Shadow of the Beast Announced for PS4, a re-imagining of the 1989 Amiga classic
Shadow of the Beast Overview
The legend of Aarbron is told once more as you embark upon a ferocious action adventure, seeking to dethrone the evil lord Maletoth, in the visually stunning world of Shadow of the Beast.
Shadow of the Beast will be available as a digital download from the PlayStation Network, exclusively for the PlayStation 4.
Key features
• Explore the eerie, yet beautiful world of Karamoon, discover secret quests and unravel it’s darkest secrets in your bid to overthrow Maletoth.
• Battle hordes of enemies in ferocious adrenaline fuelled combat, unlocking increasingly brutal moves as you draw power from the blood of your enemies.
• Discover the souls of other players and summon them to fight at your side, or to lead the way to new locations.
• Enter Survival mode to put yourself to the test, against increasingly cunning enemies in endless visceral combat.
Hi PlayStation.Blog readers, it’s been a while since our last update on Shadow Of The Beast — our long silence has been because we’ve been working hard to turn the concept we showed last time into a reality. And, though we haven’t quite finished that journey yet, we wanted to take this chance to share with you some early shots from the game.
We talked a little in our previous blog entry about the impact that the original games had on us as kids. When our team started putting together the concepts for our take on Shadow of the Beast, one thing we kept coming back to was how important it was to us that we made sure that our game stirred up that same level of emotion, especially through the visually striking, alien landscapes of Karamoon.
The screenshots you see here are taken from the harsh, arid wasteland that is Karamoon’s desert. The balance between beauty and brutality has been a running theme for us while we’ve been building the game. Our main character, Aarbron, was forged by the evil Maletoth as a living weapon — and his journey through this beautiful, vibrant world is a savage one. We’ve tried to find ways to bring both sides of this juxtaposition to life to create a unique and intriguing setting for the gameplay to live within.
Alongside creating a range of sweeping vistas and strange creatures, we have also been busy refining the game’s core combat and platforming to try and find just the right blend to make a compelling experience for players.
It’s been a long road to get here (Especially if you are counting back to our original inspiration!) and we thank you for both bearing with us and taking the time to read about our progress. We hope to have more news to share with you before too long!
Shadow of the Beast Update, New Trailer From Paris Games Week
Hi PlayStation fans,
It’s been a great week for gaming news! Lots of wonderful announcements from Paris Games Week, and so many things to look forward to. We’re once again humbled that Sony asked for our game, Shadow of the Beast, to be in attendance amongst such illustrious company.
On the gameplay side, we’ve been very lucky to get lots of feedback from people who took the time to play our previous demo at various shows, and we’ve been working out how best to use that to improve the game. To that end, we’ve been iterating and tweaking our combat system further, as well as making adjustments to help the platforming flow better. We’re trying our best to make sure that the combat in particular has layers to discover and that truly mastering the game is going to be something players can enjoy doing as they uncover the secrets of Aarbron’s world.
So with immense nervousness, but quiet excitement, we’d like to share a new trailer with you. Hopefully fans of the original game will spot a few nods to familiar locations, and also some new things to make the return to Karamoon an exciting prospect!
Thank you again for looking at the game, we’re still working hard to improve it and hope to share more news with you as soon as we can.
We’ve finally reached a critical point in development and we’re excited to share some good news with our beloved PlayStation fans. Shadow of the Beast will launch in North America on May 17th, 2016! Please stay tuned for pre-order details.
Our small team has been using their time to the fullest and we’ve made significant changes in the last few months. Fans of the fighting genre will be excited to hear that we’re now targeting 60 frames per second and we’ve fine-tuned the combat experience from top to bottom, honing in on optimal response times.
And we haven’t forgotten about Aarbron! The game’s protagonist received upgrades to the full extent of his abilities and we’ve equipped him with some of the mystic artefacts that add much more depth to gameplay. Shadow of the Beast feels quite different to other combat-adventure games, but hopefully people will find it very rewarding!
And before we go we’d like to share a new screenshot from the game, one that reveals a feature we haven’t talked about yet — the gun!
