Bastion Previews

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Written by WorstUsernameEver on June 16th, 2011

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The Big Lebowski bit is the voice-over. Throughout the game, the Landstalker-style isometric visuals are accompanied by a continual narration that captures all the laconic charm of Sam Elliot in that cult Coen Brothers flick. And cleverly, this voice comments on every player action: bump into enemies, draw a sword, or fall off the side of the gameworld, and the story-teller seamlessly builds it into his drawl.

It's a lovely system that marries story and interactivity in an innovative and charming way. It also conjoins perfectly with the presentation, in which the game environment physically builds itself just in front of you as you move, as though your actions are prodding the world in to life. Perhaps it's a smart metaphor for the gaming experience, the whole interplay between designer and player. Or it could just be a nice graphical effect. Whatever, it works.

The combat is fairly basic action-RPG fare with a slew of weapons to beat down the enemies released by the Calamity. At first, The Kid finds his trusty big ole hammer amongst the rubble, which is great for bashing skulls at close range, but when it's time to take on guys from a distance, the revolver is a necessary addition to his armory. And he has a shield that he can sometimes use to bash an enemy's projectile attack back at them.

However, rather than the usual looting of tons of different weapons, The Kid opts to hold on to the ones he gets for the whole game, choosing to customize them instead. Occasionally, he'll come across bits and pieces that he can use to upgrade his weapons at a blacksmith's shop, such as a bigger weight to add more power to his hammer. If he hops next door to the distillery, he can pick out tonics to upgrade his abilities. Who knew booze could add 10% to your base damage?

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