This Web3 Shooter Looks and Plays Like a AAA Game

Shrapnel, one of Web3’s most-anticipated first-person shooters, is nearing launch. 

At the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, developers from game studio Neon wore black t-shirts and huddled around two rows of computers in a small, subterranean room with fluorescent lighting. Players, meanwhile, sat in front of high-end curved Alienware monitors with wireless Razer headphones and black PC towers next to each seat, all while Shrapnel’s Creative Director (and Xbox alum) Clint Bundrick gave players a rundown of the extraction-based shooter.

I could immediately tell that this was going to be a game for hardcore PC players.

As the pre-alpha playtest began, the room retained its serious tone. The player next to me pointed out a bug or two to the developers matter-of-factly on his screen as my game rebooted a few times. Unfortunately, I got the one computer that was struggling to load the game. But I was eventually able to get in—and immediately wowed by the game’s graphics.

Shrapnel has a realistic and highly cinematic look. The game is set in the year 2044, on a future Earth where crashing meteors are commonplace. Pervasive steam, ambient neon lighting, and other visual elements that make the game feel as if it was designed by a filmmaker.

Shrapnel has a realistic and highly cinematic look. The game is set in the year 2044, on a future Earth where crashing meteors are commonplace. Pervasive steam, ambient neon lighting, and other visual elements that make the game feel as if it was designed by a filmmaker.

As I explored the industrial rooms, it felt strangely beautiful and much more visually appealing than a Call of Duty game. It didn’t feel gritty or dull, but rather futuristic. And it's built in the same high-end Unreal Engine 5 used by many massive game studios.