Embiggening Formula and reactivate the SPAC.R to return to normal size. However, the ending depends on whether they confronted Schmector or not.

  • If the teens did not confront Schmector, then they will have no evidence to prove any of Ominent's wrongdoing. Schmector reveals the SPAC.R to the public and takes all of the credit for its invention. The teens try to return to their normal lives despite being accused of faking their disappearances, while Tully reunites with his family but remains in his shriveled form.
  • If the teens confronted Schmector and recovered his research data, then they turn it in to the authorities, and both Ominent and Schmector are put under investigation for illegal human experimentation. The teens are hailed as heroes and Dr. Tully is cured of his Raisining Syndrome and is recognized for his invention of the SPAC.R.

Development

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Following the release of Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, the team at Obsidian Entertainment began brainstorming ideas for a survival game. While the majority of the staff in Obsidian worked on The Outer Worlds, a small team of 13 people began the production of Grounded. The game was already in production before Microsoft's acquisition of Obsidian in 2018.[4] Announced by Xbox Game Studios at X019 in November 2019,[10] the game was released on July 28, 2020, for Steam's early access and Xbox Game Preview.[9] The early access version of the game featured about 20% of the game's main campaign, and Obsidian actively listened to the feedback from the community as they continued work towards the game's full release in 2022.[7][11] The early access version amassed around 5 million players within 6 months of release.[12] The game was fully released for Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on September 27, 2022,[13] and versions for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 were released on April 16, 2024.[14]

The team was inspired by films such as Disney's A Bug's Life and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. To know more about different types of insects, the team also watched long featurettes at YouTube produced by insect enthusiasts. The team chose the backyard as the game's setting as the team felt it to be a recognizable and approachable setting. They also believed that a backyard create a "larger-than-life" feeling and pose "real sense of danger".[4] The game's director, Adam Brennecke, compared the setting to a "theme park", as the team added numerous landmarks into the world with the goal of making it more interesting.[15]

The team envisioned a game world that was interactive and in which players' actions would change the state of the world. Brennecke added that the game would feature a "memorable" story like other Obsidian's games.[4] The team worked extensively on the artificial intelligence of insects, which govern their behaviors. For instance, ants are curious about the player character and initially do not attack. However, if the player builds a base around their food, or the player character becomes stronger and the ants begin to see them as a threat, they will attack the players.[16]

Television series

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In July 2022, it was announced an animated series adaptation of the game is in the works with Brent Friedman developing the series.[17]

Reception

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Grounded was met with "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[18][19]

It was nominated for Innovation in Accessibility at The Game Awards 2020[29] and won the Xbox Game of the Year award at the Golden Joystick Awards.[30] It also received a nomination for Action Game of the Year at the 26th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards.[31]

By February 10, 2022, the game had attracted 10 million players. In-part by Xbox Game Pass.[32]

As of December 2022, the game had attracted more than 15 million players.[33]

Notes

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  1. ^ Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 versions by Double Eleven[1]

