One of the biggest surprises of The Game Awards was the reveal of Marvel's Blade, a third-person, single-player project developed by none other than Arkane Lyon and published by Bethesda Softworks. We caught our first glimpse of the highly anticipated game through a teaser trailer that was released during its unveiling. But even when that was more than enough to make us excited, we now have our latest look at Arkhane's upcoming project thanks to newly released concept art which you can see right here.
Aside from giving us our best look yet at the Vampire Hunter himself, the concept art confirms some details of the game such as its setting, its graphical style, and maybe even its rating. But before we delve into all the hidden secrets of the concept art, here's the teaser trailer for Marvel's Blade in case you missed it:
A city in distress
Marvel's Blade will take place in the heart of Paris, a city taken hostage by supernatural phenomena. Due to the constant threat of vampires taking over the streets, a quarantine zone was set to prevent further damage. This can be confirmed in the first concept art released thanks to a sign that reads "couvre feu: sortie interdite" which translates to "curfew: exit prohibited".
Does that mean the city will be deserted and devoid of life aside from the monsters roaming its streets? Well, it's safe to say that won't be the case. In the second concept art, we see many people waiting in line to enter a nightclub with Blade watching in the foreground.
Even a supernatural emergency isn't enough to make people stay inside their homes, which is great for us players as it could make for a city filled with NPCs that can deliver sidequests and interesting stories.
Unique visuals
Unsurprisingly, Arkane's signature art style is present in every concept art revealed so far. That's an excellent sign since Arkane is the studio behind insanely stylish games such as Deathloop and the Dishonored series. While neither game aims to have photorealistic graphics, they differentiate themselves by having a truly unique presentation.
If you've played Deathloop, you know that the flashy text that appears onscreen and the vibrant colors of the island of Blackreef add a lot to the immersion of the game. With that in mind, we can't see how the experienced developer portrays a decaying city filled with nightmarish creatures and vampires in every corner. One thing is for certain, though: it is bound to look amazing thanks to Arkane's great art style.
A mature game
While Marvel's Blade is far from having an official rating yet, it looks like Arkane wants it to be played by a mature audience. The first concept art has two corpses lying just beside Blade with blood dropped on the floor, indicating the encounters with enemies will surely be violent. Besides, Bethesda's official page describes its upcoming project as a "mature, single-player, third-person game".
Even if it seems like a no-brainer that a game featuring Blade would be targeting an older audience, it's still nice to get an official confirmation.
Marvel's Blade has reportedly been in development for almost two years now. While that may seem like a lot, we're still far away from getting our hands on it taking into account how long it takes to develop a fully-fleshed modern video game. So while we wait for it to hit shelves be sure to stick to Bam! Smack! Pow! where we'll break down the latest news regarding Arkane's highly anticipated project.