Four years to the day before Game Science released action-adventure Black Myth: Wukong, the Chinese studio shot to immediate international attention with the kind of trailer that made a lot of us go, "No way... really?" It looked good. Really good. Lush, strikingly detailed foliage, subtle reflections on the surface of mossy puddles, transformation after transformation showing monkey king Sun Wukong's deep reservoir of tricks and battle techniques. It seemed too ambitious, too strong a first showing from a studio that, up to that point, had primarily worked on mobile games. It was no coincidence that when Game Science finally let us play Black Myth, we started in that same densely forested level.
"One of the things we value is a promise to our game fans. We tried to keep true to what it looked like in 2020, but did a lot of optimisation based on that," said Game Science in an interview with PC Gamer (the developer I spoke with requested to be credited as a representative of the studio, rather than an individual). And sure enough, the final stage four years later looks true to the original teaser, proving that first demo wasn't pulling any sleight of hand.
"Blackwind Mountain was one of the first levels that was completed, and we didn't feel very satisfied with it at the time,” said Game Science, a hint that this early bit of the game may undersell the adventure that follows.
LONGEST JOURNEY
Even as Game Science downplayed the quality of Blackwind Mountain, though, they promised that Black Myth’s third level is on another level, with a mammoth explorable space and a multi-phase boss fight befitting a warrior whom the Buddha had to bury under a mountain just to stop his rebellion against heaven.
"No comment"
Denne historien er fra November 2024-utgaven av PC Gamer.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra November 2024-utgaven av PC Gamer.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
A New Dawn - The rise, fall and rise again of PC Gaming in Japan
The so-called 'Paso Kon' market (ie katakana's transliteration of 'Pasonaru Computa') in Japan was originally spearheaded in the 1980s by NEC's PC-8800 and, later, its PC-9800.
MARVEL: ULTIMATE ALLIANCE
Enter the multiverse of modness.
SLIDES RULE
Redeeming a hated puzzle mechanic with SLIDER
GODS AND MONSTERS
AGE OF MYTHOLOGY: RETOLD modernises a classic RTS with care
PHANTOM BLADE ZERO
Less Sekiro, more Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty
STARR-MAKING ROLE
Final Fantasy XVI's BEN STARR talks becoming a meme and dating summons
THIEF GOLD
Learning to forgive myself for knocking out every single guard.
HANDHELD GAMING PCs
In lieu of more powerful processors, handhelds are getting weirder
FAR FAR AWAY
STAR WARS OUTLAWS succeeds at the little things, but not much else shines
FINDING IMMORTALITY
Twenty-five years on, PLANESCAPE: TORMENT is still one of the most talked-about RPGs of all time. This is the story of how it was created as a ‘stay-busy’ project by a small team at Black Isle Studios