I have been in the industry for more than 20 years and have written countless game reviews. The review of Black Myth: Wukong is the one that I feel is the most important.
Before starting this review, I would like to reiterate a basic situation: Game Science is a game development company that has just been established for ten years. In these ten years, they have only developed two mobile games, and the founding members of the team have only developed one online game before. Black Myth: Wukong is the first stand-alone game project they developed. At the beginning of this project, the team had only more than 30 people. After these years of growth, there are only more than 140 people now, and most of them have no experience in developing stand-alone game projects before.
The purpose of saying this is not to “stack up” Game Science, but before officially entering the game, I kept reminding myself that I should have a reasonable expectation for “Black Myth: Wukong”. Although the volume of this game before its release is no less than any internationally renowned 3A masterpiece in recent years, it is a bit harsh to compare this first stand-alone game of Game Science with industry-leading works such as “God of War”, “Elden Ring” or “Uncharted” that were born under mature industrial pipelines.
However, the final performance of “Black Myth: Wukong” exceeded my expectations in all dimensions.
Proud of quality
Since Black Myth: Wukong switched its development engine to Unreal Engine 5 more than two years ago, almost every trailer has shown the game’s stunning graphics. And I can tell you that in the official game, you will see even more high-precision and realistic graphics than those shown in the trailer. Whether it is the details of vegetation and trees in the mountains, or the scenes covered with yellow sand or snow, or the exquisite sculptures and buildings in the temples, almost every scene and shot is photo-level. Game Science has undoubtedly stood at the top of the industry in terms of image quality.
We used a computer with “Intel 14th generation i9-14900KS + NVIDIA RTX4090” as the main configuration to run “Black Myth: Wukong”. The game was set to film-level picture quality, with ray tracing turned off, DLSS and frame generation turned on, and it can basically run stably at 120 frames per second at 4K resolution. With ray tracing turned on, it can also maintain around 100 frames per second. DLSS 3 has contributed greatly to the improvement in frame rate.
In addition to the creation of scenes, Black Myth: Wukong is uncompromising in the multi-form design of enemies. Each level in the game has monsters designed to fit the current level atmosphere. Except for a few so-called “skin-changing monsters”, most of the monsters have unique appearances and action designs, and there are nearly a hundred of them alone.
And the number of bosses and monster kings used as boss battles will never disappoint. There are more than fifty bosses in each level, and more than thirty monster kings, not to mention many NPCs. These are basically reproduced in the game according to the settings in Journey to the West, with people, beasts, monsters and insects, so that you will never repeat the experience in each level.
Another thing that makes people “unforgettable” in the game is the soundtrack of each level. Because each level has a relatively clear visual theme, the music matched with it further adds more immersion. Many instruments and tunes have a distinct Chinese classical cultural color, making the entire game process a kind of enjoyment. Especially when the familiar music “Cloud Palace Swift Sound” sounded in the game, I was completely unable to resist this overwhelming emotional resonance.
Overall, Black Myth: Wukong uses a story-driven chapter-based level, but the level advancement route is by no means a simple one-track path from beginning to end. There are many hidden branch routes in the level, and even multi-level complex maze-like exploration areas, as well as huge box-style levels. Many branch stories outside the main storyline need to be carefully searched to trigger, and you may inadvertently miss the treasures hidden in the corners. For players who like to “lick the map”, it is definitely a “painful and happy” game experience. Between each chapter, the game uses a special way to connect, which I will not spoil for now, and the surprises are left to the players to experience for themselves.
Regarding the length of the game, for a normal level of player’s first week, if only the main line and some branches are completed, the estimated game time is at least thirty to fifty hours. If you want to complete the exploration of all the content including hidden elements, the first week may take nearly a hundred hours. If you want to complete the game 100%, considering the design of multiple rounds in the game and the existence of random drops, this time will only be longer. Judging from the richness of content and length of game play, “Black Myth: Wukong” is definitely worth the money.
