Thanks to Annapurna Interactive and Summer Game Fest, I was able to play the upcoming 3rd-person, over-the-shoulder action-adventure mech game, Bounty Star. During my gameplay, I received a tutorial from Benjamin Ruiz, the founder and creative director of DINOGOD, the developers of this title. A key point emphasized about Bounty Star is that it has a big narrative story centered around the main character, Clem, a broken but powerful war veteran. The demo starts off at Clem’s homestead, where you will be able to take missions, customize your mech, cook stat-boosting meals, craft weapons, and even go shopping for missing resources.
While the home/farm management system is a significant aspect of the game, it is not essential; choosing not to engage with it will simply result in spending more of the profits earned from bounties. Crafting ammo at home before embarking on a hunt is one way to offset the cost. Also, something that stood out during my 30-minute demo was that everything has a grounded-in-story reason for why it is happening; even the act of grinding previously completed missions for extra money has a story element to it.
The Morose Tale of Graveyard Clem
On to the meat and potatoes, the gameplay! The mech combat is fast-paced and built around a highly customizable mech. There are numerous quality-of-life features, including the ability to equip two loadout slots that can be switched at any given time. Management of your mech’s temperature is vital. Enemy attacks can negatively impact your temp, leading to the mech stalling mid-combat. Giant baseball bats, rocket launchers, and various other guns made up the arsenal that was available during the demo. The combat portion of the game takes place in an open area with a wide range of enemies, such as mechs and large, heavy-hitting humans called “Burners.” Completing a bounty requires you to kill the bounty target and all of the enemies in the area. After the mission, Clem takes time to journal about her thoughts and feelings about what happened during the mission, giving you a deep look into who she is.
Bounty Star Key Features
- Customizable Mech Action
You pilot the Desert Raptor MKII, a Mech of extraordinary power. It is a highly-customizable battle vehicle that can be equipped with a variety of offensive systems: heavy, high-powered melee weapons, steam powered hydraulic siege weapons, explosive firearms, and more. It can also be equipped with a variety of defensive systems; high-speed thrusters, boosters for dashing, riot shields, among others. - Become a bounty hunter
The Red Expanse is a rich farming and mercantile region plagued by violent criminals and dangerous beasts. The government that remains outsources justice to experts like Clem—bounty hunters who are free to pursue their targets into whatever dangerous corners of the world they hide. She’ll fight her way through many corners of the region and deal with these marks as she sees fit. - Repair and upgrade your homestead
Clem comes into an isolated and run-down garage that serves as a suitable base of operations and home—just barely. Build out water and power supply lines, grow and cook food, produce ammunition and fuel for combat, and raise animals. This decrepit ruin has a lot of potential, but it will have to grow alongside Clem.
There is no official release date at this time, but this hack-and-slash mech bounty hunting game will be making its way to Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC. If you like deep stories and high-intensity mech battles, you should be adding Bounty Star to your wishlist on your preferred platform.
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