Microsoft’s long-simmering Good Darkish reboot has been within the works for therefore lengthy, with such a fraught improvement historical past, I might mainly written the entire thing off. However in a primary look gameplay trailer at at present’s Xbox Video games Showcase, it regarded bafflingly good, a cyberpunk FPS, if not a full-on immersive sim that might fill the Deus Ex-shaped gap in my coronary heart.
The trailer begins with Joana Darkish halo leaping into some sort of superior arcology—later revealed to be Cairo in Egypt—with a power discipline defending it from local weather change-driven sandstorms raging exterior. Thus far, it is cool however only a cutscene—nonetheless we rapidly dive into some thrilling gameplay.
And hoo boy there’s lots to like right here. It opens with some non-combat exploration that critically piqued my curiosity—this might simply be one thing linear or restrictive, however Good Darkish seems just like the sort of immersive sim-adjacent exploration and social stealth I dwell for. Even when it is not fairly all that, I might be very happy if Good Darkish was a extra open-ended, sometimes-sneaky shooter alongside the traces of MachineGames’ Wolfenstein reboot.
After some strolling concerning the attractive metropolis, we see Darkish drop into some detective imaginative and prescient and sneak a recording of a guard to get previous a voice-locked door earlier than going crouch-walk-sneaky mode in a restricted space. She even breaks into some Dishonored-adjacent first-person parkour to clamber onto the roofs and balconies and break into her goal’s hidey gap.
Issues then get loud, with Darkish shifting right into a shooter part that exhibits off a choice of super-spy devices and strikes, together with electro-darts, takedowns, and a powerful volumetric smokescreen. Each the fight and sneaking appear to be they may very well be tight, although each are going to rely upon the sort of degree design high quality that is onerous to indicate off in a trailer. However with all this spycraft and elegance, Good Darkish seems prefer it may very well be the 2020s triple-A Deus Ex I did not assume I might get with Eidos Montreal’s Embracer-related troubles, and the Good Darkish reboot has gone from “who care” to “hotly anticipated” in my e-book.
It is all of the extra stunning as a result of, since getting introduced in 2020, Good Darkish has seen the departure of its challenge director, in addition to Tomb Raider studio Crystal Dynamics introduced in to help The Initiative on improvement. These aren’t good indicators, however no matter difficulties occurred behind the scenes, Good Darkish is wanting prefer it may very well be one thing particular when it lastly releases, although we don’t but have a window for that.
Picture 1 of 6
