Marvel’s Blade has only shared a reveal teaser and a few concept art images thus far, and yet it seems like it’s been far more transparent and informative than many other in-development Marvel games. It’s abundantly clear what tone Arkane has instilled in Marvel’s Blade, its artistic direction seems purposeful, and it also appears as if players have already seen the assortment of weapons Eric Brooks will have equipped.

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Marvel’s Blade is a Third-Person Action Game

Concept art shows how Eric might interact with Marvel’s Blade’s dystopian Paris, but gameplay is still anyone’s guess. Ordinary combat will probably rely on melee with Blade’s katana primarily and his revolver as a long-ranged weapon, and that might be all it needs to be successfully engaging.

A Katana and a Revolver May Be All Marvel’s Blade Needs

Games like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice prove that even if supplementary tools and options are available in combat, a default weapon being thoroughly satisfying on its own may be the only mechanic players need to rely on. This will hopefully be true of Marvel’s Blade if Eric’s swordplay is as engaging as Wolf’s, though the two games aren’t likely to be similar in any way.

Blade hasn’t always been known to be as much of a one-man army as, say, Marvel’s Punisher, but if he’s knowingly inhabiting a vampire-ridden Paris and has armed himself to deal with that ghoulish presence it is a little alarming that he doesn’t seem better prepared. The teaser and concept art depict Blade wearing seemingly inconspicuous clothing and not some sort of body armor, for instance.

Arkane is going with a more stylish approach to Blade’s design and that’s certainly for the best since it avoids looking as overly designed as MCU costumes tend to. Indeed, Marvel’s Blade may be the most artistically creative Marvel endeavor in the last while, and its simplicity seems key to it being authentic and original.

How Stakes and Grenades Could Influence Gameplay in Marvel’s Blade

That simplicity then carries over into what Blade carries with him aside from his katana and revolver—what looks like stakes lining his coat and some kind of grenades strapped to his torso. He doesn’t have more than can be carried comfortably, which suggests he arms himself for efficiency and aesthetics since he’s also wearing a classic pair of white-bottomed sneakers.

If it is stakes Blade has in his coat, it’s not difficult to imagine how those might be employed in combat, perhaps in active finishers where Blade gets to eviscerate and disintegrate vampires where they stand. Grenades have the most potential in terms of their diversity, whether they’re basic fragmentation grenades or grenades that burst with some sort of status ailment affecting vampires in an AoE.

Eric Might Have Supernatural Dhampir Abilities in Marvel’s Blade

But even with stakes and grenades, this is a tremendously small number of mechanics players would need to worry about, leaving combat to feel simple and easy to grasp so long as it is smooth and responsive like Blade’s sans-tsuba katana suggests. Instead, these physical weapons might all be supplemented with vampiric abilities the dhampir may be able to tap into, mainly because it would feel odd at this point for an Arkane Lyon game not to feature a take on Dishonored’s iconic Blink.

Marvel's Blade

Marvel's Blade is in development at Arkane Lyon, which developed Deathloop and Dishonored. It is a mature single-player third-person adventure game set in Paris, where players take on the role of the titular and beloved comic book hero.

Franchise

Marvel

Developer(s)

Arkane Studios

Publisher(s)

Bethesda Softworks