Geneforge 2 - Infestation review: bold and great like Baldur’s Gate

Laptop-friendly roleplaying for the post-Larian age

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Spiderweb Software

• Developer: Spiderweb Software
• Publisher: Spiderweb Software
• Release: March 27th, 2024
• On: Windows, Mac
• From: Steam
• Price: £17/€17/$17
• Reviewed on: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X, 16GB RAM, Nvidia Geforce RTX 3060, Windows 10

Like the good works of Calvin Klein, these genes come pre-distressed. Geneforge 2 - Infestation is fresh from the rack, yet looks and functions like the CRPGs of the late 1990s. Where most isometric throwbacks these days offer a forced perspective over 3D scenes, Geneforge 2 is the real deal - its flat character sprites gliding across tiled backgrounds, with the elegant shuffle of Shōgun-era ladies-in-waiting.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Spiderweb Software

As a result, Geneforge 2 feels a bit cheap to begin with. In the moments where atmospheric bird squawks and howling winds give way, there can be little to sustain the illusion of a living world. But the gaps are soon filled by Vogel’s sharp prose and exquisite worldbuilding. The Geneforge universe - first conceived in the noughties, and fleshed out in Spiderweb’s current run of remakes - is one of the few truly original settings in the canon of western RPGs.

Its world of swords and sorcery is dominated by a sect called the Shapers, who have gained supremacy by turning pools of gooey essence into subservient lifeforms. Some of these genetically-modified creatures are monsters, meant for shoring up Shaper power and putting down insurrections. Others are Serviles, simple workers designed to find contentment in tilling fields and smashing rocks. Then there are the stranger beings, bred for highly specific purpose: the Servant Minds who manage mining operations from their trays, their stunted limbs rendering them little more than desktop computers; the sentient control panels trapped in granite, “alive and functional, though very, very bored”. The Shapers, having acquired their secrets through crude trial-and-error, now guard them closely and wield godlike social status among the common folk.

It’s a setup you might call science friction - oscillating between the highly advanced and the medieval, and lending itself to all sorts of social and moral quandaries. Should Serviles have rights? Try saying yes when your Shaper line manager is listening.

You enter this profound mess as an apprentice Shaper, lowly yet respected, sent to investigate a failed mountain colony and report back to your masters. Right from the off, you’re met with the consequences of genetic meddling gone wrong - rogue creations stumbling about the wilderness and wiry, weedlike trees cracking the foundations of dwellings. As Vogel pithily puts it, “The works of the Shapers consume the works of the Shapers”.

It’s Vogel’s voice that elevates all of Geneforge’s scenarios. He’s something of a shaper himself, bringing life to crude backdrops through text pop-ups that don’t beat around the twisted, misshapen bush yet contribute a sardonic twinkle to proceedings. “This tiny grove is no longer haunted,” he notes at the conclusion of a battle with some swampy ghosts. “Nothing helps exorcise an area of undead like a good, firm application of violence.” It’s the kind of individual flair that would only be diluted on a project with a larger writing team.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Spiderweb Software

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Spiderweb Software

Geneforge 2 is explored in discrete chunks connected by an overworld map, in the style of the Infinity Engine games. As you trek high into inhospitable peaks, right at the limits of Shaper rule, you come across ever-more alarming breaches of the laws you know. The architects of these illegal activities look at you with a mixture of fear and eagerness - knowing you could bring an army of Shapers down on their heads, while hoping to persuade or manipulate you into their way of thinking. Deciding which factions to endorse or destroy - and when to show your hand by backing a side - ultimately becomes Geneforge 2’s endgame.

Obsidian’s Josh Sawyer has spoken before about his preference for gradual turns rather than dramatic twists - a dawning understanding, drawn from exploration and dialogue, that slowly shifts your perspective on the events unfolding around you. On that front, Geneforge 2 is a masterpiece. In no other RPG can you return to the starting town after 30 hours with a new and fundamentally different view of the place and its purpose.

Your investment in this conflict and intrigue is rewarded with the freedom to manoeuvre - dancing around problems rather than carving through them. Battles with groups you’d rather not face can be circumvented through dialogue or snuck around, provided you have the right skills. Many RPGs promise to support stealth and diplomacy, but few deliver so consistently as Geneforge 2. In that sense, it’s more comparable to Deus Ex: Human Revolution than its direct peers - at pains to provide you with alternate paths and opportunities to steal and sabotage. Geneforge even has its own take on the multitool - a tiny tentacled creature encased in metal, which can be jammed into locks and mechanisms. In this way, boss fights can be shortcircuited, and entire areas brought under your control through deadly electrical pylons.

As in the immersive sims of old, the cost of all this choice is a certain amount of depth - and you’ll occasionally ram your toes against the bottom of the pool. Stealth is no more advanced than in 1997’s Fallout, simply requiring you to keep your distance from hostile NPCs as you zigzag through a map. But the sheer speed of enemy movement lends these sequences an arcade-like tension, forcing you to adjust course quickly or trip into fights you’re not ready for. As in Baldur’s Gate 3 , there’s also the option to trigger turn-based battle mode at will - allowing you to strategically steer your way around unaware patrols when the occasion demands it.

Combat at first feels basic, but reveals more and more nuance over time. In keeping with the godless experimentation of the Shapers, you’re able to summon and dismiss creations at will, constructing and disassembling units within seconds to suit your needs. The monsters have a pleasingly cheesy sensibility about them - like the fiery dinosaur Fyoras, who swarm like velociraptors, and the Thahds, who resemble ThunderCats yet punch like Victorian pugilists.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Spiderweb Software

All can be upgraded, to be tougher or faster or covered in exploding boils that burst and wound your opponents. Some monsters are designed to detonate on death, and to be happy about it. But the more powerful your creations, the less control you wield over them. It’s a factor you’ll learn to take seriously once an injured Thahd has turned on you in a high stress situation, delivering a roundhouse punch to your delicately robed abdomen.

With experience, you learn to right-click your enemies to check their resistances before engaging - then build up a fire-spewing or poison-spitting roster accordingly. There’s a satisfaction to steamrolling an area or solving a situational problem by throwing the right beasts at it. In one instance, I sent in some stocky creations one-by-one to distract a golem while I ransacked the chests it was guarding - then left my monsters to their doom. It’s the kind of mercenary attitude you could never apply to an RPG with named companions, whose deaths typically prompt an instant reload. And it’s a form of utilitarianism that speaks to Geneforge’s core themes, in a way most combat systems don’t.

By the time you’ve begun to appreciate these nuances and story synergies, you’ll have long since seen past Geneforge 2’s visual shortcomings, the UI that fails to upscale with higher resolutions, and the goofy main menu with its frankly teenage animated cursor. Even if Baldur’s Gate 3 triggers a renaissance age for the western RPG, Spiderweb Software’s output will be unignorable so long as it delivers such a distinct flavour of wry, complex, and open ended roleplaying. Long may Vogel be in vogue.

This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by developers Spiderweb Software.

Find out how we conduct our reviews by reading our review policy .

Geneforge 2 - Infestation

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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