As I drifted my giant Desert Raptor MKII mech by way of an expansive desert canyon, crowded filled with rocket-wielding hover bots and gun-toting bandits, I acquired the sense that Bounty Star is perhaps onto one thing particular right here. My mech, assembled from a wide range of elements wanting prefer it was inbuilt somebody’s storage (as a result of it was), dispatched these difficult foes with a wide range of heavy melee assaults and cannon fireplace. It took me just a few tries to come back out on prime, however as I neared the tip of my transient hands-on time, Bounty Star left me keen to come back again to its world later this 12 months when it launches for Xbox Collection X|S.
In Bounty Star you play as Clem, a gifted fighter and mech pilot who’s managing some private trauma as a battle veteran seeking to make up for a few of her previous actions – and hopefully grow to be a pressure of fine. Her journey takes place in an space often known as the Crimson Expanse, harking back to what can greatest be described as a post-apocalyptic American Southwest.
“I used to be in Sedona, Arizona, surrounded by landscapes very similar to these within the recreation, and I couldn’t assist however suppose how excellent they’d be for an immersive motion recreation setting,” explains Inventive Director & Designer Benjamin Ruiz. “The need to create one thing visually gorgeous and set in a gorgeous desert was actually the spark for Bounty Star. All the things 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 concept was simmering for some time earlier than we actually acquired began.”
Ruiz defined to me that he all the time dreamed of making a Western, and Bounty Star could be very a lot rooted in that style, however mixing a lighter tackle the Armored Core fashion of mech gameplay that his artistic group loves.
“We actually needed 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 getting 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 parts: the enjoyable of a Western, the detailed lifetime of a bounty hunter, and the joys 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 may give 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 dwell 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 without doubt one of the different key parts of Bounty Star and from what I might inform it appeared open-ended sufficient the place I might both play with any kind of mech that I needed to assemble, offered I had the sources to place all of it collectively. Ruiz bolstered that assumption for me.
“There are a few completely different approaches you possibly can take,” Ruiz elaborates. “You’re all the time 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. As an illustration, some gamers may concentrate on heavy armor and cost straight into fight, turning into a gradual however practically unstoppable pressure. Others may favor lighter builds, prioritizing pace and agility over sheer toughness.”
As Ruiz defined to me additional, the customization system allows you to tweak round seven core properties and select from a wide range of firearms, melee weapons, and assist methods. He talked about that even a few of the QA testers had been creating builds that will skip therapeutic altogether, blasting by way of encounters at excessive pace. So, it appears you’ll have loads of flexibility to create distinctive mech builds and experiment with completely different fight methods when going up towards a wide range of enemies.
Enemies will not be the one factor you’ll encounter in Bounty Star. There will even be a handful of key NPCs you’ll work together with. One among them is the Marshall, who’s not solely answerable for assigning your bounties but in addition occurs to be an outdated buddy. There’s additionally a service provider who affords you a few of the greatest gear obtainable within the recreation, working on the shadier aspect of issues and brings a special vitality in comparison with the Marshall in keeping with Ruiz. He talked about that total, whereas the forged of different characters isn’t large, 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 all kinds of mission designs to maintain you engaged. Bounties typically work the identical means all through the sport in keeping with Ruiz. With Bounty Star working on a day-night cycle, there can be days the place you’ll discover story bounties on the board, alongside a few aspect bounties. Every one in every of these will ship you to a particular a part of the world, which can be distinct fight arenas of assorted sizes and styles.
“Typically your aim is to seize a selected goal as a result of they’re a needed prison; 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 easy fight challenges. There are additionally non-obligatory targets for gamers who take pleasure in replayability, equivalent to finishing a bounty inside a sure time or utilizing a particular loadout. In the end, Bounty Star could be very a lot a third-person area expertise, however we’re centered on offering a wide range of methods for gamers to have enjoyable and strategy every mission uniquely.”
Very similar to Clem’s makeshift house, Bounty Star appears filled with potential, and we’re wanting ahead to seeing the way it all comes collectively later this 12 months when it launches on Xbox Collection X|S.
