Follow Spiders’ journey towards their next game and learn its first gameplay details
Hi everyone, I am Jehanne Rousseau, CEO and lead writer at Spiders. Today, we are very happy to finally unveil the gameplay of SteelRising, and to share with you the creative process that led us to this new project.
In the early production stages on SteelRising, we looked at our previous games, The Technomancer and GreedFall, to help define our vision. Our games have always included a mix of action and role playing elements, most often to fulfil combat and character/story purposes. But what if for this next game we focused and expanded on action in particular? This was our starting point: designing an action-RPG with a strong emphasis on fast-paced combat.
The idea of playing as Aegis, an agile automaton, caught on quickly, and our next step was to define our setting. As a Paris-based studio, we have always been influenced by our European roots, and have always had a taste for the baroque, the strange, the eerie. After a few iterations, the pieces started to come together, and we set SteelRising in an alternate timeline based on the French Revolution of 1789. To tame the flames of revolution igniting Paris, King Louis XVI unleashes a deadly army of clockwork robots on the people. You are Aegis, a mysterious automaton, bodyguard to Queen Marie-Antoinette, and the Revolution’s last hope against a king gone mad.
Aegis was originally made to be a dancer, and wasn’t initially designed for combat. Considering each opponent you face is a literal killing machine, defeating them won’t be easy. You will have to make good use of your inherent grace, think fast, stay on your toes, and strike at the right moment to come out in one piece. You can also adapt Aegis to your own play style thanks to a flexible levelling system, and a wide variety of different weapons, each with their unique strengths and weaknesses.
If you have ever played a Souls-like, SteelRising will feel familiar to you. And this is one of the reasons why we wanted you to play as an automaton: Aegis is much more acrobatic than any human could be. She brings great agility and verticality to any fight. What’s more, throughout your adventure you will unlock various tools, opening new paths to explore as well as new gameplay possibilities during combat.
That’s a wrap for today, and while we still have some work ahead of us, we can’t wait to share more details with you about SteelRising, before it releases on PlayStation 5 in 2022.
Bloodborne’s influence is undeniable…Even the style of the trailer is like From Software trailers.
It looks very fun. Great progress in terms of combat for Spiders.
I knew this was a Souls like even before I read it. It’s undeniable when watching the trailer.
The art style and setting are all amazing. The clock punk theme is tremendous, but the frame rate is shockingly bad in this trailer. It makes the combat look very stiff.
I’m a huge fan of spiders though, and I’ve been hyped for this game for at least a year. I’m curious to see what these guys can do with this genre but I do worry because combat is one of their inherit weaknesses, whereas, RPG elements are their greatest strength. So abandoning your greatest strength and focusing on your weakness is a risky move but I will support it.
I do want to say that I’m disgusted with the decision that people who own greedfall via PlayStation Plus do not get the upgrade. My fiance purchased Greedfall for me, but when we got it on PlayStation Plus I traded in my copy. I will not repurchase the game at $40. Truly disgusted. And I have supported focus on and spiders for a decade.
Looking good Team Spiders! I enjoyed Technomancer, and just picked up Greedfall Gold Edition, so I’m eager to hop back into the world of Teer Fradee once again. Steel Rising looks amazing, so consider me a Day 1 buyer!
I’ll wait for the reviews, especially after Greedfall got the graphical upgrades for Xbox Game Pass but not for PS+. Best of luck on your PS5 launch!
While I am disgusted that PlayStation Plus owners don’t get the upgrade, your comment is asinine.
PlayStation’s equivalent to Game Pass is PlayStation now and not PlayStation Plus. People who play greedfall on PlayStation Now do get the PS5 upgrade just like Game Pass.
This really is propaganda at its finest and just another attempt by Microsoft to smear Sony and promote their brand. Both PlayStation now and Game Pass get the upgrade, and while I am livid that PlayStation Plus doesn’t get it, it really has nothing to do with Game Pass and it’s not a win for Game Pass at all. If the PlayStation Now version did not get the upgrade then yes it would be a huge win for gamepass, but that’s not the case so people need to seriously shut the f up. Complain all you want about the PlayStation Plus version but it’s completely idiotic to compare it to Game Pass when PlayStation Now does get the upgrade.
Either people are misinformed or they just don’t know. That’s the problem with the Internet is everyone has a voice even if they’re clueless casuals.
I’m angry about the PlayStation Plus version but this is a completely separate issue.
I was interested right up till you mentioned Souls-like, it’s a hard pass from me.
Yep…souls-like…that’s a pass from me. Shame that so many games gotta be so damn hard that you can’t just play a game to enjoy it. Playing a game and rage quitting or stressing out about just wanting to play it is not a game for me. Sucks that you went this direction.
I have to agree, the older I get the less appealing stressful games become.
I’m disappointed in the souls-like direction as well, but up until now, Spiders has always given us adjustable difficulty settings in their ARPGs. So I’m hoping they’ll continue that here.
+1 on this comment. Looks like a beautiful title, but the quickest way to guarantee I won’t get a game is to describe it with either the word “Soulslike” or “roguelike.” Thought I was the only one; hope devs take notice.
I’m -1 on this comment because I absolutely love roguelikes and souls likes.
I’m not sure if I’m more interested or less interested with this being a Souls like strictly based on the fact that spiders is very good with the RPG mechanics. But I do love souls likes and I’m interested to see what spiders can do with the genre because quite frankly, from software is not the only one who can do it. Souls likes are actually the perfect genre for a budget Studio and they require far less resources than a real AAA game. That’s why from software got into the genre to begin with as they aren’t they typically robust triple a Studio.
Regardless though, I love souls lakes and while this is not a rogue like I also love roguelikes. Returnal is the cream of the genre.
Looks more like eurojank devil may cry than a souls game to me. I’m interested
No.
Do you see them taking on half a dozen enemies at once? This trailer shows strategic one-on-one battles. It looks Soulslike. It features a shield and very strategic one-on-one combat. This is Souls like all the way brother. The character has some flare which I can compare to DMC but the design clearly takes inspiration from soulsborne.
Is this that game we say a guy dragging a chest into a castle and at the end he winds up a robotic boy ?
Either way it look interesting I look forward to seeing more .
for dlc have doctor who appear lol I hear he’s had run in with clockwork nemesis before .
No, that’s Lies of P – the Pinocchio game. The guy dragging the chest is Geppetto.
Definitely interested seeing it will be a Souls-like game.
Can’t wait 😁
Can’t wait for your new game! Love the Bloodborne aura of this one ♥ Hope that you didn’t leave out rpg part for the sake of action alone, Spiders take on storytelling is what made me love your games in the first place.
Will definitely be keeping my eye on this!
This game looks great! What unique and cool character designs. Sony should be showing more of this game during State of Play, instead of shoving more garbage Deathloop down our throats.