E3 2016: ReCore is a Colour-Coded Action Game With Brains

E3 2016: ReCore is a Colour-Coded Action Game With Brains

19
Richard Walker

The Force Awakens was good wasn't it? ReCore is a bit like the latest Star Wars film, in that its heroine Joule is a desert-dwelling scavenger who rolls with her robot buddy that is admittedly nothing like BB-8. Instead, Mack is an energetic, yapping mechanical canine, and one of Joule's only remaining friends on the planet of New Eden, humanity's great hope for the future following planet Earth being wiped out. Incidentally, ReCore's story doesn't seem all that far fetched.

With the human race seemingly wiped out, Far Eden's terraforming effort begins in earnest, but soon goes mysteriously quiet. Awoken from cryosleep, Joule joins forces with Mack and the duo embark upon a quest to find out what happened and get work back on track, as the terraforming project's robot workers malfunction and set off on a rampage. That's the story in a nutshell, but at its centre, Executive Producer Keiji Inafune promises “compelling gameplay and design” for ReCore.

Cast to one side the sour taste Inafune's Mighty No. 9 might have left in your mouth recently. For ReCore, the Mega Man maestro has robust support in former Metroid Prime director Mark Pacini's studio Armature, and Destiny and Halo writer and co-creator Joseph Staten on narrative scribe duties. There's some good pedigree on board for ReCore, and some great ideas at play too, including a neat colour-coded gunplay mechanic that ensures you'll need to engage your brain before pulling the trigger. Lock-on aim, meanwhile, ensures you can run around, evading enemies while blasting away.

Joule is also equipped with a slim exo suit that enables her to double jump, dash and mantle between platforms, while her weapon is able to change its 'colour affinity' to deal double damage to enemies that match its colour. ReCore's robotic antagonists come in four different colours, and they all see Joule and Mack as a threat. As such, you'll need to choose the correct colour to blast them with to maximise the impact of your attacks, whether it's red, blue, yellow or white.

Joule can also conjure a charged shot using her rifle, able to blast through debris blocking her path, or knock enemies back with its powerful blast. She's also armed with an 'extractor' that can be tethered to the cores of enemies, enabling her to yank them out of ReCore's malfunctioning robot baddies. The extractor pulls so-called 'robo keys' from doors too, unlocking the route into new areas. Some enemies can also only be defeated by exposing and tearing out their cores.

Fighting spider-like robots with different coloured ammunition, imbued with different effects, is just one string to ReCore's bow. Mack also helps out Joule with supporting blue electrical damage, while other mechanical companions you'll meet during your journey, like friendly spider bot Seth, who supports Joule with different helpful attributes. You can swap to different partners with a tap of LB, tagging them in as support like in Marvel vs. Capcom, according to developer Armature. Mack, meanwhile, will also dig like a dog beneath the sand to find hidden items.

During enemy encounters and boss battles (some of which change colours to keep you on your toes), you'll also be able to rack up combos that in turn increase your damage output, weakening enemies enough to prime them for a core extraction to finish the fight. Shielded enemy defences can also be broken using a charged shot and Joule can level up her weapons too, and there'll be a crafting system in the game that Armature has yet to discuss in any kind of depth.

A potentially rather exciting and fresh third-person adventure, ReCore promises to be an interesting blend of platforming and shooter gameplay, injected with a colour-coded twist. Inafune's touch seemingly comes across in ReCore's character, inspired by “Japanese anime” and the films of Studio Ghibli maestro Hayao Miyazaki, according to the man himself. “That's what we tapped into,” he tells us. Should that prove to ring true, then ReCore could be a game that's well worth looking out for.

ReCore is set for launch on 13th September in North America and 16th September in Europe as a 'Play Anywhere' title for Xbox One and Windows 10.

Comments
19
  • As far as games go, ReCore is almost at the top of my list, just below Mankind Divided. Finding out it was only $40 was also a cool surprise. It looks awesome.
  • Sounds ok for the price I guess. Didn't really strike me like nothing amazing though and I probably will pass on it till later, if ever. I actually believe that this should be better then Mighty No. 9... Can you guess where most of the studios focus went?;-)
  • This reminds me of Enslaved-Odysee to the West for some reason...Loved that game on the 360!
  • @3 I agree, it's one of the reasons I decided I needed this game, it looked so cute.
  • oi Richard, it's Joseph Staten (although if he looked like Jason Statham I don't think he'd complain)
  • hope they have catered for colour blind people then if the game relies on this.
  • @6 they have a color blind mode where you can toggle it on or off and it uses icons to display what weapon to use
  • Considering this game is being worked on by devs that worked on Metroid Prime Series with some involvement from Inafune. I'm actually very stoked about this game especially with Joseph Staten involvement.
  • This game currently has 0 credibility with Keiji Inafune at the helm. He can promise whatever he wants for this game, but after Mighty No 9, I don't fuckin' believe him.
  • This game looks ace, can't wait to get it. Only two and a half months to go :D
  • "Executive Producer Keiji Inafune promises “compelling gameplay and design” for ReCore." HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... *cough!* *cough!* ...BWAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
  • Guys, I trust Keiji. Geniuses come out with shit things sometimes. Like Edgar Wright with Scott Pilgrim, ugh.
  • Excited for this. Love the idea behind it. Hope it turns out well.
  • @2 This isn't from the same developers as Mighty no 9, the only thing they have in common is Inafune.
  • @5 - Oh, dear. That's a bit embarrassing. Especially since I interviewed Staten during E3 as well!
  • really excited for this.
  • @15: Let's just say it was auto correct. ;)
  • Lord this game looks like a PS2 title. Not just graphically but animation and gameplay wise as well. Should be a $20 download only title.
  • Sounds and looks really good. Will definitely get round to playing this at some point.
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