Hyper Light Breaker Exclusive First Hands-On Gameplay Preview: Dreaming a Tangerine Dream

ign.com:

If I could, I would spend hours in the world of Hyper Light Breaker doing nothing in particular. I’d settle my character on the edge of a bright pastel cliff and gaze into the distance, where crumbling skyscrapers and strange rock formations silhouette against a neon sky. I’d let the soothing electronic soundtrack wash over me and observe the way the day/night cycle changed the Shadow of the Colossus-sized broadsword protruding from the earth in the distance. Maybe I’d see if a friend wanted to chat with this ‘80s sci-fi novel cover as a backdrop, before hopping on a hoverboard and skating off into that whimsical, colorful horizon to see what’s beyond.

But Hyper Light Breaker will not let me roleplay truancy. I’m in the Overgrowth with a purpose: hunting the minions of the Abyss King. For my hands-on preview, developer Heart Machine plunked me into a pre-generated world suitable for a beginner, though in the full game each run will take place in a unique, procedurally generated world. My first foes are little slime creatures easily dispatched with a few sword swings. And I’m delighted to find that each hit feels just as solid and chonky as I hoped back in my original hands-off preview last year. Around a bend are bigger enemies – humanoid creatures with a bit more speed and damage behind them – so I take advantage of a homing melee attack to successfully chain together smooth combos between enemies. A bit further on, I fire a battery-powered gun to dispatch some snipers so I can safely proceed up a steep hill.

I tried three different pre-built loadouts for the demo, though in the final game you’ll be able to customize them however you like. My favorite melee weapon is a pair of knives, fast and snappy but weaker, and I struggle more with an enormous, slow, and hard-hitting broadsword. A shotgun proves useful against packs of wolves, but I like the subtle but helpful snap-aiming feature of the pistol when I spot some weird one-eyed bats flapping around in a nearby