How to play the independent sect
In addition to achieving top-tier quality, Black Myth: Wukong is also more unique. In many domestic games in the past, we have seen more imitation and following the trend. This is not a criticism. From a business perspective, it is understandable to reduce risks and seek stable returns. No innovation is achieved overnight simply by a flash of inspiration. Learning and reference are also a process of quantitative change to qualitative change.
Black Myth: Wukong is no exception. In terms of the core gameplay setting of the game, as an ARPG game, it does not deviate from the basic framework of this game type itself, such as the settings of stamina slots, combo skills, etc. But in addition to these basic points, this game can be said to have created its own world among many similar games.
First of all, in terms of weapon settings, there are very few games that use sticks as the main weapon. Compared with cold weapons with sharp blades such as swords, spears, and halberds, sticks have many variations in the way they are held, and the fighting style can be changed according to the battle situation. A stick can be swung, swept, poked, and stabbed, and it can be said to be pleasing to the eye when used in a dance.
The game has designed three different stick techniques, namely chopping stick, standing stick and poking stick. Each stick technique has its own unique features, whether it is for different players’ techniques or for different bosses’ fighting methods. Although there is only one type of weapon, sticks, it does not mean that only one type of stick can be used. There are more than ten sticks with different attributes designed in the game, each with special effects and appearances, and each with its own characteristics in attack power and special damage, and the effects of using them are naturally different.
In addition to the stick technique itself, the game also designed a corresponding auxiliary system for the destiny man, which we will roughly divide into two categories: spells and transformation. Spells include magic, body techniques and hair, such as the immobilization technique, copper head and iron arm, and body techniques that everyone has seen in the trailer. Transformation includes incarnation and transformation. The former is to transform into the enemy’s form for a short time in battle and use its strongest moves, while the latter is to transform into the enemy’s appearance and perform mobile operations and attack combinations, just like Sun Wukong’s “72 transformations” in the original novel. There are dozens of them in total, which is really endless.
In addition, the game also has a unique Chinese mythology system. By collecting different raw materials in the game, you can refine various elixirs in the alchemy furnace. These elixirs can be used to remove abnormal states in battle, or enhance certain attributes and skills. They can also save the destiny person from danger in battle, which is one of the important auxiliary in the game.
“Black Myth: Wukong” has the concept of level like other ARPG games, but the experience value “Dao Xing” gained by killing the enemy does not directly give the destiny person a numerical improvement. Each upgrade will gain a spiritual point, and only by investing the spiritual point in each skill tree can the corresponding numerical improvement be obtained. As the level increases, the more spiritual points you get, the skills and values of the destined people will also increase, and the fighting will be more handy, so to some extent, “leveling up” is also a “shortcut” to reduce the difficulty of the game.
In addition, the destiny man also has his own basic skill tree, and there are multiple sets of equipment with different attributes and upgrades in the game, as well as various elixirs, plus two systems that are very helpful for combat that I cannot disclose due to confidentiality agreements. These designs combined naturally form the “Build system” that is often used in ARPG games. Players can combine a set of the most handy Build according to their preferences, and bosses with different attributes should also make good use of targeted Builds to make the combat process more efficient.
In summary, “Black Myth: Wukong” has unique weapons and skills, changes and spells derived from novels, and a supporting auxiliary system, which constitutes a “moat” that fully conforms to the “Journey to the West” system and is different from other similar games. This is the most gratifying point. Although the game does not have a career system, it still achieves diversity by using different Builds. The depth and breadth of the game system are enough for players to experience different combat fun. This game is not only surprising in quality, but also unique in core gameplay.
Our Journey to the West
Black Myth: Wukong is adapted from the worldview of the ancient Chinese myth novel Journey to the West, which is a unique advantage for Chinese players. We don’t need to understand Greek mythology or Japanese history. The story of Sun Wukong escorting Tang Monk to obtain Buddhist scriptures is almost engraved in the DNA of every Chinese player. This makes us feel a throbbing in our blood when we see those familiar names in the game.
