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2019/11

Project Sky Combines Monster Hunter With Shadow Of The Colossus

OAG Staff

There aren’t many new games out there that re ambitious. Sure there are a ton of open-world titles but most of them are derivative and repetitive. They lack nuance or fail to take any risks we haven’t seen before. Leave it to indies to challenge the status quo, though; and Virtual Unreality is doing just that with their unique new open-world adventure, Project Sky, which is powered by the Unity 3D game engine.

As the headline states, it’s a lot like Monster Hunter insofar that you’ll need to master your environment by understanding the terrain, the best routes for traversal, and utilizing the right kind of tactics to take down enemies. But even more than that you’ll need to learn how to survive by hunting enemies, looting their bodies, and stocking up on supplies before you face off against some massive bosses.

This is where the comparisons to Shadow of the Colossus come from. You’ll have to make sure you’re well equipped and very perceptive about how you face off against the massive bosses in the game, all while making use of a giant wolf that you ride into battle. The developers have been trickling off a small smattering of videos and images of Project Sky to give you an idea of what the gameplay is like.

In one clip we see a barrage of missile fire raining down from the heavens toward the player-character and their mounted pet known as a hawkwolf.

The hawkwolves are large beasts, like a mix between dire wolves and griffins.

They can run fast and also glide, giving them a lot of mobility and maneuverability during the epic boss encounters.

The team is working overtime to ensure that the hawkwolves have believable and endearing behavioral patterns, which is why they’re putting in the extra time with the AI pathfinding even when you aren’t riding one.

One really awesome clip that they showcased was an NPC companion riding her own hawkwolf and accompanying the player across a snowy tundra. We also see that two other hawkwolves have joined them as well.

If it’s possible to hunt in packs then Project Sky could make for some very interesting encounters.

Also, mad props to Seth DeGrâce for the animations in the game. The blend morphs are superb, and the transitions between states are practically seamless.

The hawkwolves move with a lot of believability and weight, which is absolutely vital in making players feel immersed whenever they do interact with the creatures. The reactions and adjustments to the change in momentum are also a really nice touch when you’re moving fast and alter directions or attempt to come to a halt after gliding quickly across the terrain. It’s one of the reasons Monster Hunter is so beloved, because the animation team puts a lot of time and effort into making sure each and every monster has idiosyncrasies and believable weight to their movement.

In between fighting the bosses, though, players will encounter bandits, ruffians, and other types of NPC enemies. As mentioned at the top of the article, you’ll need to loot them for supplies and materials to upgrade your character.

Another neat thing is that the game is physics-based.

During the boss fight we see that the armor plating that falls to the ground can injure the player-character, but it can also be used defensively to hide behind during battle.

I’m really impressed with what I’ve seen so far.

It’s a shame we don’t get more games like this from the AAA studios, but instead end up with a bunch of loot-box infested multiplayer shooters with ho-hum gameplay, forgettable enemies, and an ultra-woke storyline with obnoxious, “diversity”-plagued characters.

Hopefully the developers at Virtual Unreality keep doing what they’re doing and continue to inch their way toward completion because Project Sky looks like it could be a really fun game to play once it’s complete.

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Adventure Game PC Project Sky RPG Virtual Unreality

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