Impressions from playing Stellar Blade

It may come as a surprise to some, but the “main attraction” of a curvy heroine, Eva, with her strong curves and tight uniform, wasn’t what got me interested in this game. After all, I probably prefer the more realistic curves of the characters in Death Stranding, and I also find the physical “jiggling” of Eva’s various body parts to be overdone. But I have a soft spot for mysterious sci-fi with an interesting central mystery, and the last time I got one of those was three years ago with Returnal. To my very pleasant surprise, after starting the demo for Stellar Blade, it was this factor that almost immediately got me hooked on the game, because its opening sequence is simply stunning.

In it, we watch as landing ships with strikingly biblical iconography (statues of angels on the bow) arrive at planet Earth, from the surface of which a huge salvo of missiles is immediately launched, which the fleet then attempts to zig-zag the landing ship towards the planet’s surface. It’s a gripping cinematic sequence, backed by a thrilling orchestral score. The destruction of the entire fleet is surprisingly swift and brutal, as are most of the landing ships before they even land. However, a few manage to land, and out of one of them “pops” your playable character, the lovely Eve.

The entire sequence is absolutely masterful, from the content to the form, from the filmography to the aforementioned music. But the game’s first steps across the chaotic battlefield are no less impressive. Accompanied by a more experienced companion named Tahi, you tear through the first waves of alien monsters that have infested the planet and that you’ve come to liberate it from. They’re called “Naitiba,” and they’re most reminiscent of the Thing from the movie of the same name, in that they’re often absurd mishmashes of flesh and limbs rearranged into absurd shapes. As you mow down the first one, debris from crashed spaceships is still falling around you.

The highly narrative sequence also serves as a basic combat tutorial that may remind you of the Devil May Cry series – it’s very acrobatic, although you’ll have to gradually unlock a number of advanced holds or combos by playing through the skill tree, unlocked by gaining experience points. What may pleasantly surprise you is the brutality and bloodiness of the fights. The authors clearly knew the game would receive a high age rating, so they didn’t skimp on these things. Of course, this makes the fights more brutal and real.

During the fight, you can see a few other female fighters nearby, but they are gradually destroyed by the sheer force of the monsters. It’s not entirely clear from the dialogue whether Eva and her cohorts are robots, humans, clones, or something similar, but if I were to lean toward one based on the directions, they’re probably special combat androids with strikingly human-like characteristics. At the end of this sequence, you’ll encounter a fairly large and monstrous boss where you’ll need to counter and dodge to survive its devastating attacks. Either way, the entire landing ends in disaster.

After a brief time jump, Eva sets out on another adventure alone, or more precisely, accompanied by a flying drone, remotely controlled by a pilot named Adam. At this point, it’s impossible to ignore the obvious parallels with the cult game Nier: Automata, where a sexy female robot warrior was accompanied by a drone, cutting through a post-apocalyptic Earth swarming with enemy fighters. But this is a very high bar, at least in terms of overall artistic ambitions and story, so we’ll see how a game from a virtually unknown Korean studio copes with it.

However, there is one front on which the game can stand up to its models and competitors from the start – the audiovisual treatment. The technical and aesthetic quality is at a very high level, and the design of some monsters or equipment is really great, as is the impressive filmography of the story scenes or the animation of the characters during the fight. The game is released exclusively for the PlayStation 5 console and seems to be optimized to order, including three graphic modes (quality, balance, performance). I played in performance mode and did not have any problems with the gameplay or any other technical aspects. The DualSense controller also has good support for haptic feedback.

What I also really liked was the slight slowdown in exploration and combat after that initial wild playthrough. The next section on deserted streets is much more methodical and atmospheric, more reminiscent of FromSoftware games than the Devil May Cry series. Of course, I was also reminded of another “under-the-radar” Korean game from last year, Lies of P. From what I’ve managed to try so far, I have very promising hopes that, like last year’s Korean hit, this year’s game will also manage to surprise with its atmosphere and thoughtful gameplay.

While I only got to try out hand-to-hand combat in the demo, the impressive trailer at the end of the demo also promises several types of firearms and atmospheric transitions in darkened interiors. The game feels like an exciting, and sometimes even frightening, journey into the bowels of an infested planet, among grotesque monsters and terrifying bosses. Because it’s so enjoyable to both control and play, Stellar Blade has risen very high on my list of most anticipated games since the demo. Try it and see if you feel the same way when the demo goes public on Friday, March 29.

Stellar Blade is coming to PlayStation 5 on Friday, April 26, 2024.