Bloodborne Preview

Japanese developer FromSoftware has done it again, with yet another hit on their hands: Bloodborne, previously known as Project Beast. The official trailer is online and already has players drooling over the gruesome graphics and grimy, grotesque NPCs.Footage of the upcoming game was released last month, and viewers soon found out that this was the top-secret project that was discussed by the same developers which made Dark Souls and Demon’s Souls. Horror and darkness lurk and wait around every corner in this Hidetaka Miyazaki-directed game. The storyline focuses on the unexpected events of the city of Yharnam which was once known for its cures and remedies of many diseases. Whatever’s gone awry now, however, has tainted the city’s reputation and turned it into the source of an endemic illness.

The trailer is clear enough in its objective for players to know what their missions will involve once the game is released in 2015: kill anything that doesn’t look human. The setting revolves around a gothic, Victorian city, with a slight tint of steampunk that’s primarily evident in the weaponry that the action character of the trailer is holding; a gun and a gigantic razor blade-like sword. Foggy streets, loud munching, shrieks, the distant calls for help or orders to keep searching, and other mysterious sounds envelop the atmosphere. Then, we finally get a view of the early stages of a disease that’s transforming people into…something monstrous, something that clearly needs to be
eliminated before it grows into the large, overbearing creature that we see lurking in the shadows behind our protagonist just before the trailer fades out. Since zombies were a recurring theme in previous games launched by FromSoftware, it’s no surprise that we get yet another more evolved and unique impression of an illness afflicting humans, which we come across in its different stages as innocents are transformed.

According to the little information that was released about the game informing players about the upcoming events, gamers can expect life-threatening combat and deep strategic elements similar to those found in Demon’s Souls. For those unfamiliar with the gameplay of FromSoftware’s previous hits, it involves a lot of strategy, both defenseand-attack fighting styles, and an arsenal of weapons at your disposal to choose from, especially saw cleavers. Miyazaki stated that using the PS4 system to design this game has allowed them to “really push the envelope in myriad ways.” This hardware has provided FromSoftware with the opportunity to retain its signature characters, settings and story lines and to surround gamers with the more personalized and deeplyembedded adventurous atmosphere that they seek. Miyazaki refuses to make the gameplay any harder than the previous works that he directed, arguing that the way the game is now, so far in its development, it contains “an exploration of the unknown, truly perilous combat, and a unique online concept.”

The game’s intention is to give you that true feeling of disgust and heart-skipping action with gruesome NPCs, unexpected and challenging attacks, and stunning graphics that truly draw you into the role of the protagonist.