Black Myth: Wukong
Black Myth: Wukong (黑神话:悟空) is an upcoming action role-playing game developed and published by Game Science. It is inspired by the 16th-century classical Chinese novel Journey to the West. It is scheduled to release for PlayStation 5 and Windows on August 20, 2024, with an Xbox Series X/S version slated for a later release.
| Black Myth: Wukong | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Game Science |
| Publisher(s) | Game Science |
| Producer(s) | Feng Ji Yang Qi |
| Artist(s) | Yang Qi |
| Engine | Unreal Engine 5[1] |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Action role-playing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Black Myth: Wukong | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 黑神话:悟空 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 黑神話:悟空 | ||||||
| |||||||
The game is reportedly the first installment in an expected Black Myth series, which will explore different stories in Chinese mythology.[2]
Gameplay
Black Myth: Wukong is an action role-playing game.[3][4][5] It is inspired by the classical Chinese novel Journey to the West.[6][7]
The player controls a monkey referred to as the Destined One,[3][4][8] who is based on Sun Wukong from the novel.[3][8] The character's primary weapon is a staff known as the Ruyi Jingu Bang.[5] The player can make use of the character's various abilities and spells, including transformation spells to change the character into a different creature or being.[3][5] One of the transformations is Guangzhi, a wolfman who wields a fire glaive.[3][5] The game has a skill tree to upgrade the character.[3][4]
The game follows a mostly linear progression interspersed with larger areas.[9] The enemies come as the various Yaoguai encountered throughout the world.[5][9]
Soundtrack
The game has been authorized by the China Central Television to use the theme song from its 1986 TV series Journey to the West.[10]
Marketing
On August 20, 2020, the developer Game Science released a trailer comprising gameplay in the pre-alpha build.[11] It demonstrates the game on Unreal Engine 4.[12] It shows a montage of the protagonist venturing through the world and fighting various foes.[12] Within one day, the video had nearly two million views on YouTube and ten million views on Bilibili.[13] The game had been in development for about two years by the time the video released.[2]
On February 8, 2021, Game Science released a promotional video in celebration of the upcoming year of the ox.[14] The footage does not represent the game's plot, but it gives a look to its visuals.[15]
On August 19, 2021, Game Science released an Unreal Engine 5 gameplay trailer.[16] It revealed that they made the move to develop the game on Unreal Engine 5.[17]
As of June 2024, the game is the most wishlisted on Steam according to SteamDB.[18]
Release
In a 2020 interview with IGN China, Game Science said that they planned to release the game no less than three years from then.[19] They aim to release the game for PC as well as mainstream consoles.[20] In January 2023, they released a short film for the upcoming year of the rabbit, which revealed that the game would be released in the summer of 2024.[21]
At The Game Awards 2023, Game Science released a trailer announcing the game's release date as August 20, 2024.[7][22] In June 2024, they announced that the Xbox Series X/S version was delayed for optimization on the platform.[23][24]
References
- Skrebels, Joe (August 19, 2021). "Black Myth: Wukong Switches to Unreal Engine 5 - Supports 4K, 60FPS, Ray Tracing, and More". IGN. Archived from the original on June 8, 2023.
- Young, Charles (September 11, 2020). "Black Myth: Wukong - The World Exclusive Story Behind the Breakout Action-RPG". IGN.
- Wood, Austin (June 16, 2024). "Black Myth: Wukong is easily among the best and best-looking action RPGs I've played in years, and after 2 hours hands-on I see why the devs don't call it a Soulslike". GamesRadar+.
- Smith, Mat (June 18, 2024). "Black Myth: Wukong is pretty, intriguing and as challenging as it looks". Engadget.
- Van Aken, Alex (August 20, 2024). "Black Myth: Wukong Preview - A Classic Tale Retold". Game Informer.
- Van Allen, Eric (August 20, 2020). "Black Myth: Wukong Is an Upcoming Soulslike Adaptation of a Classic Chinese Novel". USgamer. Archived from the original on August 23, 2020.
- Holiday, Charming (December 8, 2023). "Black Myth: Wukong Confirms 2024 Release Date". Game Rant. Archived from the original on December 10, 2023.
- Peachey, Jack (December 10, 2023). "Black Myth: Wukong's Character and Enemy Design Set It Apart From Other Soulslike Games". Game Rant.
- Nightingale, Ed (June 25, 2024). "Black Myth: Wukong is a brilliant boss rush, but is it a Soulslike?". Eurogamer.
- "《黑神话:悟空》获得86版《西游记》序曲"云宫迅音"正版授权 _ 游民星空". GamerSky (in Chinese). August 20, 2020. Archived from the original on November 7, 2021.
- "Black Myth: Wukong - 13 Minutes Official Gameplay Trailer". YouTube. Game Science. August 20, 2020.
- Hollis, Daniel (August 20, 2020). "'Black Myth: Wukong' announced with stunning gameplay footage". NME.
- Ye, Josh (August 21, 2020). "Black Myth: Wukong in race to become China's first AAA game". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on August 24, 2020.
- "Black Myth: Wukong - Chinese New Year greetings". YouTube. Game Science. February 8, 2021.
- Yin-Poole, Wesley (February 9, 2021). "Black Myth: Wukong re-emerges with another stunning gameplay video". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on February 11, 2021.
- "Black Myth: Wukong 12 Minutes UE5 Gameplay Test". YouTube. Game Science. August 19, 2021.
- Cryer, Hirun (August 20, 2021). "Black Myth: Wukong trailer reveals switch to Unreal Engine 5". GamesRadar+.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on June 17, 2024. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - Skrebels, Joe (September 11, 2020). "Black Myth: Wukong - 19 New Details We've Learned". IGN. Archived from the original on August 20, 2021.
- Skrebels, Joe (August 21, 2020). "Black Myth: Wukong Developer Responds to Huge Popularity of First Trailer". IGN. Archived from the original on August 23, 2020.
- Dinsdale, Ryan (January 16, 2023). "Black Myth: WuKong Launches Summer 2024". IGN. Archived from the original on March 13, 2023.
- LeBlanc, Wesley (December 7, 2023). "Black Myth: Wukong Gets August Release Date In New Gameplay Trailer". Game Informer. Archived from the original on December 8, 2023.
- Nightingale, Ed (June 7, 2024). "Black Myth Wukong won't be on Xbox at launch". Eurogamer.
- Schomer, Matthew (June 8, 2024). "Black Myth: Wukong Dev Has Bad News for Xbox Gamers". Game Rant.