Botmare

Botmare is a first-person shooter set in J022 Basin, where ancient eldritch power has corrupted a failed BOT Corporation experiment. You fight monsters, complete objectives and face bosses in time-limited campaign runs or survival waves, either alone or with one other player in local split-screen co-op. Co-op also works through Steam Remote Play Together.

The basin and its story

J022 Basin was once a site for developing sleep-assist field technology. After the experiment failed, living creatures became monsters and villages fell into ruin. A purge protocol is underway, leaving you short on time to investigate the project’s collapse.

Answering the corporation’s call, you follow Team E leader “Mango” into the basin. You reactivate sealed relic statues, meet mysterious NPCs, hear accounts of the basin’s mutation, and uncover intelligence, exclusive gear and an ancient secret. The story is told through NPC dialogue, carvings, loading screens and cutscenes.

Campaign and survival

The game has four modes: single-player campaign, two-player campaign, single-player survival and two-player survival. Each has its own rules, objectives and challenge level.

In the single-player campaign, you have 2700 seconds to gather supplies, activate 6 relic statues and escort Mango to the basin’s terminus while fighting monster hordes. There is a 50% chance of a final boss fight. The mission fails if time runs out, all operatives die, Mango falls before reaching the terminus or you quit forcibly.

In the two-player campaign, you have 4200 seconds to collect tokens, activate 9 relic mechanisms and fight as a team, covering for one another. There is also a 50% chance of a boss encounter that can wipe out the team.

In survival mode, one or two players open supply crates at the corporate factory base, wait for corporate resupply and use their gear to survive 25 waves of enemies and defeat a variety of random bosses. Enemy and item spawns, as well as boss encounters, are randomized, so runs differ. If you die in campaign mode, there is a 10% chance of triggering “Return from Hell”: a great demon returns to the mortal realm bearing your soul, and you must choose whether to submit or vanish into nothingness.

Weapons and combat

The game’s firearm system uses ballistics and weapon physics. Shots cause muzzle rise and random crosshair deviation, with the scale determined by bullet damage and projectile count. The two playable characters recover from recoil at different speeds, and you cannot aim or fire while sprinting.

The arsenal includes sniper rifles, machine guns, shotguns, assault rifles, handguns, large-caliber firearms, explosive ordnance and summon weapons, with 13 types of ammunition. Automatic and semi-automatic guns vary in fire rate, magazine capacity and reload speed. You can also combine firearms with more than a dozen melee weapons from the dark altar, each with its own damage, attack speed and range.

Supplies and upgrades

Medical kits, body armor, energy drinks and rations restore health, armor or stamina; some supplies have mixed effects. Deployables include nukes, landmines, automated turrets and defensive barriers. You can spend tokens on temporary or permanent upgrades to maximum health, armor, movement speed and weapon damage, but every buff also makes the monsters stronger.

The four currencies listed for the token system are J022BOT Vouchers, Mare Eyes, Dark Remnants and Phantoms. You spend them on supplies, equipment and buffs. Successful runs let you keep 100% of the tokens you collect; failed challenges retain 25% of your earnings.

Enemies and battlefield

The basin contains dozens of monster types, including zombies, swift predators, splitting creatures, high-speed assassins and armored brutes, as well as elite enemies and bosses. Their abilities include resurrection, multiplication, self-destruction, long-range sniping and poison attacks. Immortal guardians can make a run much harder, while endless enemy spawns keep up the pressure. Airdrops deliver rare ammunition, heavy weapons, deployables and high-grade supplies.