Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, which launched on PC in December of last year, will be releasing for Xbox One & PS4 later this year, courtesy of Kalypso Media. The real-time-tactics title will be releasing on July 28th in Europe, and on August 1st in North America.
Kalypso Media have confirmed that they will be handing the console publishing duties -it will launch as both physical, and digital, versions- when the game launches later this year. Originally developed by Mimimi Productions (The Last Tinker) in partnership with Daedalic, the game was extremely well received when it released on Steam – where it still holds a Overwhelmingly Positive review rating with over 95% of user reviews listed as positive.
It’s a far cry from Mimimi Productions’ last title, but hopefully the positive reaction to the title will inspire more people to move into the subgenre, as it has been rather empty since the mid-ninties.
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, for those unaware, is a real-time tactics game in the vein of Commandos, and Desperados. Players control hero characters from an isometric viewpoint; characters are talented, but weak; each possessing their own unique skill-sets which can be used to get them into, and out of, trouble. It’s only with careful timing, and planning, that you’ll be able to use both stealth and skill to overcome -or evade- enemy forces.
Or, as put by the developers on the game’s Steam page:
“Take control of a team of deadly specialists and sneak in the shadows between dozens of enemies. Choose your approach when infiltrating mighty castles, snowy mountain monasteries or hidden forest camps. Set traps, poison your opponents or completely avoid enemy contact.”
It’s certainly not an easy game by any measure, and I’m intrigued as to how well it will translate to controller-based play – although it’s worth adding that the PC version currently includes controller support. This could be one of the reasons that it will be receiving a demo for both consoles on the day of release. The demo is expected to be the same as the PC offering; the complete first level and a sneak-peek at the vastly more in-depth second level.
You can find the PC release trailer for the title below, as well as a link to the game on Steam. It will be releasing on July 28th in Europe, and on August 1st in North America.
