With Rust occupying a unique niche in the gaming world as a go-to game for content creators and their communities, it’s no surprise that various indie developers have been trying their hands at crafting the next big Rust-like game. Some of these Rust-inspired games focus on underwater exploration, while others focus on zombies, with the most important element being the emergent gameplay that PvP alliances and betrayals bring about. And now, Steam’s Harbor is on the way, which takes Rust’s core mechanics and adds some Fallout and Mad Max elements to the mix.
Harbor throws players into a post-apocalyptic world with a single safe zone. Full of rusted and spike-covered buildings, sandy patches of land, and an overall oppressive atmosphere, players will be building the bases of their dreams and defending them from other players. To build and defend these structures, players will have to risk alliances that can go wrong at a moment’s notice. With death being truly punishing, too, all the Rust staples are present. However, Steam players will have to manage potential conflicts with other groups while surviving some Fallout-like pockets of radiation and tracking down a host of vehicles that look right out of Mad Max.
Harbor Features List
- BUILD and DEFEND your ideal base with other players in a PvP battleground.
- SCAVENGE for food, water, fuel, and clean blood, battling against or trading with other players to secure what you need.
- CRAFT tools, weapons, clothing, and equipment to survive. Upgrade guns with ammo types and attachments.
- RIDE spiky, customized vehicles through the desert wasteland.
- RELAX at the titular Harbor hub, the one safe point on the entire map
- Harbor enters EARLY ACCESS in 2027
Harbor is a first-person PvP survival game in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Scavenge, craft, and build a base you can upgrade and defend. Team up, raid other players, and chase down the War Truck and Blackrail train. Harbor is the only safe zone. Die out there, and you can lose everything you carry.
Harbor’s PvP Interactions Sound Like a Cross Between Fallout 76 and Rust
Harbor prides itself on the unexpected PvP interactions that have made Rust such a hit, so players should go in expecting to forge and break their fair share of alliances. Players can expect to trade and build with those they trust, though said partnerships could obviously end the minute a member of the group is tempted by the possibility of seizing everything for themselves. Death is also hugely punishing in this game, as if a player is taken out, everything that they’re carrying on their person will be lost. This makes everything from complicated base raids to smaller PvP skirmishes intense, as a big pile of useful loot could be waiting just around each and every corner.
Fallout 76 fans curious about Harbor will likely take an interest in its base-building mechanics. From a design standpoint, these look set to function a lot like C.A.M.P.s from Bethesda’s FPS/MMO hybrid, as players will drop a foundation in their chosen area of the desert and then begin building up the structures of their choosing. Like Fallout 76, they’ll be able to build traps within their bases as well. One example is a tower that grapples hostile players toward it, holding them in place and allowing them to be killed. Another is explosives within the buildings themselves, with raiders tricked into fake loot opportunities crafted purely to deceive them.
Find all 10 pairs
Another Fallout 76-like element of Harbor is the idea that the environment is as hostile to the player as living threats. They won’t just need food, water, and fuel, but “clean blood”—potentially a stand-in for RadAway—to survive in irradiated parts of the wasteland such as Greenwound. They may need to utilize a harpoon to traverse Blackmire swamp, or collect rich alloy deposits from the underground Bullet Quarry. When players aren’t raiding or looting, they can restock in the Harbor safe zone, with trading and missions also available. And for players who love fun interactions with other gamers, duking it out in friendly King of the Hill battles at the hub could scratch that itch.
Harbor’s Mad Max-Like Vehicles Could Be a Massive Difference Maker
While the desert setting of Harbor could evoke feelings of Fallout’s Burning Springs or New Vegas locations, the Mad Max vibes really kick in via the game’s vehicle mechanics. First, there are cars and motorcycles that gamers will use to get around the environment significantly quicker than they would be able to normally, and the spikes and large pipes on their exteriors make them look like they could be driven by Mad Max himself. Then, there are the War Truck and Blackrail Train, huge vehicles that patrol the map and carry extremely valuable resources. Similar to Call of Duty: Warzone’s train, numerous players will be driving after these POIs at any given point, creating regular opportunities for conflict on top of the usual raiding.
Harbor developer Castilva Games intends to keep the game in Steam Early Access for under a year, though the time could vary depending on feedback. While all the core features will be present as soon as Early Access kicks off in 2027, “significant” expansion of the world can be expected throughout the first year of availability. New biomes have been teased that will bring additional enemy types, recipes, and leveling opportunities. More decorative furniture and crafting materials are also going to be prioritized, which is a wise decision given how integral building is to games like Harbor. As is often the case, the game’s price will increase whenever it leaves Early Access, so interested players may want to consider picking it up sooner rather than later.