I actually ought to know higher than to lose my gourd over a recreation earlier than it even has a gameplay trailer, however the first peeks we have gotten of Arkane’s Blade adaptation have already got me excited. Along with the temporary teaser at The Recreation Awards, Arkane Lyon artwork director Sebastien Mitton just lately shared three items of idea artwork for the upcoming motion recreation.
This primary picture exhibits the Daywalker trying over an open Parisian plaza, and it offers me sturdy Dishonored vibes. You’ve got obtained that particular nineteenth century European structure contrasting with harsh industrial tech—it is virtually screaming artist Viktor Antonov’s iconic designs for Half-Life 2 and Dishonored.
The attitude additionally offers me hope that Arkane’s open-ended, vertical stage design will discover a dwelling on this change of style (or a minimum of perspective, from first individual to 3rd). Given the setting, I additionally can not help however consider Arkane’s canceled pre-Dishonored venture, The Crossing, an experimental shooter that was additionally set in Paris.
The signal within the distance roughly interprets to “breaking curfew is prohibited,” which strains up with the teaser displaying us Paris shutting down at dusk. You get this image of Paris combatting a full-blown vampire insurgency, with Blade introduced in to cope with it. I am additionally questioning if this curfew would possibly tie right into a day-night cycle of some variety, with extra peaceful actions within the daytime.
The following piece exhibits Blade getting swarmed by a cloud of bats whereas listless vampires look on from a close-by subway automotive. This one does not fairly have as many particulars to pluck out, however come on, when you’re making a neo-noir vampire fantasy, you are in all probability going to have a subway/sewer stage or three.
The final little bit of idea artwork is the one that the majority intrigues me: it exhibits Blade sneaking up on a (presumably vampire owned and operated) nightclub, with a gaggle of weirdos in baroque outfits lined up on the entrance and bathed in violet mild.
First off, I am taking this as a robust indication that Blade will nonetheless have Arkane’s trademark stealthing, possibly in the same ratio to its earlier actiony immersive sim, Deathloop. Second, that is simply giving off such a robust Y2K, nightclub with the blood sprinklers vitality that I actually crave from modern-day vampire stuff. It is a part of what I liked a lot about Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, and I actually cannot wait to see these concepts in motion.
We do not have something near a launch date for Arkane’s Blade, however I believe this might be one to observe going ahead. For now, it joins Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree as a recreation I am unreasonably enthusiastic about off idea artwork and developer status alone.