One of the surprise reveals of 2020 game from Chinese development studio Game Science Interactive Technology and its debut game, Black Myth: Wukong. Based on the classic 16th century novel, Journey to the West, players control Sun Wukong, the monkey king, in a third person action adventure experience that pulls gameplay from games like Dark Souls. The debut trailer captured the attention of fans thanks in large part to the impressive visuals, even in a pre-alpha state.
The trailer quickly went viral, grabbing nearly 2 million views on YouTube and 10 million on the Chinese video site known as BillBill in just 24 hours while also becoming a massive headline story across the internet. However, what may have been more impressive is that the 13 minute footage was originally uploaded to attract additional employees to help the small team rather than gaining popularity. While the game went dark shortly after, it has resurfaced once more to celebrate the Chinese New Year with an all new trailer that focuses on previously unseen game footage and mechanics.
While 10 minutes shorter, this latest trailer is much more cinematic in showing various shots of the landscape, mixed with an orchestral backing score. The world depicted in the trailers appears dusty and desolate with plenty of ruins, dried up plants, and animalistic creatures ready to attack players. It's worth noting that the developer makes it clear that this Black Myth: Wukong trailer was made specifically to celebrate Chinese New Year and does not actually represent the plot.
Still, the highlight of the trailer for many is the fluid combat as Sun Wukong takes on a variety of enemy types from smaller rat-like creatures, to massive bosses that tower over the landscape such as the impressive looking Ox creature. In addition to dodging and parrying attacks, the trailer also shows off a number of magical abilities including what appears to be an electrical-based attack, a stasis ability to slow enemies, cinematic finishers, as well as the numerous transformation powers.
Based on the response to the first gameplay footage, the marketing effort for new talent appears to have paid off for Game Science. The latest trailer hints that the team is growing with new talent, though the game is still under development and does not yet have a release date or targeted platforms. It's clear that Game Science founder Feng Ji will stop at nothing short at perfection however, as they were very critical of the debut gameplay, going as far as highlighting all of the issues in the 13 minute trailer he intends to fix. Either way, Feng Ji promised the team was happy about the popularity, but doesn't intend to let it go to their heads.
Black Myth: Wukong is currently in development for PC and unspecified platforms.