BLACK MYTH WUKONG

Black Myth: Wukong is easily one of our most anticipated games of the year, and after spending over 10 hours with it, we’re glad to see that our hype is warranted. Game Science’s action RPG, which is steeped in Chinese mythology, is a whirlwind of finely tuned combat and exemplary graphics, but it may have put too many eggs in its boss battle basket. Ultimately we’d be singing its praises had we actually got to play the game on PS5. However, after being provided with a PC code, we can only talk about part of the Wukong experience.

The lack of PS5 press codes does have us wondering about the polish and performance of a graphical heavyweight like Black Myth: Wukong on Sony’s console. This is a fantastic looking game, and a really fast-paced one at that. Frame rates below 60FPS would really impede the experience, so you’ll need to tune into our full PS5 review to see how performance holds up.

In the meantime though, let’s talk about the content of the game itself. Black Myth: Wukong is an adaptation of Journey to the West, meaning it is chock full of Chinese mythological creatures. On top of its gorgeous visuals, you'll be struck by its impeccable enemy designs. Ranging from red-eyed wolves to slippery serpents, there’s an odd groundedness mixed into these fantastical designs, with top of the line animations making each of them feel fresh and different.

BLACK MYTH WUKONG

There’s not a whole lot of downtime in Wukong. The game likes to ensure there are always bosses just around the corner, and that the levelling system keeps ticking away in the background. We had that dopamine rush as the game kept throwing upgrades, and skill points, and new challenges before us, making our time with it fly by.

While initially appearing quite linear, the areas in Wukong are filled with sneaky little passageways and hidden bosses. Upon reaching a boss in one of the game’s areas, we found two other pathways we could have used to access it. It gave the impression of a winding maze-like design that certainly would reward the nosey explorer. In our 12 hours, we pushed through to the third of five chapters, but we can easily foresee these areas taking as much as double the time to fully explore.

BLACK MYTH WUKONG

What exactly are you gaining by exploring every nook and cranny though? Well on top of an in-depth levelling system, you’ll find ingredients and collectibles, which can be used to craft armours and weapons, fine tune your build, and even use items to unlock shortcuts or new pathways. The levelling system itself is surprisingly deep, with stamina, attacks, stances, and spells all having their own upgrade trees.

All of these elements will be put to the test when you come into contact with the game’s many bosses. These are easily the best aspect of Wukong, whether those be for their incredible designs, or the combat scenarios you must face. One fight against a half-man-half-serpent will make you feel like you’re in a John Woo Kung-Fu movie as you dance around each other, swishing through the water. Another, saw us fight a blood-soaked tiger wielding a sword. It's very cool stuff.

BLACK MYTH WUKONG

While the game isn’t as difficult as something like a Souls game - you’ll keep all your XP and items upon death - each of the bosses are challenging in their own way. Through their animalistic inspirations, bosses move, attack, and take damage differently, making each fight feel like a fresh new mechanic being introduced to the game. It forces you to really look at your abilities and your perks to see how you can maximise your build against this particular enemy.

Controlling Wukong is a fairly simple affair from the outset. You have light combos, which expand as you upgrade your character, and heavy attacks which gain power based on a building focus level. There are also stances to choose from but we felt they more or less did the same thing. When out in the battlefield though, combat feels fantastic. The quick swishy perfect dodge is endlessly satisfying, and learning attack patterns feeds into this even further.

BLACK MYTH WUKONG

It’s not all sunshine and rainbows though. While the game's bosses are excellent, the stuff in between isn’t quite as engaging. It has a lovely look to it all, and areas with Chinese-inspired statues or architecture are always cool to look at. But it lacks that sense of place that a game like Lords of the Fallen has. It’s as if Game Science decided to make a woodland area and then a desert area and then why not throw in some snow? It's setting is more of a greatest hits of environments, rather than any kind of cohesive living location.

There are things to discover that will make your character more powerful, but ultimately we never felt the need to go out and farm XP like we often would in Elden Ring. While the bosses themselves are phenomenal, the connective tissue between them feels quite anaemic. Not to mention the realistic graphical design is often thwarted by invisible walls, which we came into contact with more frequently than we’d like to admit.

BLACK MYTH WUKONG

Did all of that take away from our experience with the game though? Not really. The boss fights and staccato combat always kept us on our toes, and the boss designs were a delight to discover each time. Our chief concern right now is how it all runs on PS5. With an I9, 32B of RAM, and a 3080 graphics card, we easily ran the game on PC at high settings, with a frame rate surpassing 60FPS. However, it’s a meaty game and certainly one that will push the PS5 technically. Hopefully, performance issues can be cleared up when the game launches on the 20th of August, because we can’t wait to check out the full experience on PS5.

Will you pick up Black Myth: Wukong on launch? Or will you hold off to see how it performs on PS5? Let us know down in the comments.