Wraith's Labs:
Released: September 3, 2019
Theme: This Town Takeover came out along with a video short about Wraith's origin, so we decided to tie the area in the game to the video. Wraith's Labs is an excavated part old IMC labs that were shown in the Wraith short, extension of the same facility used to experiment on Wraith in her dimension.
I used early concepts from the video team to capture some of the key areas from the video (Chair room, hallways, etc) and tied it to the desired gameplay/theme I was going for of a 10 year old IMC lab being excavated.
Gameplay: Inspired by the frantic, action-packed gameplay players love about Bunker, I designed Wraith's Labs to capture that same sense of chaos. However, in an environment that offered different tactics for attacking/defending the area. The goal was to give players options when they are fighting in this close-quartered area, allowing them to make unique plays.
The labs underground has a circle flow with different rooms to loot, heal, and flank in. This made combat happen at different parts of the area and allowed player to move around via different paths to join the action. Glass walls are placed around the main halls into each room so players can see where all the action is happening and form they're approach to the situation. Water in the center Chair room is where all the high loot is, but when in there, moving in the water lets everyone in the area know where you are. It was a good way for players entering the base to know if people were in the base, and where. Making engagements more fair and predictable for everyone.
There are 2 ways into the lab area, only during the initial drop from the start of the match can players enter the labs through the giant portal in the sky. Taking the Portal overlooking the Town Takeover, players will teleport to the opposite end of the labs area from the main door, which i the only other way to enter the base past the initial drop sequence. Taking the portal allows players to get right into the action and scatter for loot against other squads who took the portal in a chaotic setting, unlike any other drop area in the game.
The flow of the area was most teams would take the portal and get right into the action, while other squads could land outside the labs' entrance in the excavation zone and loot up in a safer environment before entering the labs. This allowed players to have tactics for landing, pushing, and defending this area, which is what I was designing for. All the high loot was inside the labs, while the exterior had medium loot, all tying risk vs reward together.
I also added research buildings with lootbins around this area to make desirable looting paths/more incentive for players to travel out this way mid-game. Making this area more beneficial to all stages of a match.
The giant portal in the sky is also a quick way out of the labs. Players can go to the teleporter room in the back of the labs area and enter it, teleporting them up to the giant portal in the sky and allowing them to skydive to new locations. It allowed players to rotate to areas not previously available from that area before, changing up how players think about that space. This was to make this area more desirable to land/rotate to as teams could quickly escape approaching circles with this skydive route and get to key areas rapidly. The giant portal also acted as a visual marker to see from a distance, further highlighting the new area's presence.
This area was pure chaos and I loved how quickly it allowed players to get right into fighting each other in a CQB environment. I never expected half the lobby to land there consistently, but it never got old seeing all the chaos there when the Town Takeover was live in Apex Legends (Season 2).
Below are some final and blockout images from Wraith's Town Takeover: