Den of Wolves is the latest project from 10 Chambers, a Swedish studio. Although this studio name may be unfamiliar to some, individuals who have played the PAYDAY games might recognize team members from 10 Chambers. In 2015, Ulf Andersson, the creator and game designer of the PAYDAY games, assembled a small team to develop their subsequent project, GTFO.
During GDC, I was invited to check out an early build of Den of Wolves. As we walked through the initial presentation, you could see the passion that the team has for co-op gaming. This is evident when you look at the effort put into their last game, GTFO. This passion and dedication allowed the team to recover their development costs in only a couple of weeks. With new investments and additional team members, 10 Chambers jumped into their next big challenge.
When you start the Den of Wolves gameplay demo, it combines both familiar and unique elements. The setting is a cyberpunk world dominated by corporations, with no clear protagonist. You and your team aim to claim what you believe belongs to you. Audio Director Simon Viklund’s music enhances the immersive experience from the moment you drop into the game. The music playing in the background of the loading screen during mission prep made it feel like I was pulled onto a movie set. This works perfectly with the fact that 10 Chambers is trying to integrate more story elements.
Planning is Key
Something new that you will see in Den of Wolves are the heist prep missions. These are shorter pre-missions when you can steal technology or resources that will assist you in your main heist mission. In our demo, we were searching for a sniper drone. Things got a little hectic, and the mission didn’t end well, but we were still able to continue. These missions are optional and are mainly there to assist you in making the main mission a little more bearable. There is no one way to tackle your objective. Being able to pivot is an important part of the overall experience. I even had a chance to do some physical planning with the team.
Let’s Take A Dip
Another cool addition that separates Den of Wolves from other heist games is the dives. During dives, you jump into the mind of an individual and experience a different type of gameplay. In the mission I played, I felt like I was in a level from the game Control or a scene from Inception. The goal was not to defeat any enemies but to escape a gravity-defying maze. The developers stated that no two dives will be the same and they may all have a different objective.
Since my GDC meeting, I’ve gone back and spent more time with GTFO, and you can see how the team is using the foundation they built in the previous games. The team has improved their stealth mechanics and drawn inspiration from some of the enemies. 10 Chambers is an extremely talented team that clearly knows what they are doing. There is a ton of thought and love going into this project, and I can’t wait for more people to experience what I did.
For those looking for a release date, the team let us know that the game will be “Done when it’s done”. I think that is a perfect answer, given the current climate of the gaming space. If you’re looking for something to hold you over, jump into PAYDAY and GTFO. I had a great time with Den of Wolves and I think this game will be well worth the wait. You can keep up with the development via their Steam page. If you want to learn more about to game, check out the developer interview below.