In recent months we have become accustomed to announcements from the East and concerning productions with great potential, although in many cases their arrival on the shelves is still a long way off. We think about enriching the already large series of oriental products reveal Nexon Korea, whose recent showcase has allowed gamers from all over the world to take a quick look at some of the projects in progress at the giant of the gaming industry.
In addition to being working on a sort of For Honor clone in fantasy sauce that takes the name of Project HP, the company is also focusing on another game with a non-definitive title, that is Project Magnum. Unveiled to the public a few weeks ago with a simple image and little information, this title jumped in the eyes of the players only at the time of the publication of the first trailer, which contains numerous sequences in the engine and allows you to get an idea of ​​what we should expect from this new online shooter.
An ambitious looter shooter
In the wake of Destiny and Outriders, Project Magnum aims to immerse the player in a futuristic and highly technological world in which, however, there are numerous territories still not contaminated by man and in which the protagonists must venture to counter what appears to be a dangerous one alien threat. These adversaries are invading the planet Earth with troops of all kinds, among which we find not only simple soldiers but also huge armored creatures and vehicles with high stopping power.
And this is where the particular hybrid gameplay system comes into play, which should be based on that of one shooter with third person view which is flanked by a series of typical action mechanics. In the various sequences shown in the trailer, in fact, the soldiers they do not use covers and they do not limit themselves to fighting the opponent with firearms only: every fight is incredibly dynamic thanks to the use of melee weapons and a kind of grappling hook which could occupy an important role both in the combat system and in exploration.
This gadget is the real protagonist of the movie shown at the Nexon Showcase, as it is used by warriors in multiple ways and repeated times: we see for example one of the characters who snaps to a ledge to avoid a fatal fall or for project yourself towards the enemy. In one sequence the presence of scripted scenes is also suggested, such as that of a long slide during which the protagonist must avoid death by using a large enemy to be hooked with the grappling hook. This system, whose animations are very reminiscent of those of the same gadget seen in Sekiro Shadows Die Twice (by the way, here is our review of Sekiro Shadows Die Twice), could be very interesting in the game economy, although its yet to be verified. operation. In the movie it is not possible to understand in any way whether the use of the grapple is completely free or tied to predefined grips in a similar way to the FromSoftware title. Another element that can be guessed by analyzing the trailer is the presence of different playable classes, since the warriors shown in the video differ not only in their aesthetic appearance but also in the tools used.
One of the roles that certainly stands out in the images is the ‘colossus’ with heavy armor, which is in all likelihood a sort of tank that can face the enemy using both heavy melee weapons such as the two-handed hammer and a large repeater cannon that slows him down. There sorceress instead alternates firearms with the use of spells, among which the one contained in the reveal trailer stands out, thanks to which it freezes all the opponents present in the range of action of the skill.
Probably the third class it is instead based onuse of technological gadgets, since in one moment of the video a character throws a grenade whose explosion does not damage the enemies but attracts them all in one point: such a class could be fundamental in the team, if the synergies with the others are exploited properly. For example, we can already imagine possible combos with the sorceress area spells.
A big question mark is represented by the game structure, of which no details are currently known. The developers limited themselves to placing the project in the category of looter shooter but it is not clear if this is an open world in which players will be able to freely explore (also thanks to the grappling hook) large areas or just wander around smaller arenas linked exclusively to missions. The management of the equipment itself is still to be discovered and represents a fundamental element for the success of such an operation.
Cool graphics, but …
As specified by the developers themselves at the opening of the trailer with the wording “Actual engine and in-game footage”, every single frame shown was captured in-game. If the promises were to be kept and the title managed to maintain this quality in the final version, we would certainly find ourselves in front of one of the most beautiful products from the point of view of the quality of textures and models, especially if we consider its possible open world nature. .
Less impactful is instead the Artistic direction, which at first glance failed to surprise us, proposing a series of enemies, armor, weapons and settings whose style struggles to keep up with the graphic goodness. These are obviously preliminary impressions that take into account only the material shown, which in a product of this type represents a small percentage of the total.
In short, Project Magnum has caught our attention and, net of a not particularly original design of characters and aliens, it seems to have the right ideas to offer a frenetic and compelling experience. We just have to wait for new details from Nexon Korea, which for the moment has not confirmed the launch window of the game and has limited itself to announcing its arrival on “PC and console”.