A local Chinese studio, Game Science, is working on a premium AAA title Black Myth: Wukong. The Action-RPG looks promising with great graphics and an exhilarating storyline. They posted a video on their youtube channel which shows 13 minutes of the actual gameplay. This seems odd since most of the games drop a trailer first but the method is attracting a lot of people. The game will be available on console and PC.
This isn’t the first time we are seeing the character Wukong in video games before. To list a few, games such as DOTA 2, League Of Legends, Warframe, and Smite have shown their adaptations of the Wukong or Monkey King, and all of them have a striking resemblance, whether it be the character model, lore or the abilities. Wukong also called monkey king, is a character taken from the Chinese classic novel: Journey to the west.
The game is being developed by a Chinese studio, Game Science. This studio was found by a few ex-employees of Tencent games. they have previously worked on games such as Asura, 100 Heroes, and Art of War: Red Tides. At the end of 2017, they noticed that conditions were starting to favor Chinese developers to enter the premium AAA games market at the platforms like steam grew popular.
It has been almost two years since the planning and development of the new game based on ‘Journey to the west’ started. the developers took inspirations from Asura (a game they developed while working for Tencent games), God of War, Monster Hunter World, and Sekiro. We can see some essence of these games in the trailer as well.
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Gameplay
Yesterday a gameplay trailer was released on Black Myth youtube channel, which shows 13 minutes of the actual gameplay. Although it is still in pre-alpha phase, the Black Myth: Wukong looks absolutely stunning. It’s set in a traditional Chinese environment, with lots of green mountains and Chinese themed buildings. Other characters in the game are also heavily Chinese inspired.
The video starts with an old man (who looks a lot like Wukong himself) narrating stories, which end when he talks about a particular story, and then the gameplay starts. Watching the gameplay, it feels inspired by Dark Souls and Sekiro but with its own unique qualities which sets it apart from the other games.
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRLhCxC886o&feature=youtu.be
You can judge the game yourself by watching it here.
Wukong’s Abilities
Wukong has been adapted into many different games in their own unique way, but most of his abilities are somewhat the same. With that in mind, and putting the gameplay demo into perspective as well, we can expect the following abilities for Wukong
- An ability which allows him to morph into other creatures or inanimate objects which can serve as a disguise
- An ability where he slams his staff on the ground damaging the enemy units around him
- An ability to dash so he can cover distances in a shorter period of time
- An ability to morph into a giant monkey who deals more damage and in a greater AOE
- An ability to form clones who attack the enemy units for him
Danial Ahmad, a senior analyst for Niko Partners, has tweeted that Wukong will have 72 different abilities. He also said that the game is still a couple of years away from development and will be available to purchase once it’s complete.
Here is a look at Black Myth: Wu Kong, a new single player action adventure / RPG game developed by Chinese indie studio Game Science Studio. It is based on Journey to the West mythology.
The game is planned to release for PC and Consoles and is using UE4. No release date. pic.twitter.com/44GXAyqZA7
— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) August 20, 2020
When will Black Myth: Wukong be Released?
This news may disappoint a lot of players but the game is still a few years away from completion. People at Game Science said, “It shouldn’t take 500 years… We will release it when we are satisfied as a player but we will also consider marginal effects and cost-effectiveness. After all, more works in the Black Myth series are also carefully planned in our dreams”. The developers at the studios are currently shorthanded and they are also currently looking to hire 19 more developers.
Although still a few years away from being released, the developers have promised to release it on all major platforms, meaning it won’t be an exclusive, and that honestly sounds great.