The a masterpiece in any art form is something that all Artist strive to have associated to his or her name and its incredible unlikely to be your first even 50th attempt that gets you recognised as a genius of what you do, In the form of Bastion Supergaint games showed all other game developers how to make a game not just a fun game but a totally cinematic, emotional engaging and game that will act as a reminder gamers for many years to come why they play games. Bastion is a hack n slash at its core with finely RPG elements that complement how you play the game. The game was first released on Xbox arcade but that does not mean the PC port was a after thought, the controls have been totally mapped so the game works well on QWERTY key board but mouse control can be a bit fiddle in terms of aiming if your not used to how a isometric view point works, that said after a few minutes with your chosen weapon of choice you will be dispatching evil do'ers as a pro.
The games story is a simple one, your character "the Kid" (you never learn his true name) wakes up and finds that the world around him has been destroyed in the event know as the Calamity and his choice now is to seek out the last safe haven known as the Bastion. The story is told by a honey voiced narrator whose smooth tones keep the story engaging, especially since the narration system is based exactly on what the kid is doing at that moment in time, for instance the kid may have just been engaged with a boss but left before dealing the finishing blow and the narrator will comment on how all that hard work has been wasted but if you had instead killed the beast he would instead remark on the Kids prowess with the weapon used to dispatch. No narration is ever repeated so you may find your self playing the game several times just to hear every word the narrator says. World around is a key player in any game worth its salt in today games and the world of Bastion is simply breathtaking in both its simplicity and its presentation, the world is filled with watercolours that look as though they have been painted by a true master of the art. As the Kid travels around the world, pieces of the old world before the calamity fly up to meet your feet and guide you towards your objective, the game could be said to be very linear it's nature but there are often points you will leave the beaten path and explore the fascinating world around you and you are often rewarded for this with new items to upgrade your weapons.
The RPG parts of the game are simply to pick up but have lots of room for customisation of your characters personal fighting style depending on your preferences, for Instance I used a Dual Pistol and Rifle build for my Kid so would invest heavily into upgrades for these two weapons. for each weapon there are 10 potential upgrades but you must choose only 5 of these to make your weapon truly unique, aside from guns their are hammers, blade, rocket launchers, machine guns, bows , flame-throwers, grenade launchers, spears and even a battering ram, alongside this large selection weapons you can also choose a special skill that requires black tonic to use so you are limited in your use of these (one of these skills is a loving nod to the portal series) with the weapons available their are also passive tonics and ales the Kid equips at the Bastion to give him passive bonuses and new abilities, alongside the tonics the Kid can pray at a shrine and can make the game harder for the reward of extra experience.
As a Game Bastion is head and shoulders above most of the top selling games on the market and I do hope that Quality of this calibre will go rewarded and from initial reports the game is selling remarkably well for a new IP. So if you fancy a change from multilayer camp fests and want a truly artistic single player story driven experience I whole Heartedly recommend Bastion.
I feel obligated to mention that you can buy the game on Steam and other digital distrubution sites over the coming weeks for £11.49 in the UK but I would recommend buying the soundtrack edition as the soundtrack of this game is simply the best I've heard in a game.
Editorial notice: my Next review will be either of the a older Death Spank Game or of the newest one "The Baconing
http://supergiantgames.com/ Please check these guys out and stay alert for any new projects in the future.
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