Last Oasis’ Game-Changing Season 5 Update Launches This Monday

Over the past few months, Last Oasis developer Donkey Crew has been talking up the big game-changing update that’s coming to the survival MMO in its fifth season. The update is now almost ready for release and will be rolling out on the live servers this Monday.

Season 5, dubbed L’Overhaul, will revamp nearly every aspect of the game with the aim of making the entire experience more challenging and making it suck less. These include the removal of the game’s trademark Scorch mechanic and major gameplay changes designed to deliver a more brutal PvE experience with decidedly less focus on PvP.

Players will also have the freedom to play the game the way they want and decide how much risk they’re willing to take when venturing out into the post-apocalyptic world. According to the studio, Season 5 has been designed with solo players and small groups in mind and has been balanced to ensure that they don’t encounter any big obstacles to enjoying the game at their own pace.

Season 5 has been in beta testing for over a month now and Donkey Crew reports some interesting facts about the playtest. According to the studio, the testers who liked the changes tended to be the more cautions ones who would meticulously plan their excursion out into the world and equipped themselves appropriately. Those who hated it were those who played exactly as they have during the previous seasons and just rushed in to do whatever without putting much though into it.

“The game no longer holds your hands - at all. No protected slots, no tutorial, no linear missions that gently guide you through progression,” says Creative Director Florian Hoffreither. “Just you and a sandbox full of tools and deadly dangers, and if you don’t think ahead, the world will absolutely punish you.”

“[Some] players were struggling a lot and had trouble finding the fun in the new direction,” says Game Designer Chadz. “Somewhat ironically, those were often experienced players who played LOverhaul like the previous seasons, where PvE was merely an inconvenience, and not the primary focus. If you rush into the world with a disregard for the dangers that await, you will struggle, fail, and, probably, not have fun at all.”

One of the biggest changes coming in Season 5 is that Walkers will no longer function as walking transport fortresses. Instead, they’ll play the role of gunships that can be equipped with various weapons, upgraded, and loaded up with ammunition and gear in preparation for a raid.

Donkey Crew initially planned on running several beta tests before Season 5’s release but have decided to just go ahead and roll it out with all the new features and content that have already been properly balanced.

“Once it’s out, we will iterate on them together, just as we did during the Beta Branch. We will watch as you play, listen to the feedback, and improve the experience until it’s rock-solid,” says Donkey Crew. “Then, we will reveal the next map with new challenges, new walkers, and new technology, until LOverhaul is exactly what it should be: a complete experience, from beginning to end. Each map and each piece of progression will be carefully balanced and all bugs squashed.”