“Black Myth: Wukong” takes place in the national romantic version of China, with stunning Chinese scenery and magnificent temples. Much of it based on places and buildings found in real China. The source of inspiration is the famous novel “Journey to the West”. China’s version of Asbjørnsen & Moe, if you will. We are talking about a playable version of the mythical dream of one of the world’s most exciting and beautiful countries. Culture and traditions that excite and fascinate. NEW HERO: The monkey king Sun Wukong, known from “Journey to the West”, is out of the picture. Then it will be your job to follow in his footsteps and step into the role of hero. Photo: Rune Fjeld Olsen/Game Science Photo: Game Science Photo: Game Science The contrast to today’s real China is great. I will come back to that. “Black Myth: Wukong” is an incredibly intense game, quite simply. Exploration of beautiful environments and an engaging combat system that you can use against as many as 91 different bosses. BOSS RUSH: The mountain of boss fights in the game are both diverse and incredibly stylish, often against various tough and nasty variants from the animal kingdom. Photo: Rune Fjeld Olsen/Game Science “Black Myth: Wukong” can’t exactly be characterized as a fun game, but occasionally there are flashes of good humor. This boss here farts on you, for example. Photo: Rune Fjeld Olsen/Game Science Photo: Game Science Photo: Game Science Nice, but convoluted Now not everything in the experience fits equally well. The areas that are explored are terribly pretty to look at, but also unnecessarily convoluted and confusing to explore. This small wave valley in the overall impression is reinforced by the fact that what you have to do between the 91 different bosses (many of them are completely optional) is not particularly engaging. When the overall experience holds up as well as it does, it’s because the excellent combat system fits like a gun. FIGHTING FIGHTS: The fighting system in “Black Myth: Wukong” is very varied and full of both fierce features, transformations into different creatures and deadly magic. Photo: Game Science. You can gorge on a candy store of different fighting styles, magic, acrobatics, stylish armor and potions. You can even make changes to which skills you want to use as much as you want. Then try out different tactics in the many magnificent boss battles. It also helps that the six chapters in the game are so different from each other. A brand new fauna of enemies and brand new areas to explore give the game a nice and successful momentum. CHAPTERS: “Black Myth: Wukong” is divided into separate chapters, each with its own visual style and fauna of enemies. Photo: Rune Fjeld Olsen/Game Science Difficult battles And then there are an incredible number of areas and bosses hidden away in the game. Finding these – and it’s not just, so to speak – is well worth the time it takes. “Black Myth: Wukong” is quite a difficult game, at times extremely difficult. It is also not possible to adjust the degree of difficulty. But the joy of being successful is enormous. There is a delicious suction in the diaphragm. Thus, the overall impression is very good. ARENA: There are many scenes like this in the game – you arrive in arena-like areas that house one of the game’s many bosses. Photo: Rune Fjeld Olsen/Game Science We are talking about 30-40 hours of rewarding and satisfying action if you explore most of it. But I have to point to the elephant in the Ming vase shop. Is a Chinese computer game that celebrates the country’s culture and natural experiences completely separate from the country’s well-documented violations of basic human rights? Is it completely unnatural to bring up, for example, the treatment of Uyghurs, labor camps for political opponents and the lack of freedom of expression and religion when discussing a Chinese cultural product? CULTURAL TREASURE: “Black Myth: Wukong” is inspired by the Chinese cultural treasure “Journey to the West” and the monkey king Sun Wukong. PHOTO: Game Science. Cultural exports Some people think so. But I think we are ethically in the same situation as when Qatar organized the soccer World Cup, or when Saudi Arabia runs an e-sports party throughout the summer. “Black Myth: Wukong” is a cultural export that – albeit unintentionally – also serves as a diversion from more important themes affecting China. It’s not just something I feel. According to the website Eurogamer, some influencers who received “Black Myth: Wukong” before launch were instructed not to talk about, among other things, conditions in China when creating content about the game. It is difficult to call it anything other than propaganda if you choose to follow those instructions, regardless of what you think about mixing games and politics in the first place. BEAUTIFUL: The exploration between the many boss fights takes place in beautiful environments, but that part of the experience is not exactly the game’s strongest point. Photo: Rune Fjeld Olsen/Game Science But I can – I should – cover games like “Black Myth: Wukong”. I’m reviewing it for the actual content of the game, without deducting extraneous circumstances. And it is therefore a very good game, especially for those who like bone-chilling action and advanced fighting against stylish monsters in epic settings. We are on the same street as “Sekiro” and “God of War” here. And it’s a street I love to play in. PS: According to some online reports, the PS5 version has more technical problems than the almost flawless PC version, which I’ve tested. A version for the Xbox Series X/S is expected in due course. news reviews Photo: Game Science Title: “Black Myth: Wukong” Developer: Game Science Publisher: Game Science Platform: PlayStation 5 / Windows (PC) / Xbox Series X/S (The version for X-Box is delayed, release date is not known ) Released: 20 August 2024 Genre: Action-adventure/role-playing game Type: Single player Hello, gamer friends! I am a freelancer and write about games for news. On a daily basis, I work at Level Up Norway. Feel free to check out my list of last year’s best games, or which games I’m most looking forward to in 2024! You can find all the game reviews from news here. Published 25/08/2024, at 12.28
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Wukong” – Reviews and recommendations