Due to the confidentiality agreement and the need to avoid spoilers, I will not discuss the plot of the game here. But as a story that takes place after Journey to the West, there is a very wonderful development in the game about the mission and journey of the man of destiny. In the game, we will see a lot of familiar places and characters, and I believe that only Chinese players will have a completely different feeling from European and American players when they see these childhood memories. This is a passionate moment unique to Chinese players.
Because of the inseparable relationship with the original novel “Journey to the West”, Chinese players are equivalent to getting the “official strategy book” before playing the game. Although the story of the game itself takes place after the plot of the original novel, some key settings still follow the original settings in the novel, including but not limited to character personality, weapons and equipment, props and skills, etc., so it will be particularly familiar to use in the game. When you encounter a problem in the game, you might as well think about the relevant plot in the original novel, which may make you suddenly enlightened.
But it is necessary to remind everyone that it is not comprehensive to understand the whole story only by relying on the plot and lines in the game. Although the game has a very clear main storyline, it also has many relatively obscure side stories. The grass snakes and gray lines hidden behind the main story require players to read the small stories in the Shadow God Map in the game to discover clues. As one of the collection contents of the game, the Shadow God Map includes every monster, boss, demon king and character biography you encounter in the game. Behind these small stories may be the truth behind the destiny man.
Summarize
Back to the beginning of this article, “Black Myth: Wukong” is the first stand-alone work of Game Science. Although it has many excellent highlights as mentioned above, some immaturity can also be seen in the game.
For example, there are some very hidden branches and scenes designed in the game. If you don’t read the guide or no one prompts, I believe it is possible that you may not be able to find them after playing through the game several times. In addition, there are some relatively empty scene designs, which seem to be prepared for some richer content, but in the end they are just mentioned in the game. As of the finalization of this article, there are still a few small problems in the game, such as missing icons, and there are still some display defects in the image quality. I hope they will be repaired and optimized before the official launch.
After I finished the official version of the game, I went back to watch the actual game trailers released in previous years and found that a lot of the content that appeared in the trailers did not appear in the final version of the game, or was greatly adjusted and modified. This situation is relatively rare in the promotion cycle of a mature commercial game. Of course, I am not criticizing the game “trailer fraud”, but I can see from it that Game Science has experienced repeated changes and transformations in the development process over the years. This may be the growth path that an excellent game developer must go through.
“Black Myth: Wukong” is certainly not perfect, but compared with games of the same size in the world, Game Science can produce such a large-scale first stand-alone work with a team size of about one-third and a development cycle that is not significantly longer than that of normal 3A games. It is no exaggeration to say that this is an industrial miracle. “Black Myth: Wukong” can definitely be said to be a milestone in the Chinese gaming industry. The excellent quality it presents is worthy of all the expectations it has carried in the past four years. This is a domestically produced game that is truly competitive in the global market. I believe it will become a strong contender for this year’s Game of the Year, and Game Science will undoubtedly become one of the world’s top ARPG game developers after this battle.
advantage
- Exquisite and highly ornamental art settings
- Number of monsters and boss designs with very low repetition
- Core action gameplay design with both depth and breadth
- Exciting main storyline and rich side content
shortcoming
- Some of the designs and flaws show a lack of experience
Evaluation results
Black Myth: Wukong is certainly not perfect, but compared with games of the same size in the world, Game Science was able to produce such a large-scale first stand-alone game with a team size of about one-third and a development cycle that is not significantly longer than that of a normal 3A game. It is no exaggeration to say that this is an industrial miracle. Black Myth: Wukong can definitely be said to be a milestone in the Chinese game industry. The excellent quality it presents is worthy of all the expectations it has carried in the past four years. This is a domestically produced game that is also highly competitive in the global market. I believe it will become a strong competitor for this year’s game of the year, and Game Science will undoubtedly become one of the world’s top ARPG game developers after this battle.