The game will be available for pre-order soon in the US and Canada on PlayStation Store and will include a fantastic dynamic theme to let you fully immerse yourself in the world of Shadow of the Beast.
That’s all for now! Our team is busy making final tweaks to combat, ironing out a few bugs, and burying those Easter eggs for the most dedicated players. We can’t wait for launch in a couple of months.
Shadow of the Beast Gameplay Mechanics Video
《异兽王国》新预告片展现游戏机制和惊人的世界
《异兽王国(Shadow of the Beast)》开发商Heavy Spectrum Entertainment Labs公开了时长5分钟的游戏预告片。预告片动感十足,展示了大量游戏机制,还有部分玩家可以尽情期待的新功能。从片中可以看出,游戏融合了街机、横版过关、格斗解谜等元素。本作是1989年发售的同名游戏时隔27年后的重制版,重置后的游戏加强了动作元素,基础的攻击、闪避、投技可以打出连击,积攒特殊能量槽“血槽”,消费“血槽”不仅可以回复自身的HP,同时可以使用各种必杀技。
《异兽王国》将于2016年5月17日正式发售,登陆PS4平台。
Exploring the Vicious Combat in Shadow of the Beast
Hi everyone, I’m so grateful to have the chance to write this blog post, as I get to talk about a subject close to my heart — gameplay!
I recently got a chance to sit down with James Hawkins, XDev executive producer at Sony, and record us playing a bit of the game as we discuss some of the gameplay design.
Our game has quite a few different facets to the experience, from platforming and puzzles to the intricacies of combat. We want players to have a varied challenge — after all, learning and mastering the skills to beat the game are a large part of the fun.
Of course, we appreciate that some players want to enjoy the world and would prefer to be able to take a slightly more laid-back approach, so we’ve added a beginner option to make that possible too — but to see anything beyond the most basic ending you’ll have to really sink your teeth into the game!
One key area as you progress through the game is the Wisdom of Shadows that allows you to buy upgrades, new special moves, and talismans that can be equipped to enable new strategies. To access these items you’ll need to hunt down secrets hidden throughout the levels to unlock them, and then purchase them with Mana gained through demonstrating your skills in the game — primarily by scoring well in combat!
The heart of combat is simple: enemies come in from the left or right and you have to defeat them. Most of your attacks will destroy them with one hit. It’s straightforward to understand but the depth in the formula quickly becomes apparent as different enemies respond differently to your various attacks, and have different methods and timing of their own attacks — not to mention getting faster as they approach.
As you go deeper into the levels you’ll have to start watching enemies very closely to defeat them unscathed, and once multiple types of enemies are mixed together you’ll really have to stay on your toes! Keep in mind that your moves take time to execute, so once enemies start getting a little faster you’ll have to think about the enemy coming at you from behind while you’re executing your move on the enemy in front. Once things get even more hectic you’ll need to start planning for the enemies behind the enemies you’re attacking!
Luckily you have a huge range of options available to you: basic attacks, counters, stun, throws, special attacks, evades, dodge rolls, the Wrath of Aarbron, Rage Chains, and — most importantly –the oft-overlooked but oh-so-important block button! When you master them, many of these moves have “perfect windows” in their timing as well that can grab you extra points.
The combo multiplier in particular is critical — it is applied to every kill so if you can get a really big multiplier then this can reward you with massive scores. But be super-careful — taking damage (or using a Rage Chain) will reset your combo multiplier back to one. Scoring big starts with not getting hit, and for that reason the most fundamental skill is learning to block effectively.
It’s so nice to talk about the game design! I hope it will prove helpful for players who decide to pick up Shadow of the Beast, and particularly anyone who decides to unlock all the different endings and aim for Platinum ranks in all the fights on Beast mode!
Please be sure to pre-order your copy of Shadow of the Beast today in order to secure your limited edition dynamic Theme featuring a brand new original creature designed by acclaimed artist Roger Dean! Roger was the creator of the cover art for the original Shadow of the Beast game and its sequel, so it’s a massive honor to have him revisit the universe with our game.
Thanks again for your interest — it is genuinely appreciated.