My thoughts on Deathgarden: Bloodharvest
I just picked up Deathgarden: Bloodharvest on Steam, and I must say, it's been quite fun for me. It's not dead (At least, not yet), and it seems to have learned from a lot of the design issues that still plague DBD to this day. Both Scavenger (The Survivor equivalent) and Hunter (Killer equivalent) feel more fun for me to play than DBD.
The map design is a lot better, lacking a lot of the areas in DBD that heavily favor survivors, and turning looping into a thing of the past (Unless the Hunter can't aim, but you can always just play the Veteran if aim is a problem for you). Every Hunter has access to a powerful mobility tool that allows them to traverse the map quickly and keep pace with a fleeing Scavenger, and each Hunter has a wide variety of methods to flush out Scavengers. Killing Scavengers is a much simpler and faster process; find them, shoot them, press the button to Recycle them, find them again, shoot them again, and press the button to Execute them. With just six easy steps (Or two if the exits are open and Blood Mode is active), you can remove a Scavenger from the game.
The frustration of finding a survivor, hitting them, downing them and then hooking them after a long and hard chase which involves eating lots of pallets, only for the survivor to be unhooked immediately so you need to do it all over again, then needing to do it a third time before they finally stay dead (Or do it a fourth time if they have Decisive Strike or Adrenaline), is largely absent from Deathgarden. Killing one survivor in DBD is often an agonizing, tedious 10-step chore, if you're lucky. But in Deathgarden, the Hunters are there to kill the Scavengers, not to get looped and bullied until the Scavengers get bored and leave.
As for Scavenger, there are no quick time events (Always a positive in my eyes), and the objective doesn't force you to sit and hold M1 at a generator forever; you're constantly moving around the map to collect Blood tokens and deposit them at Blood banks, collecting items like ammo and power cores, trying to stay hidden from the Hunter, sabotaging the Hunter's efforts to control the map, and lending support to your teammates when you can. Chases are about making good use of your Scavenger's power, using the terrain to break line of sight, and occasionally receiving help from your teammates' powers, instead of just making a beeline for the nearest pallet/window.
You're always on the move as a Scavenger, there's a lot of skill that goes into playing it well, and there's a fair amount of room for different playstyles with different characters and powers. Coordinating with your teammates as a solo player is also much easier, as you can always see your teammates' outlines from across the map, you can chat with and ping your teammates at all times, and you can mark important objects for your teammates to see.
Also, the game length is generally shorter; the matches are fast-paced and tense from start to finish.
The only things I'd criticize are the progression system, and the general lack of polish. The progression system doesn't give the player as much freedom to choose their perks; each character is restricted to a relative handful of perks specifically made for them. It doesn't leave as much room for experimentation as DBD. Hopefully that will change eventually.
And the lack of polish: the game is still in Early Access (So a lack of polish is somewhat forgivable), but I did encounter a handful of bugs and some messy design elements; for example, there isn't an in-game tutorial yet; just a few tips that appear on screen and a few Youtube videos. Also, the default controls for Hunter on PC felt really weird, and I had to adjust them a lot to find a setup that I liked. That being said, the game seems fully functional. It hasn't crashed or frozen on me yet, and I haven't had any disconnects or networking issues.
Overall, I like it. It's been a breath of fresh air for me, as a longtime gamer. In an industry where it seems like every "new" game is just a copy of a copy of a copy, Deathgarden provides an experience that feels new, different and fun.