Annapurna Interactive and DINOGOD’s upcoming action-adventure Bounty Star is well on its way to release, with an October 23 launch date right around the corner. We had a chance to play a quick demo, introducing us to a world of 3D action, mech combat, customization, farming, and base building.
Right away, the demo slot us into the role of a broken, but powerful ex-soldier named Clem. She’s a war veteran who just happens to be a talented fighter and an expert mech pilot. As she attempts to shed the guilt of her past, she works to become a force for good in an area known as the Red Expanse – a post-post-apocalyptic version of the American Southwest.
That backdrop opens from the jump, and we’re treated to a quiet opening in a place Clem calls home. It’s framed as a “day in the life,” and it’s easy to see why. Following a quick call, Clem can explore and check off tasks from a list located at the top of the screen.
These tasks range from simple, daily life activities such as eating a meal, grabbing mail, and collecting water, to accepting bounties, which make up the core of the combat-based missions away from home.
Within those tasks, Clem can do things like individual cooking, where she’ll need specific ingredients to make dishes listed in a recipe book. There are other books she can find and read as well, which expand her knowledge of the game.
At her home, Clem can also prepare fuel, equip and paint her mech, and craft melee weapons and ammunition. There’s really a lot to do, just enjoying the life simulation aspect of Bounty Star. You could probably spend hours tinkering around and even working on your skills by taking part in some target practice.
Further customization comes into play with Clem’s mech, or the Desert Raptor MKII. This is important because it lets you mess around with different weapons like a knife or hammer, or different guns, and you can test them out for yourself out on the actual missions.
These missions, or bounties, are initiated by accepting them from the map in Clem’s home. There are two available for this demo, “The Full Moon Gang”, and “Bad Business”.
The first bounty takes place up north in a place called Coyote Wash, where a large gang has taken up residence. The goal? Take them out, because they’re all too dangerous.
The second bounty is located in the south of the map and requires Clem to knock out a bunch of heavy equipment. So it’s not all just sweeping up enemies – it seems there are different types of missions, all of which have hefty pay-outs.
Engaging with each bounty is relatively simple, and Clem is pretty much dropped into the fray right away. The Desert Raptor takes a bit to get used to, but it’s a powerful tool against the different types of opponents. Ranged weaponry is useful against flying enemies, while melee strikes can take out those on the ground. Clem can engage a target lock-on, too, just to be safe.
It can feel overwhelming at first, and if Clem fails (that is, the Raptor is too damaged), she’ll be asked to restart or you can just head back to base. A lot of it seems to come down to using the Desert Raptor’s tools and recognizing the most effective way to dispatch different enemy types. There’s also some practice dummies around for weapons testing, which was a nice little detail.
While the Bounty Star demo doesn’t go on too long outside of the life sim and bounty activities, it’s pretty clear there’s going to be a lot to do here. There’s a whole map we haven’t explored, or can explore at this point, but that’s what the full game is hopefully for.
So far, Bounty Star seems like a unique twist on the daily life genre, so we’ll just have to see how Clem’s full story fits into all of that when it releases next month.
TechRaptor received a preview code for Bounty Star from the developer, all screenshots were taken during the preview.
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