Naraka: Bladepoint, by China’s 24 Entertainment, believes it has what it takes to shake up the status quo of the battle royale genre's 'big four': Apex Legends, Call Of Duty: Warzone, Fortnite and PUBG. In the latest issue of Edge magazine, on-sale now, we talk to the studio about the importance of player freedom, and how Naraka: Bladepoint’s “unchained” approach might just turn that group of four into a five.
The game’s grappling hook is a huge part of what distinguishes its epic 60-player battles, letting you set up ambushes or make a swift escape when you’re in trouble. You can latch onto other players to knock them off balance and turn the tables, while each melee weapon comes with horizontal and vertical attacks – just make sure your opponent doesn’t parry your blows, or you could find yourself suddenly disarmed.
Watch Naraka: Bladepoint in action during the Future Games Show above.
With its recent beta attracting hundreds of thousands of players, the signs are good for Naraka: Bladepoint, and 24 Entertainment’s Raylan Kwan believes it offers a more dynamic play experience from its battle royale peers - not least at the start of each match. “The early game [in other battle royales] is kind of boring,” Kwan notes. “It’s just loot, loot, loot. You do that for the first 15 minutes and then, bang, you get sniped from someone you never even see, and you’re dead.”
Naraka’s restoration system attempts to rectify that, giving you a second chance when things go wrong early on. As a spirit, you can float around and reincarnate at altars spread across the map, albeit with the most basic weapons – unless you can make it back to your corpse and retrieve your gear.
And you’re not limited to melee combat either, with bows, muskets and even flamethrowers to find. As veteran producer Ray Kuan explains, “The idea is to provide as many options, and as few boundaries, as possible.”
Highlights from Edge magazine issue 361
Elsewhere, we take a comprehensive look at what we’ll charitably call ‘E3 2021’, picking out the 100 best games from the bewildering array featured during this year’s summer showcases, from Metroid Dread to Elden Ring and beyond. We have a candid conversation with Glen Schofield about his 30-year career to date, and how he’s looking to recapture the spirit of Dead Space with forthcoming sci-fi horror The Callisto Protocol. And we examine the phenomenon that is Roblox, and how it’s become impossible for the wider industry to ignore.
All this, plus reviews of Klei’s excellent Griftlands and Bandai Namco’s surprising Scarlet Nexus, a look back at the bold experiment that was the original Assassin’s Creed and much more can be found in E361, which is on sale now in print and digital - follow the links below for our latest single-issue and subscriber offers.
Edge 361 is in UK shops now, and can also be ordered for delivery via Magazines Direct. To buy the issue digitally, head to Apple’s App Store or PocketMags.
