Bastion Review

Ever woken up from a heavy night to find your room is completely trashed? Well that's nothing compared to The Kid's wake up call. The otherwise unnamed protagonist of Bastion, The Kid finds himself waking on a floating platform, with nothing but gaping chasms where the city existed the night before.

Bastion is this latest darling of the increasingly profitable indie gaming scene, and is the debut title from Californian developers Supergiant Games. Founded by former members of EA's LA studio, the core talent (no offence to the rest of the team) brings experience from working on a number of titles in the Command & Conquer franchise. Given this pedigree, it may come as some surprise (at least to those who haven't seen any of the screenshots or videos) that Supergiant opted for a classic isometric hack-and-slash action game for its premier release, rather than a strategy game.

Players take control of the aforementioned Kid as he attempts to piece together not just the events that led up to the Calamity, but also restore the titular Bastion; a structure that was supposed to serve as a safe-haven for the city's population. Players face swarms of enemies as they progress through the levels, returning to the Bastion between levels for upgrades to weapons and the Bastion itself. The Kid's travels initially take him through the ruins of the city, before venturing into the Wild Unknown and the reaches beyond it; however whilst the environments are varied, the enemies encountered in each set of levels can be a little samey after a while.

As soon as the game begins, players will notice two of the game's biggest selling points. Firstly, the artwork: levels are beautifully crafted, with most, if not all, of the art assets hand-painted and lovingly animated. There are some occasional issues where it is difficult to determine precisely what it solid ground, and what is actually a bottomless pit; and the level design itself is predominately flat with only the occasional slope or staircase, but this doesn't significantly detract from the gameplay.

Those amongst you that will cry that beautiful world is nothing if it's not fleshed out with a coherent storyline, listen closely; listen being the key word. From the moment the player starts moving, an omnipresent voice begins narrating the ensuing journey. The narration itself occurs dynamically; ranging from details of the story, to comments on the player's preferred choice of weapons.

The Kid has a wide ranging arsenal at his disposal; players get to choose two from a selection of melee and ranged weapons, as well as a special attack (some of which are tied to a specific weapon) and his trusty shield, which can be used to launch counter-attacks when blocks are timed correctly. Each weapon comes with its own Proving Ground; allowing players to improve their skills, as well as unlock rewards for beating target scores or times. Weapons are also upgradeable by collecting certain components - even with the game's strong narrative, it comes as a pleasant surprise that Supergiant have opted not to fill the world with unnecessary complexities relating to the upgrades; the starting hammer, for example, is upgraded by collecting "Something Heavy", whilst the bow requires "Something Stringy".

In addition to upgrading weapons, the Bastion provides access to a number of other structures - such as the Distillery which provides various buffs, and the Shrine which increases enemy strength in return for additional experience points, effectively creating a customisable difficulty setting. For those looking to fine tune their pick of weapons, spirits and enemy buffs, there is the opportunity to take a trip to 'Who Knows Where' for a spot of arena combat against numerous waves of enemies.

Overall, the game has enough content that one could expect a good 8-10 hours gameplay before reaching the climax. If that's not enough for you, completing the game unlocks New Game Plus mode, which allows you to replay the story with items and experience intact; along with a special Portal inspired skill for those purchasing the game through Steam.

Whenever reviewing a game, it's always best to cover any flaws; because, quite frankly, it's practically impossible to produce a 'perfect' game. Even with the earlier complaint about some of the holes in the scenery not being obvious, there's not really anything justifiably worth significantly marking the game down for. In this increasingly online world there will be some decrying Bastion for the lack of any multiplayer action as if it's a capital crime; those people are idiots, frankly. Bastion sets out to provide a beautiful, action-filled, singleplayer experience and executes it (almost) faultlessly.