Asobo Studio and Focus Home Interactive’s A Plague Tale: Innocence story trailer dropped in preparation for its May 14th release on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Gamers finally get a clear understanding of how the noble kids ended up on the run, why the Inquisition is after them, and the struggles of trying to survive while flesh-eating rats swarm across France.
Players will take on the role of Amecia, as she’s tasked with protecting her little brother after the duo go on the run following their home being overrun by the Inquisition’s forces. So why are the Inquisition after the family? Well, they’re after Amecia’s little brother, who has contracted a disease and they want to get their hands on him at all costs. It’s up to players to keep the boy out of the hands of the soldiers, while also trying to avoid being eaten by the rats.
The actual gameplay is a mixture of stealth-oriented sneaking, some third-person puzzle solving, and exploration.
The gameplay is probably best described like a more grounded version of Styx: Master of Shadows without the magic and elves.
You’ll be equipped with logical weapons, including a slingshot and torches. Amecia is incapable of going toe-to-toe with the soldiers in melee combat, so players are instead encouraged to find ways to overcome their enemies without always directly engaging, especially since the slingshot can’t actually kill the soldiers.
The rats are also a whole other problem. The only way to deal with the rats is to keep light on the pathway, specifically fire.
Graphically the game looks pretty darn good to be an AA-tier title, and the cinematics look like they’re done quite well, too.
This looks like it could end up being a sleeper hit alongside Frogwares’ The Sinking City. The general response from commenters on the trailer is that the game seems to have a lot of potential, drawing plenty of comparisons to last year’s God of War and the 2013 outing of The Last of Us.
The only major criticism that the game has received is that not everyone is entirely sure how well the actual gameplay loops will hold up over an entire playthrough. It’s an astute criticism given that we’ve only ever seen the gameplay in small segments and demonstrations, and so it’s definitely difficult to tell how well it will all come together and how engaging it will be after the first hour or two. I guess we’ll find out when A Plague Tale: Innocence launches on May 14th, 2019 for the Xbox One, PS4, and PC.
