Steelrising, all we know about the new Spiders RPG in the preview
Steelrising
Late 18th century. The French Revolution is devastating the nation, but the reasons why it broke out may not be the same as we remember: in the alternative universe of Steelrising, the action RPG developed by Spiders (authors of the discreet Greedfall), Louis XVI boasts among his an army of androids is filing and terrorizing the citizens of Paris. We do not know if these automatons were deployed to counter the Revolution or if they are the real cause. In fact, we know practically nothing about this game other than the feeble narrative premises, which paint a France even more gloomy than it already was in that period of social, political and cultural upheaval in its original form.How was such a technological advance possible? What happened to the story as we have been used to knowing it and how will our actions affect it? Above all, how is it possible that even the rioters can count on the support of these androids, in this case Aegis, the protagonist of these dark events?
There are many questions about the narrative context that a single teaser has managed to raise, but the answers are far from being revealed: the gameplay trailer shown during Nacon Connect 2021 showed something more than the game, together with the launch window scheduled for June 2022, arousing our curiosity without satisfying it.
In the Steelrising preview we tell you everything we know about the new Spiders action RPG.
Another French Revolution
The French Revolution of Steelrising As we have anticipated, very little is known about Steelrising. Aegis, the automaton we're going to check out, is none other than Queen Marie Antoinette's bodyguard whose purpose is to take down the king and his army. A tiny bit more of a story that we have no idea what it wants to tell - the revolution, of course, but how? With what premises? Will there really be an emphasis on the narrative sector, which looks really promising, or as stated by the president of Spider, will the game focus on action and combat (much more than in the past) thus sacrificing the story?We remember that Greedfall, despite everything, could not give back the feeling of really having a role in the development of events, regardless of the choices made, so it would not be bad if Steelrising were able to enhance this aspect more. The fact that Aegis has a specific task and that the background of the narrative is an equally well contextualized historical period, despite the poetic license, may not make the situation simple. Developers could opt for a more guided experience and at most characterized by different endings, as we have often seen in other video games.
Exploration seems to be another key element of Steelrising, enhanced by a verticality that will not always keep us with our feet on the ground and will offer numerous opportunities to unlock shortcuts, secret passages, everything possible to facilitate our movements in a Paris prey to chaos. Speaking of the city itself, aesthetically, we really like the style they wanted to give it, managing to make an already oppressive context even more gloomy.
The automata themselves are incredibly well made and integrate perfectly into the setting, resulting coherent from the first moment even though we are faced with a historical period different from the one we have been taught.
In this stark contrast between the modern age and the contemporary age, as Aegis we will presumably have to make our way, blow by blow, to the court of Louis XVI (his creator) to end the reign of terror of he. We are curious about what the king might look like and above all how our protagonist has managed to free herself from her yoke; in short, what makes her special compared to other automata, if we can speak of conscience or, rather, she has been reprogrammed to obey a different master. Are we really embracing the cause of the revolution, or are we simply following the orders of someone else, specifically Marie Antoinette? Another of the mysteries of the game.
Still on Aegis, we know that his arsenal is embedded in his own body. From her fans, which can even become a shield, to halberds, swords and more, it all seems to somehow be part of her. Looking at the trailer, not everything seems exactly connected to Aegis, but there is no doubt that her own body is a weapon and a sophisticated one.
Exploring Paris will allow us to obtain objects capable of enhancing it in terms of strength, mobility and endurance: elements that almost certainly coincide with the attack force, the speed of movement and the avoidance, and the amount of damage it can take before falling under enemy blows. Not only that, by looking around carefully we will be able to collect new weapons that can fall into one of different types: from those most oriented for a direct and rapid confrontation, to alchemical rifles up to the most devastating heavy weapons, each of which has characteristics that make it unique. .
There will also be secondary missions that, in addition to deepening the story, will reward us with unique items to constantly improve Aegis and make it more effective against the growing threats of this alternative Paris. Looking at the short gameplay trailer, it seemed to us to perceive a step forward in the fluidity of movements during the fight, something that we can only confirm by trying Steelrising with our hand: in any case, we do not expect from an automaton, in particular from steampunk models presented. , the same fluency of a human being - although Aegis proves to know how to get by.
Steelrising, a disturbing glimpse of Paris In short, if on the one hand Steelrising seems "the usual" action RPG, on the other we find ourselves in the face of a pleasant change of register as regards the setting. Let's leave aside dark fantasy, fiery greatswords, dragons, undead and so on and so forth, this time the automatons take to the field in the midst of the French Revolution. We are curious to see how far the developers will go to convey their imagery, the premises of which are already quite interesting for them. Game after game, Spiders have proven they can evolve. Small but important steps that give us hope, especially knowing that Steelrising is only available for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X | S.
Steelrising is a promising action RPG, with a unique scenario of its kind. At the level of gameplay we have seen too little to get an idea of what it will be like to play the role of Aegis in the middle of an alternative French Revolution, for this reason we are curious to know more: it seems that at the narrative level the game distances itself from the previous one. Greedfall, preferring to focus on action, combat and exploration rather than putting emphasis on a narrative, we admit, little influenced by our choices in the aforementioned Greedfall. While waiting for further information, we want to trust Spiders and see to what extent they will be able to surprise us.