References

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  1. ^ @DoubleElevenLtd (February 22, 2024). "Double Eleven on X: "We're delighted to count Obsidian Entertainment as one of our new partners. We're helping them take Grounded, their cooperative survival adventure, to additional platforms. The game is coming to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5 on 16 April 2024!"" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. ^ "Over 80 Unreal Engine-powered games featured during 2022 summer gaming events". Unreal Engine. August 15, 2022. Archived from the original on August 15, 2023. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  3. ^ Fenlon, Wes (November 14, 2019). "In Grounded, an adorable survival game from Obsidian, you're a shrunken kid in a giant backyard". PC Gamer. Future plc. Archived from the original on May 5, 2021. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d Mercante, Alyssa (November 14, 2019). "Time to get Grounded: A sneak peak[sic] at the surprising Obsidian game". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on January 6, 2021. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  5. ^ Makedonski, Brett (April 9, 2020). "Obsidian's Grounded has a mode for people who are scared of spiders". Destructoid. Archived from the original on August 7, 2020. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  6. ^ Purchese, Robert (November 15, 2019). "Obsidian's first Microsoft-owned game is basically Honey I Shrunk the Kids". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  7. ^ a b Devore, Jordan (June 17, 2020). "The half-hour demo for Grounded is such a pleasant surprise". Destructoid. Archived from the original on December 5, 2020. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  8. ^ Brown, Fraser (June 17, 2020). "Being shrunk down in Grounded made me confront my unquenchable thirst for blood". PC Gamer. Future plc. Archived from the original on January 8, 2021. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  9. ^ a b Minotti, Mike (April 7, 2020). "Obsidian's Grounded enters early access on July 28". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on January 8, 2021. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  10. ^ Tyrrel, Brandin (November 14, 2019). "Grounded Announced as New Co-Op Survival Game from Obsidian". IGN. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  11. ^ Ryan, Jon (November 14, 2019). "Obsidian's Grounded Is a Survival Game With Room for Growth". IGN. Archived from the original on November 23, 2021. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  12. ^ Kerr, Chris (November 11, 2020). "Grounded tops 5 million players in under six months". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  13. ^ Gutierrez, Luis (July 28, 2022). "Grounded Officially Releases September 27, Many More Features Coming". GameSpot. Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  14. ^ Romano, Sal (February 21, 2024). "Grounded coming to PS5, PS4, and Switch on April 16". Gematsu. Archived from the original on February 21, 2024. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
  15. ^ Cork, Jeff (May 5, 2020). "Looking Into Grounded's Unnatural Wonders". Game Informer. GameStop Corp. Archived from the original on May 6, 2020. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  16. ^ Cork, Jeff (April 28, 2020). "Three Big Ways Grounded Nails Its Micro-Scaled Setup". Game Informer. GameStop Corp. Archived from the original on April 29, 2020. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  17. ^ White, Peter (July 18, 2022). "Xbox Video Game 'Grounded' In The Works As Animated Series From 'Star Wars: Clone Wars' Brent Friedman". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 24, 2023. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  18. ^ a b "Grounded for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on December 27, 2023. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  19. ^ a b "Grounded for Xbox Series X Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  20. ^ Devore, Jordan (September 26, 2022). "Review: Grounded". Destructoid. Archived from the original on March 27, 2023. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  21. ^ Blake, Vikki (September 26, 2022). "Grounded review - a delightful mix of harsh survival and warm-hearted design". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on December 7, 2022. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  22. ^ Delaney, Mark (September 26, 2022). "Grounded Review - Mountains Out Of Molehills". GameSpot. Archived from the original on October 25, 2022. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  23. ^ Avard, Alex (September 26, 2022). "Grounded review: "A mighty addition to the Xbox Game Pass catalogue"". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on March 15, 2023. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  24. ^ LeClair, Kyle (October 12, 2022). "Review: Grounded". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on November 14, 2022. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  25. ^ Northup, Travis (September 27, 2022). "Grounded Review". IGN. Archived from the original on January 3, 2023. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  26. ^ O'Reilly, PJ (April 22, 2024). "Grounded Review (Switch eShop)". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on September 3, 2024. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
  27. ^ Brown, Fraser (September 26, 2022). "Grounded review". PC Gamer. Future plc. Archived from the original on April 12, 2023. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  28. ^ Denzer, TJ (September 26, 2022). "Grounded review: Lord of the Flies (and other such backyard pests)". Shacknews. Archived from the original on December 6, 2022. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  29. ^ Tassi, Paul (December 11, 2020). "Here's The Game Awards 2020 Winners List With A Near-Total 'Last Of Us' Sweep". Forbes. Archived from the original on February 5, 2021. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  30. ^ Loveridge, Sam (November 22, 2022). "Here are all the Golden Joystick Awards 2022 winners". Archived from the original on November 22, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  31. ^ "D.I.C.E. Awards By Video Game Detail Grounded". Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Archived from the original on July 20, 2023. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  32. ^ "Grounded Reaches 10 Million Players, Here's How That Compares To Halo, Forza, Sea Of Thieves, And More". GameSpot. Archived from the original on May 6, 2024. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  33. ^ Carter, Justin (December 9, 2022). "Obsidian's Grounded has grown to 15 million players". Game Developer. Archived from the original on January 12, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
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