3 Up and 3 Down –Â Murderous Pursuits Edition
Murderous Pursuits is an upcoming multiplayer action game from Blazing Griffin, the studio behind the remastered version of cult-favorite The Ship, and in many ways comes as a spiritual successor to what The Ship and the old Assassin’s Creed multiplayer mode first introduced some years ago. Though Murderous Pursuits isn’t scheduled for release until the end of April, I got my hands on a beta version of the game and had a good deal of fun hunting my quarry. Murderous Pursuits has a lot going for it, but with the incredibly high standard for online multiplayer games these days, there’s always room for it to get even better through post-launch updates. On that note, let’s delve into three things Murderous Pursuits is doing right so far, and three that could be improved.
The Right
1. The Setting
Before even entering the game, Murderous Pursuits opens with a short cinematic narrated by the mysterious Mr. X who introduces us to the game’s unique Victorian world. I say unique because this is no ordinary Victorian-era setting you play in. The whole game takes place in a time-traveling airship hovering over a deadly prehistoric world. Though it’s unlikely you’ll get to explore what’s below the airship, it still makes for an interesting backdrop and sets the dark yet slightly silly tone perfectly.
2. The Presentation
The first thing you’ll notice after booting up Murderous Pursuits is its presentation. The game adopts a semi-cartoonish visual style that, much like the similar-looking Dishonored series, works brilliantly for a Victorian-era setting. The three maps I’ve played all take place in various sections of the airship and are filled with tons of visual details that help make the world feel like a believable place. The characters are also delightfully distinct, which is good considering you will undoubtedly be tasked with hunting down each one of them at some point.
3. The Gameplay
How a game looks can only take it so far though, and from what I’ve played, Murderous Pursuits is proving its gameplay can stand up to the task. Though the game shares a lot of thematic similarities to The Ship, it plays a bit more like the old-school Assassin’s Creed multiplayer with some twists. As someone who thought the Assassin’s Creed multiplayer was severely underrated, I think what they have here is great. There’s more emphasis on staying hidden in Murderous Pursuits compared to the aforementioned AC mode, which leads to a slower playstyle, but this only bumps up the tension that much more.