Shadow Labyrinth is the coming near near 2D motion platformer from our group at Bandai Namco Studios the place gamers will keep an eye on Swordsman No.8, summoned to a mysterious planet by means of the enigmatic Puck to finish a undertaking the place others have failed. The 2 will uncover secrets and techniques and fight large bosses of their battle to continue to exist. The idea that of a gloomy Pac-Guy sport is daring new flooring for the logo, handing over a singular enjoy that current and new PAC gamers might be excited to dig into. Shadow Labyrinth emerges from the darkness on July 18.
Players will have spotted that Puck appears to be like fairly somewhat like Pac-Guy, and there’s the fantastic visible of an enormous foreboding and darkish Pac-Guy chomping down at the frame of a downed foe. However Shadow Labyrinth’s inspiration from Pac-Guy is greater than pores and skin deep, our group labored to construct from the bottom up with cautious attention of what it approach to be a Pac-Guy sport.
The enduring maze is 2nd handiest to Pac-Guy himself when bearing in mind the core elements of a Pac sport. We needed to use that concept to our sport the place the characters are simply as necessary because the position the place we discover them. Arcade Pac-Guy’s maze is immersive, and we would have liked to carry that to lifestyles on a broader scale. The map of this mysterious planet when considered zoomed out is itself a large maze, and prefer the unique Pac-Guy, you will have to get accustomed to the maze to perfect your enemies. The unique arcade sport’s maze was once set upon a background of darkness, Shadow Labyrinth takes this one step additional by means of having our tale happen within the depths of outer area on a gloomy and mysterious planet the place survival approach harder demanding situations in deeper ranges. You both succeed in the top or are fed on making an attempt.
While you method a Pac-Guy arcade device you’re greeted by means of a joystick, so we idea, controlling Pac-Guy is fairly easy, proper? It’s only a joystick. However as you move thru every degree the on-screen motion of dodging Ghosts will get intense. Shadow Labyrinth provides gamers a number of movements and guns to make use of, however we would have liked the participant inputs to really feel herbal, no longer overwhelming – like that easy joystick. We additionally sought after to offer the participant as a lot selection as imaginable, allowing them to make a selection which path they want to discover first. Like authentic arcade Pac-Guy, the motion in Shadow Labyrinth will get critically intense and we felt that an approachable keep an eye on scheme and the versatility to discover the instructions they’re excited by would lend a hand deepen participant immersion very similar to the unique arcade sport.
There are in reality 3 modes of play in Shadow Labyrinth. Controlling Swordsman No.8 is all about weapon use and artfully dodging, and Mini Puck mode is all about exploring hidden and out of succeed in pathways. Those in themselves really feel very Pac-Guy, however the 3rd mode of play is successfully Shadow Labyrinth’s model of a Energy Pellet: GAIA, the robot large with devastating pressure. The use of GAIA, gamers can harm enemies that may have in a different way been too sturdy, spoil thru boundaries (a connection with the arcade sport Tremendous Pac-Guy), and in reality devour enemies. However identical to a Energy Pellet, this energy isn’t never-ending, and will have to be used strategically to, as Pac-Guy fanatics say, “flip the tables” for your enemies.
Pac-Guy is at all times consuming Dots, Energy Pellets, and Ghosts to degree up and stay going. We needed to enlarge at the core thought of eating in Shadow Labyrinth to incorporate consuming to defeat foes but additionally consuming as a method of powering up. Within the sport, you’ll make a selection to devour enemies as a substitute of slashing them till defeated.
In case you do make a selection to devour them then you definately’ll acquire other sources relying at the enemy you’ve eaten. Those sources can then be used to obtain and improve your skills. So, in Shadow Labyrinth too you will have to devour to development, no longer handiest to get additional but additionally to develop from prey to the apex predator.
However the place are the Ghosts? We didn’t omit them. In Shadow Labyrinth, among lots of the vile creatures you will have to smash or be haunted by means of are the G-Hosts: parasitic organisms that experience taken over monsters and machines of the planet to create one thing new and terrifying. Those encounters function ambitious boss battles becoming for the principle antagonists of the arcade authentic. You’ll come upon the G-Hosts based totally upon Pac-Guy Ghosts equivalent to Pinky, by no means published till now, as twisted boss battles.
Shadow Labyrinth takes inspiration from the legacy of video games within the style in addition to being constructed the usage of the DNA of Pac-Guy. However eagle-eyed avid gamers have already began to note clues that Shadow Labyrinth takes position within the higher chronology of the UGSF (United Galaxy House Power) timeline: a shared universe that connects lots of Bandai Namco’s space-themed video games. As gamers discover the large map of Shadow Labyrinth’s global, they’ll come upon some acquainted taking a look enemies like the ones from the Dig Dug sequence, Bosconian, and extra.
Shadow Labyrinth involves PlayStation 5 on July 18!
