PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds developer reveals new game 'Ascent: Infinite Realm'

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Ascent: Infinite Realm is the new game from PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds developer Bluehole. However, it shares no similarities with the battle royale game in any way.

Perhaps that’s not a surprise, and clearly the two games are made by two completely separate teams. But you might have thought the runaway success of PUBG might have inspired elements from it to pop up in Ascent: Infinite Realm, no matter how tiny.

That’s not the case. There is none of the lethality of combat, for instance, nor the escalating tension or scrappy resource management. Although not finished, AIR is beautiful where PUBG is ugly. There doesn’t seem to be any concessions to a western audience at all. AIR is a traditional Korean MMO in every sense, much like Bluehole’s TERA. 

Ascent: Infinite Realm is packed to the point of bursting with everything you would expect in an MMO. There’s almost a hoarding mentality here, one of panic that a feature, style of function needs to be in the game just in case. Watch the five minute reveal trailer above and you’ll catch wind of it.

 

 

Bluehole wants a player’s character to be the most important thing for them in Ascent. In a world full of airships, mechs, and other mechanical resources, you focus on that character and it must feel like you are the superhero in this story, according to the development team. Here A:IR does not move away from the traditional MMO concept, but it extends it. Besides adjusting and improving their ships, players can also build an upgradeable house. There you’ll be able to do several different things that help you along in the game, but Kim didn't share many details about that yet.

We still have to see how certain elements of it evolve during development, but it already shows a lot of potential in its early stage. The steampunk world is definitely interesting and offers Bluehole the opportunity a wealth of creative opportunities that might not fit into a pure fantasy setting. Learning how to properly take part in the main feature of the game, the airship battles, seems challenging, but definitely worth getting familiar with.

 

 

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