Chivalry dev details magical FPS Mirage: Arcane Warfare
Beta sign-ups now live.
Chivalry: Medieval Warfare developer Torn Banner Studios revealed several details about its recently announced multiplayer first-person shooter Mirage: Arcane Warfare.
Set in a fantastical Arabian-inspired desert, Mirage: Arcane Warfare tasks players with duking it out in a mix of melee and magical combat. It's due later this year on PC and you can sign up for its impending beta, due this summer, on the official Mirage website.
There's even some slick gameplay footage in the new Mirage: Arcane Warfare trailer. Bright, colourful and full of whimsy, Mirage's art direction looks closer to Prince of Persia or Overwatch than Chivalry, though it does retain Torn Banner's penchant for goofy gore.
It will also carry over similar melee combat mechanics with the ability to block, parry and riposte. It just adds a ranged magic system on top of that. "The ability-based magic abilities that Mirage adds on top of this core design allowed us to create a game with even more deep mechanics than Chivalry," the developer explained in its FAQ. "Crucially, you can even block (or dodge) ranged-based magical attacks. As such, Mirage's brand of arcane warfare feels like an intense melee sword fight from 20 feet away."
As far as game modes go, Torn Banner said "You will work with your team to steal ancient magic artifacts and assault opulent palaces or bustling market bazaars, through an interconnected world where every location tells a story. There will be other classic multiplayer game modes as well."
The studio also clarified that Mirage will not be a free-to-play game and is expecting it to cost around $29.99 (about £21).
"Our last game Chivalry was about chopping off people's heads with a sword. Mirage takes that core gameplay DNA and explodes with a range of new bloody, brutal combat possibilities thanks to the addition of powerful magic" said Torn Banner CEO and game designer Steve Piggott. "Mixing in the elements of fantasy and magic allow us to add entirely new components and levels of complexity to that core team-based combat concept that we find so much fun to play."
"Our artists have created a rich and unusual world in Mirage, full of colour, character and a unique setting that is so rarely explored in video games," added environment artist Lucas Annunziata. "Working with Unreal Engine 4 has not only helped us bring to life the exotic locales of Mirage, it also gives us the tools to make magic effects that dazzle and bloody gore that make us cringe."
