As I drifted my massive Desert Raptor MKII mech via an expansive desert canyon, crowded filled with rocket-wielding hover bots and gun-toting bandits, I acquired the sense that Bounty Star could be onto one thing particular right here. My mech, assembled from a number of components trying prefer it was inbuilt somebody’s storage (as a result of it was), dispatched these difficult foes with a number of heavy melee assaults and cannon hearth. It took me a few tries to come back out on prime, however as I neared the top of my temporary hands-on time, Bounty Star left me keen to come back again to its world later this 12 months when it launches for Xbox Sequence X|S.
In Bounty Star you play as Clem, a gifted fighter and mech pilot who is managing some private trauma as a struggle veteran trying to make up for a few of her previous actions – and hopefully change into a pressure of excellent. Her journey takes place in an space referred to as the Purple Expanse, harking back to what can finest be described as a post-apocalyptic American Southwest.
“I used to be in Sedona, Arizona, surrounded by landscapes very like these within the recreation, and I couldn’t assist however suppose how excellent they might be for an immersive motion recreation setting,” explains Artistic Director & Designer Benjamin Ruiz. “The will to create one thing visually gorgeous and set in a lovely desert was actually the spark for Bounty Star. The whole lot began to fall into place from there. I started outlining the idea that very morning, impressed by these breathtaking views. That was about 5 years in the past. It took a 12 months or two earlier than manufacturing formally started, however the thought was simmering for a whereas earlier than we actually acquired began.”
Ruiz defined to me that he at all times dreamed of making a Western, and Bounty Star is very a lot rooted in that style, however mixing a lighter tackle the Armored Core fashion of mech gameplay that his inventive workforce loves.
“We actually wished to concentrate on the on a regular basis lifetime of a bounty hunter,” Ruiz provides. “There’s a base-building side the place you’re making ready meals, managing sources like clear water, and even elevating chickens — actually digging into the expertise of survival within the desert. We aimed to seek out an thrilling intersection between these components: the enjoyable of a Western, the detailed lifetime of a bounty hunter, and the fun of piloting a mech within the open desert. That’s how Bounty Star got here collectively.”
As I explored Clem’s run-down storage that serves as her base of operations and residential, with energy strains strewn about, a make-shift kitchen within the nook to cook dinner meals (which can provide her stat bonuses in fight), and barrels filled with munitions hiding in plain sight, the world of Bounty Star is mixing a few of my favourite issues about what it might be wish to stay out this life in a sci-fi Western, giving me sturdy “Firefly” and “Serenity” vibes the place you don’t have a lot, however what you do have you possibly can name house; it has potential.
Customization is one of many different key components of Bounty Star and from what I might inform it appeared open-ended sufficient the place I might both play with any sort of mech that I wished to assemble, offered I had the sources to place all of it collectively. Ruiz bolstered that assumption for me.
“There are a couple of various approaches you possibly can take,” Ruiz elaborates. “You’re at all times going to want each a melee weapon and a firearm, however you possibly can lean into one or the opposite, relying in your most popular play fashion. For example, some gamers would possibly concentrate on heavy armor and cost straight into fight, changing into a sluggish however practically unstoppable pressure. Others would possibly choose lighter builds, prioritizing velocity and agility over sheer toughness.”
As Ruiz defined to me additional, the customization system enables you to tweak round seven core properties and select from a number of firearms, melee weapons, and assist techniques. He talked about that even a few of the QA testers had been creating builds that might skip therapeutic altogether, blasting via encounters at excessive velocity. So, it appears you’ll have loads of flexibility to create distinctive mech builds and experiment with totally different fight methods when going up in opposition to a number of enemies.
Enemies should not the one factor you’ll encounter in Bounty Star. There may also be a handful of key NPCs you’ll work together with. One in all them is the Marshall, who’s not solely accountable for assigning your bounties but additionally occurs to be an outdated pal. There’s additionally a service provider who gives you a few of the finest gear out there within the recreation, working on the shadier aspect of issues and brings a totally different vitality in comparison with the Marshall in line with Ruiz. He talked about that total, whereas the forged of different characters isn’t big, those you meet are designed to have significant and memorable interactions with you within the recreation.
And one can’t be a bounty hunter with out some bounties, and it seems like there’s going to be a huge number of mission designs to maintain you engaged. Bounties usually work the identical means all through the sport in line with Ruiz. With Bounty Star operating on a day-night cycle, there can be days the place you’ll discover story bounties on the board, alongside a couple of aspect bounties. Every one in all these will ship you to a particular a part of the world, which can be distinct fight arenas of assorted styles and sizes.
“Typically your aim is to seize a specific goal as a result of they’re a wished legal; different occasions, you’re tasked with clearing out all adversaries within the space,” Ruiz provides. “Some bounties require you to be extra cautious and apprehend somebody, whereas others are simple fight challenges. There are additionally elective targets for gamers who get pleasure from replayability, comparable to finishing a bounty inside a sure time or utilizing a particular loadout. In the end, Bounty Star is very a lot a third-person area expertise, however we’re centered on offering a number of methods for gamers to have enjoyable and method every mission uniquely.”
Very similar to Clem’s makeshift house, Bounty Star appears filled with potential, and we’re trying ahead to seeing the way it all comes collectively later this 12 months when it launches on Xbox Sequence X|S.