Revealed during Gamescom 2019, THQ Nordic is bringing back Monkey King! A new, never-before-seen chapter in the Chinese legend of Journey to the West is about to unfold and after seeing it in action during a behind-closed-doors presentation, this is going to be a fun ride!.
Enter Sun Wukong
In the game, you’ll control the legendary Sun Wukong, The Monkey King. Being his overconfident self, he picked a fight with the wrong God, sending him into a prison for over 500 years. The players take control over a weakened Monkey King who got stripped away from all his godlike powers. Only by doing good for the people and the village will he gain back his powers, piece by piece, hoping to once restore his full potential. It’s a great starting point for the gamers as it will give you an opportunity to meet a more humble Monkey King, discovering his powers at a steady pace, players will remain invested in the story until the very end for sure. The best part about it all is that the game features new episodes not portrayed in the original film, this game combines epic, larger than life Chinese mythology with flashy and funny kung fu action for a delightful, pulse-pounding action adventure!
The gameplay
THQ Nordic worked together with Sony Interactive on this project, ensuring fans that the visual style and story stayed as true to the original movie as possible. This resulted in a rather unique game, speaking from the visual side of things. This game just breathes Monkey King, including stellar character design and impressive looking Kun-fu moves. Fans of the franchise will certainly love every bit of it while gamers will enjoy the simplistic yet fun gameplay. At its core Monkey King: Hero is Back, is a rather traditional third-person action-adventure where you fight off enemies and discover small secrets while advancing. During the demonstration, it got clear that this isn’t really a challenging game, it clearly aimed at a younger audience but I’m pretty certain experienced players will be able to enjoy this one too thanks to the fun and relaxing gameplay.
The demonstration focused on battles and those really looked like a lot of fun. Kun-fu is a big part of the game and the team really managed to translate those fast-paced moves to a videogame. Besides that, the types of enemies were fun to look at and all needed a different approach to take down, depending on their types. The mini-boss (as seen in the first screenshot) was the real star of the demonstration. The way he attacked and the way he’s animated will certainly put a smile on your face while playing and that’s exactly the goal of the game. At this point, there are still some thrilling things we don’t know of, like your companions. In the demonstration Liuer, a young boy who looks up to the Monkey King, was our companion but it’s clear that we’ll have access to a lot more powerful companions along the way.
Early conclusion:
Monkey King: Hero is Back is shaping up to be a fun family game including some stellar animations and storytelling. It stays true to a Journey to the West but includes some untold chapters to give the fans something they never experienced before. Launching on PC and PlayStation 4 later next year, this is one the fans should look forward to for sure!
