008
The Big 10
STORIESEVERYONE’STALKINGABOUT
a blade,asyourchoicesmatterand
canaffectthestory.
There’sa deepermessagebehind
theVFXandswishcomboswhich
affordsAI-Limitroomtobemore
thananotheractiongame.Inspired
bythechessAI AlphaGo,whichbeat
a humanchampion,Yangsays:“The
futureofAI andhowit affectsour
lifecouldbea veryinterestingtopic
[...]Thisis thetitlewe’vebeen
dreamingfora longtime.”CULTURECLASH
WhileAI-Limit’sambitionis focused
onnarrative,RAN:LostIslandsis
emphasisingscale.ThisMMOsurvival
gamepicksfromthebonesofbattle
royalegames,butdoessowitha
focusonexplorationanddiscovery.
ProducerLi Dongchengexplains:
“Ourgameis setonanarchipelago
in northernJapan.Therearemany
ancientJapaneserelicsonthe
island,andtheadventurersof
WesternEuropeandtheforces
ofJapanarelookingtoclaimthem.
Atthesametime,thefleetofthe
MingEmpirealsoarrives,and
setsouttheirownexploration
teamstoinvestigate.”
Thesetupalonemakesthisan
interestinggame,andoneperhaps
onlypossiblefroma Chinesestudio
familiarwithitsnation’splacein
history.We’reusedtothe17th
centuryin WesternandJapanese
games,butnotsomuchChinese.“Manyplayersmightbefamiliar
withWesternandJapanese
civilisationsfromthatera,butmaybe
notsofamiliarwiththeMingEmpire
of17th-centuryChina,”saysLi.
“Therefore,asa studiofromChina,
wealsohopewecandoourpartto
integratethisperiodintotheworld’s
gameculture!”
In-gamethismeansJapanese
samuraiandFrenchmusketeersrub
shoulderswithMingwarriors.It’sa
clashofculturesand,importantly,
weaponsandtacticsasallsides
huntforancientJapaneserelicson
thehiddenarchipelago.LOTSMOREHEROES
TheotherChinaHeroProjects
displaya similarsenseofambition.
ShooterConvallariaProjectoffers
PvEvPsetin anonlineuniversethat
lookstojumbleeverythingfromFinal
FantasytoAliceIn Wonderlandand
MassEffectintoitsUnrealEngine
4-poweredblender,resultingin a
colourfulandexoticjuice.There’sa
hintofReadyPlayerOneaboutthis
shooter,suggestingtheactiontakes
placein a gamewithina game.Thepixelartaestheticofaction
RPGANNO:Mutantionemgrabsthe
headlines,butit’stheinclusionofthe
SCPFoundation,anopen-source
collaborativefictioncommunity,to
enrichitscyberpunkcity,Metropolis,
thatcouldgivethisonedarkdepths.
Likewise,SpikewaveGames’
stealthactionsci-fiEvotinctionhas
hiddenlayers.Thenameevokesthe
themesofevolutionandextinction,
andasksthequestion:“Howfarwill
mankindgoin itsloveofnew
technology,AI,andgeneediting?”
Behindthepretentiousnessis a
promisingstealthadventurethat
reliesonyourhackingskillstomake
useofenvironmentdevicesand
gadgets.It allsoundsa littleKojima-y
tous,andweloveit.
There’sa lesshighfalutintoneto
TiGamesNetworkTechnology’s
F.I.S.T.,a metroidvaniabunnyboiler
thatcastsyouin thefurof“arabbit
whocanmanipulatethebig
mech-armonhisback,exploringa
vividdieselpunkworldandfighting
againsttheevilrobotarmy”– thisis
a directquotefromthepress
release,andit makesuswantthe
gameevenmore.
There’sa lottobeexcitedaboutin
Sony’ssecondwaveofreleases
fromitsChinaHeroProject.Expect
moreinfosoon.A METROIDVANIA
THAT CASTSYOU INTHE
FUROF A RABBIT WITH
A BIGMECH-ARM.
Q...onethatmixesmanystyles,possibly
becauseit’sa gamewithina game.QConvallariaProjectis anonline
shootersetin a weirdfantasyworld...Anyofthesegamestakeyourfancy?
LetusknowonTwitter@OPM_UK.CHINESE EXPORTS
“This support is very long-term,”
says Li Dongcheng of Sony’s China
Hero Project. “We believe that Sony
is nurturing excellent development
teams that can produce world-
class games in China.”F.I.S.T. is not a Sly
Stallone movie tie-in,
it’s a mecha-rabbit
metroidvania.Stealth adventure
Evotinction could offer a
new take on the genre.