Ghost Of Tsushima steps into the light
You can take on Khaaaaaaan and his Mongol Horde from 26 June
Developed by Sucker Punch, already known for the slick-to-navigate open worlds it created for the Sly Raccoon and InFamous series, Ghost gives you the whole island of Tsushima to explore while you attempt to repel a brutal Mongol invasion, based on real-life events.
If you’re not a history buff, fear not: this is far from a dry lesson. Sucker Punch is dedicated to bringing the drama of an epic samurai movie to the game, with the team citing the likes of Akira Kurosawa as inspiration. Shigeru Umebayashi is on the team as a composer – if you don’t recognize his name, you may well know the scores for House Of Flying Daggers, Yumeji, and Fearless. He’s a master of Asian cinema soundtracks, and the game sounds great.
You play as Jin Sakai, trained in the way of the samurai and taught to fight with honor by his uncle Shimura, Lord of Tsushima. Jin’s beliefs are sorely tested when he fights on the island’s beaches, trying to repel the invading Mongol Empire fleet. After the initial attack, Tsushima’s forces are devastated, making him one of the last remaining samurai on the island (we know Shimura, at least, lives beyond the initial invasion). Narrowly escaping death, he realizes that to fight back against overwhelming odds might require him to use more than his samurai’s honourable skills. He must master the Way Of The Ghost, ninja-like skills that will enable him to take on a skilled enemy that heavily outnumbers him.
The mantle of The Ghost turns you into a vigilante-type figure, battling for the oppressed people of occupied Tsushima. Which, of course, puts you right at the top of the Mongols’ most-wanted list. Their forces are led by Khotun Khan, a fictional analog of Kublai Khan (who led the Mongols at the time of the real invasion and went on to become the first Yuan emperor of China). As Jin carries Tsushima’s last shred of hope, if the Khan and his forces can snuff him out, Tsushima will fully fall to despair.
ISLAND GETAWAY
Again nodding to realism,
you explore the island’s lush environments without the help of waypoints, choosing where to explore next using landmarks and your knowledge of the world. Sucker Punch is no stranger to creating open worlds, but the fairly minimalist nature of the environments is a bit of a departure for the developer.
Time in the story will pass as you explore, with titles telling you how much time it’s been since the invasion began.
Exploration might be pretty free and easy, but once you reach groups of enemies things become much more focused. Clashes are swift and decisive, whether you choose to tackle a situation head-on like a samurai or sneakily like a ghost.
Quick iaijutsu strikes with your sheathed sword can spill enemy blood. Likewise, you can use a grappling hook to sneak through enemy camps unseen, dropping down to attack people or sneaking up on them from behind (even stabbing them through closed folding screens).
Jin also has his gadgets: sticky bombs and fire arrows that can help him spread disarray through an enemy camp.
SETTLING THE SCORE
Just as the way the world unfolds depends on what you want to do, so does the story – to a point.
As you wage your one-man war on the Mongols you ally with several characters, and how you decide to deal with situations can determine the strength of your bonds. Shimura’s none too impressed with your spectral approach. Makoto, an expert archer and just as handy with a sword, can be one of your best allies, helping to spread the legend that you’re a vengeful ghost, but if she disagrees with your actions you may end up crossing swords.
So far the plot looks tense and gripping, with some fantastic tech behind the cutscenes (we’ve been especially impressed with the blood splatter – Ghost is going to be a grimy game in the best of ways). As he’s torn between his upbringing as an honorable samurai and the guerilla warfare approach of the Way Of The Ghost, Jin’s experience is going to be reflected in more than different skill trees. A real conflict goes on inside his heart over the course of the game as he struggles with doing what is right for the people of his island, and what it means to be their protector.
SAMURAI BUT DIFFERENT
While playing as a samurai is hardly a new concept for a videogame, few have really captured the idea of what it meant to be one of the noble warriors beyond combat. By allowing you to follow your own plans and come up with angles of attack, in Ghost Of Tsushima the experience will feel a lot more legitimate than simply playing a character who has samurai fighting skills. Your journey across the island and your iterations, are just as much a part of being a samurai as the fighting. So far it’s looking like everyone’s journey is going to feel like their own, which is exactly what we want from a samurai game – and we don’t have to wait long for it.
Ghost Of Tsushima lands on PS4’s beaches 26 June. It’s almost here.
OTHER TIDBITS:
- The Mongols aren’t just setting up camps, they’ve captured some castles.
- Sucker Punch says its ethos was “mud, blood, and steel”. All three are stunningly rendered
- A good old-fashioned stab from behind is only the tip of Jin’s array of Ghost skills, which can see him devastate a camp full of invaders singlehanded.
- Beautiful green vistas (sadly occasionally on fire) make Tsushima easy to explore. You just want to see it all.
