Torn Banner Studios’ upcoming arena brawler, Mirage: Arcane Warfare, lives up to its name in more ways than one. We’ll get brief glimpses of its brutal hack-and-slash combat, witness its vengeful mages lop off limbs with vicious sword strikes and explosive fireballs… then it’ll slip back into the development cycle shadows. A new interview video released by Torn Banner today, though, gives us a behind-the-scenes glimpse into just what its developers are thinking when they’re designing Mirage.
You can watch the video below:
Most successful games have one central them which unifies their gameplay and their aesthetics. For Mirage, it’s gore, a subject which its developers are happy to discuss with its fans.
Mirage – which has been designated by its creators as a “First-Person Slasher” – is designed to be a “hardcore game.” Combat is punishing and intense, and deaths often result with one or more of your limbs rolling around in the high-contrast sands of Mirage. It’s a game that Torn Banner assures us will take a long time to master.
If that’s the case, then how does Torn Banner plan on retaining newer players who might be put off by literally being beaten into a pulp over and over again?
Here’s where the gore comes in. Characters will become bloodier and bloodier as they take more damage. Because players cannot see each others’ health bars, they will need to be on the lookout for players who look torn up to pick fights. In this way, Mirage’s gore operates on a mechanical level.
At the same time, Mirage’s gore is intended to turn the game into “a giant stressball.” The sheer amount of violence that takes place in Mirage’s pristine, boldly colored arenas lends the game a flavor of dark comedy that gamers who have played Chivalry: Medieval Warfare will recognize as one of Torn Banner’s trademarks. Combat, and the chopping of body parts that goes with it, has a weight to it that is meant to make skilled players feel “invincible” after slaughtering their foes. It’s the appeal of achieving this level of savage satisfaction that Torn Banner claims will pull players back into the fray.
The interview video may not have shown much in the way of an actual match, but Mirage won’t vanish for long. Torn Banner will be present at E3’s PC Gaming Show starting at 11:30 AM PDT on Monday, June 13th 2016. Steve Piggott, President of Torn Banner Studios, will give an exclusive talk on the game’s combat mechanics (and probably more detail on its gore).
Mirage: Arcane Warfare is projected to release some time in 2016 on Steam. Its beta will take place this summer, and you can sign up for it here. For more information on Mirage’s backstory and gameplay, you can read an AMA Torn Banner conducted back in March. You can also follow its Facebook and Twitter pages for the latest news on everything Mirage.