Quantic River is a cyber-ninja game with Spider-Versey art and an emphasis on parries and counters
Last week I wrote up an irreverent cyberpunk ninja game called Ninja Issen. The just announced Quantic River, which Graham tossed into the Maw last night, is that game played straight. In Fluidfury Interactive's new dystopian slasher, you are a resurrected cyborg who, for reasons not currently given, must katana the limbs off a bunch of other dudes in a lean and nasty 2.5D metropolis.
I hate the trailer writing, which contains such all-time bangers as "You are a weapon - sharpen yourself". I'm also thoroughly turned off by the trailer music, which has all the personality of a Windows start-up jingle. But I do like the game's deliberately jittery character animations, which recall Into The Spider-Verse, and I'm quite keen on its glowering blue-on-red city backdrop. Most of all, I like the sound of its combat, which hinges on parries, blocks, deflections and counters. Here's that trailer.
As you can see, it's not just about slicing people up. You'll also get to murder innocent concrete pillars and crates, non-literally hack doors and automated turrets, explore for different routes with a view to avoiding bloodshed and, of course, upgrade yourself with augmentations. Setpieces include riding on the roof of a hovercar. The platforming seems fairly heavy-footed and calculated - there's no sign of wall-kicking and aerial dashing so far, and not much in the way of gunplay, either. Again, I can dig it. I'm in the mood for a cyberswording game that puts the emphasis on duels.
It's coming to Steam, GOG and the Epic Games Store - release date TBD. They're also planning to launch a Kickstarter shortly.
I am appalled to learn that RPS doesn't have a best ninja games feature. If we did, here are some games I would put on it:
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