Blade Assault Impressions – Cyberpunk Meets Rougelite

Futuristic action games are my jam, and that’s what immediately caught my attention in Blade Assault. This rogue-lite title features fast-paced combat with options on how you’d like to progress, making for a replayable adventure.

Blade Assault is set after humanity discovered a powerful new resource called the Red Stones. A massive conflict broke out over who could seize the most stones for themselves, and naturally, war ensued, which left most of Earth to ruin. Many of its residents were left to rot in the underground wastelands that lie below.

You play as Kil, a rebel of the underground who escaped from the prison in Esperanza after being caught and given the death penalty. After his escape, he suffers a massive blow and falls to the corrupted wastelands area below the main city.

Now, seeking revenge against the man who killed his parents, you’ll traverse through stages, fighting your way through enemies to get back to Esperanza and enact your vengeance. However, Kil won’t be the only playable character, with the developers stating that four playable characters will be made available in the full version.

As you progress through the stages, you’ll acquire currency, which you can use to upgrade your sword, increase your abilities in the field, and increase your stats. Being a rogue-lite title, death will send you back to the beginning, but you can also end your run by selecting “Give Up” from the menu.

Enemies become stronger over time as your “Risk Level” increases. While you can spend your resources to reduce the level, it’s a good idea to challenge yourself. Increasing your Risk Level also increases the amount of loot you’ll get upon defeating an enemy, so if you are willing to take a risk and show off your crazy skills, you’ll surely have an abundance of resources at your disposal.

There’s a large number of currency in the game, but you will mainly use Red Stones, which can be used to buy items that grant buffs, reduce the Risk Level, and also heal your HP, if necessary. You also use those Red Stones to open chests in the stages. Each chest will contain three items, of which you’ll need to pick one. You can also imbue your weapons with three different elements: Thunder, Fire, and Ice. Each element can inflict a different type of effect, so I suggest experimenting with them to see which element would be useful for yourself.

There’s an intriguing narrative in Blade Assault with a nice game roguelike loop. While there’s still a lot of content that has yet to be released, I’m sure the Early Access period will provide the developers with just the right amount of feedback, allowing them to make the necessary changes as the game continues to be in development.

Blade Assault is planned to release for PC on Steam in 2021.