There are a lot of battle royales now—enough that we could probably have a battle royale of battle royales in order to determine the ultimate battle royale. And while most of them seem entirely forgettable, Naraka: Bladepoint is one that I've been very keen to try because it's not about hiding in an abandoned, woodland cottage for 20 minutes until a circle on a map forces me to leave (I am not patient).
Instead, Naraka: Bladepoint is a martial arts battle royale where you play as a high-flying ninja with grappling hooks, katanas, and, oh right, a very big chainsaw.
During the PC Gaming Show, we got another look at Naraka: Bladepoint with its release date trailer, which brags about how popular the beta playtests have been. Judging by Naraka's Steam concurrent players people are not at all sick of battle royales yet. I'm not surprised that Naraka is already popular, though, because it does look cool. Instead of guns and hiding, Naraka is all about melee combat and aggression.
Every player has a grappling hook that they can use to zip around the environment or get up high into the trees to prepare an ambush. There are a few ranged weapons, like the bow, but most of the combat seems to happen up close with swords, spears, or fists, with players unleashing powerful combos and countering one another's attacks.
And now there's a giant chainsaw too, apparently. At the end of the trailer, developer 24 Entertainment reveals this new weapon. It really doesn't fit the martial arts theme, but I'm not going to turn down a perfectly good chainsaw. And I'm curious to see how this thing works: I'm not sure if it's a power weapon that you have to collect on the map, like Halo's Energy Sword, but the idea of sawing a ninja in half is exciting.
Naraka: Bladepoint launches on August 12 and is available now for preordering, with the basic edition costing $20.
