January 3rd, 2012 by Steve Perry
FACT SHEET:
Bastion | Available Now
PC | Publisher: Supergiant Games | Developer: Supergiant Games
The amount of games out there in which you find yourself as the protagonist, waking up in a world that has been destroyed around you, is pretty massive. Bastion follows this formula but in a clever and unique way that makes it a genuinely outstanding game.
You take on the role of “The Kid”, a name given to you only by a (as of yet) nameless narrator. The narration lasts your entire journey, and while it is very easy for something clever to also be annoying, Supergiant did a fantastic job of making the narration entertaining and informative. When you start the game, you wake up and start making your way to the Bastion, a safe place to go in the event of a disaster. In this case, the disaster is called the Calamity. One of the interesting parts of Bastion is despite its linear design, the path isn’t obvious to you in many areas until the floor itself populates itself at your feet.
Your job, once you finally reach the Bastion, is to re-build it by collecting Cores that are strewn all throughout the land of Caelondia. The first level of the game does a fine job of introducing you to the world and enemies of the game without sticking you in a “tutorial mode”. Courtesy of the narrator, you’re not only given flavor to the world but also introduced to enemies like the Gasfellas, special attacks, health management, and the Cores themselves.
The Cores aren’t the only things you need to gather. In addition to the typical currency type item, you’ll also gather items used for upgrading the various weapons you’ll pick up throughout your adventures as well as other flavor items strewn about the world. Since the Cores are the most important thing, they also serve more than just a “hey look, we got more of the Bastion” utility. You can use them to unlock different types of shops at the Bastion that will allow you to upgrade your weapons, swap out your active arcenal, unlock special rewards, pay favor to the Gods, equip special tonics, and more.
The variety of weapons is something that makes Bastion very fun and unique. Using an Arcenal, you equip yourself with two weapons (using your left and right mouse buttons respectively) and a special attack. For example, you can equip The Kid with his massive hammer and machete and go full barbarian style or you can try a repeater and bow-and-arrow for ranger-style combat. It adds a nice touch of strategy and personalization to a very fun game.
Most people will almost certainly enjoy Bastion as much as I have, but let’s take an even closer look at it and I’ll show you why.
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