When it was announced at the last E3, Bleeding Edge was not particularly idolized by the Xbox. Let's talk about a title developed by Ninja Theory, which only revealed at the end of last year the sequel to his most famous work, Hellblade: Senua's Saga. The developer thus mitigated the main criticisms towards his current project, which saw Bleeding Edge as a simple waste of energy. The latest effort of the software house is positioned with themes and a genre far removed from the adventure of Senua, diametrically opposite indeed. It is in fact a game with exclusively 4vs4 PvP modes, without even a single player campaign. However, the ideas of the software house are not absolutely trivial and thanks to the economic incentive of Xbox they have been finalized in the title now on the shelves, as well as as usual already starting from day one also on Xbox Game Pass for PC and Xbox One.
Bleeding Edge was immediately pointed out as a mere commercial maneuver without inspiration, like a failed Overwatch clone that can't bring a winning idea to market, the inevitable result of an extremely lazy realization behind him: but is it really so? We immediately specify that it is actually a fighting game hybridized to the MOBA genre, not a shooter, and that what is seen in the new work of Ninja Theory has not yet been proposed under this perspective by any other developer. It could possibly be a jumble of non-working ideas, but which have never been amalgamated all together anyway, not until a finished game is created and released. We are therefore ready to talk to you about the identity of Bleeding Edge, a work that after two phases of Closed Beta we were able to play again in its final version for PC, now regularly available for purchase at a relatively budget price.
The Bleeding Edge Association
Life knows how to knock you down, and Damon John Banks the carpet has often ended up. The boy was raised by his mother alone, who passed on his innate artistic vein to him before dying. A distinct transformation was needed, which I will be able to Damon to become daemon, a ninja expert in martial arts who through his appearance combines ancient Japanese culture with punk and infinite colors. Here is the story of the man who tries to fight the system through graffiti the one who founded Bleeding Edge. It is a team made up of maladjusted and technically enhanced individuals, ready to fight the "upper floors" to the sound of violence.
No heartbreaking stories and movies based on hero morality, all of the characters in Bleeding Edge are super villains, ready to pursue their goals all together, each with their own selfishness to be the master. Different characters from all over the world, all with a very interesting background and an innate desire to destroy and create chaos. We've seen tons of multiplayer titles with more or less complex storylines, with heroes and champions fighting for an important end: everything Ninja Theory wanted to avoid. There lore around Bleeding Edge and its wrestlers is short, almost non-existent, only a slight outline of events that need to see blood flow. A handful of lines is enough to make the characters already extremely characterized by themselves much more interesting, nothing else.
The Cyberpunk gang of wrestlers
Certainly an interesting narrative, which is present however only to give life to much more incisive events: multiplayer battles. As already mentioned, there is no campaign and consequently the full price of the ticket (almost zero if you consider Xbox Game Pass) is motivated by the mere presence of the online. What is it then? Well, with only two extremely simple modes, which will see all the fighters of the Bleeding Edge clash to the death to reach the coveted victory.
We are talking about objectives to be conquered and maintained, or energy cells to be delivered to certain points on the map. This is not a simple walk from point to point, of course, as the developers have left a ample space for clashes to allow these to be as secondary to the objectives as they are essential, since they are actually the real core of the Ninja Theory patented experience. To win it is in fact necessary to meet the requirements of the game mode in which you are taking part, but these are promptly blocked to allow the fighters to start exchanges, or to give life to real skirmishes, which give points for those who manage to finalize the killings.
Tactics - as well as the communication guaranteed by pings and voice chat - are simply key to taking home a win. The clashes are not formed only by physical attacks and many skills, but also by the verticality and positioning in the game maps, which are unfortunately extremely small in number; what to say then? LThe formula of Bleeding Edge works perfectly, albeit with some small technical problems to be reviewed and a speed not up to par in some situations. The classes and characters are well structured and balanced., Important details that guarantee always breathtaking clashes, demonstrating that the idea for an online game of Ninja Theory has succeeded perfectly, even if it takes its cue from several already successful productions.
The fundamental problem, however, arises in the scarcity of the contents present. Only 11 wrestlers, which will soon become 12 fortunately, very few maps and only two modes to access. MOBAs can offer a balance that often distorts the fate of the meta, giving life to games that are always different from each other, but this unfortunately Bleeding Edge cannot guarantee it. However, the developers have decided to add small customizations in the gameplay of each fighter. We're talking about interesting passive chips to install, and two ultimate ones to choose from when selecting the desired character. However, all this cannot make the formula fun for life, and it is therefore necessary that a new wave of periodic content never keeps itself waiting, perhaps together with a story-driven campaign.
The unmistakable style of Bleeding Edge
Sure, the gameplay is the core of the game, but not the only factor that needs to be given importance, on balance. The development team has in fact placed an attention to external details to the latter really commendable, which makes it Bleeding Edge a pleasure to watch and listen to, thanks to its unmistakable over-the-top style and its outstanding soundtrack. The animations and general characterization are well curated and adapted to the cyberpunk context of the game. Some in-game actions increase the intensity of the soundtrack, making it appropriate even without the need to accompany it with additional external songs, its quality and number of melodies make it more than enough.
Playing with friends you can also enjoy it together, as if well adjusted it will not be annoying but will only be a nice load of adrenaline. If you play alone, needless to say, the fun will certainly be less, but this does not mean that you will not be competitive in-game. The added communication possibilities in fact make the work easily livable alone in his clashes. However, it is not clear to what extent this can remain extremely fresh with the content currently present.
An adventure for Ninja Theory begins
In summary, therefore, we can say that the real problems of Bleeding Edge reside in a scarce amount of content, perhaps justifiable by the almost zero entry price, but in any case not enough to make the work a successful Xbox-style Game as a Service. The feedback of the work will be decreed by the attention that the developer will place in the universe just given birth, in the modalities that he could insert and in the number of fighters who could enter the ranks of the Bleeding Edge. Some technical oversights, sometimes negligible, will undoubtedly be fixed, but compared to the beta releases the game has already visibly improved from this point of view, showing itself to all intents and purposes as now quite consistent. So what about… good luck, Ninja Theory!
