After 23 years of mendacity dormant, Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama’s post-apocalyptic manga Sand Land emerges from the barren wasteland anew, and in an enormous approach, with an all-new, feature-length CGI anime film and action-RPG each from writer Bandai Namco. After its world premiere at Summer Game Fest, I obtained the possibility to go hands-on with Bandai Namco’s adaptation of Toriyama’s tackle a Mad Max-like world–albeit, a world that facilities round a demon boy with a coronary heart of gold (due to course).Years after a pure catastrophe and battle, the world is left a desert wasteland the place water is scarce and a tyrannical king now dangles his personal provide of it as a valuable and costly useful resource. Like any post-apocalyptic story, gangs and factions now ravage the land, scavenging and raiding its assets, preventing over what’s barely left of it. That contains Sheriff Rao, a hoarse-voiced outdated man uninterested in the king’s greed, who units out on his personal pilgrimage to search out water for his individuals. He finally crosses paths with an unexpecting accomplice, the son of Lucifer himself, Beelzebub, the quirky demon prince who joins Rao on his journey out of, because it was described to me, boredom.
Size:640 × 360480 × 270
Want us to recollect this setting for all of your units?
Sign up or Sign in now!
Please use a html5 video succesful browser to observe movies.
This video has an invalid file format.
Sorry, however you possibly can’t entry this content material!Please enter your date of delivery to view this videoJanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303112 months2023202220212020201920182017201620152014201320122011201020092008200720062005200420032002200120001999199819971996199519941993199219911990198919881987198619851984198319821981198019791978197719761975197419731972197119701969196819671966196519641963196219611960195919581957195619551954195319521951195019491948194719461945194419431942194119401939193819371936193519341933193219311930192919281927192619251924192319221921192019191918191719161915191419131912191119101909190819071906190519041903190219011900
By clicking ‘enter’, you conform to GameSpot’s
Terms of Use and
Privacy Policyenter
Now Playing: Sand Land Reveal Trailer | Summer Game Fest 2023
Springing off the heels of Rao and Beelzebub’s unsanctioned allyship, the demo started with an action-packed set piece that noticed our unlikely duo slamming the pedal to the steel in Rao’s jeep whereas making an attempt to outrun a geji dragon–an monumental, dinosaur-sized lizard squirming and swimming beneath the sand, scorching on the tail of our heroes. In what felt like a scene out of Uncharted, I steered Rao’s jeep, weaving and dodging down a slender canyon because the Geji Dragon burst from the bottom making an attempt to catch me in its grasps, earlier than diving again into the sand all sandworm-like as if it was from Dune. It felt large, and never simply because the dragon took up many of the display screen, however as a tone piece for the world Sand Land is about in. There’s much more to worry in Sand Land than simply bandits and scarce assets, there’s additionally big, terrifying, menacing dinosaurs, too. Thankfully, because the son of Lucifer, Beelzebub has just a few strikes up his sleeves to face his floor.Combat operates in actual time, with jumps, dodges, and light-weight and heavy assaults, all which may be stringed collectively for quite a lot of combos. After dodging the grips of the massive lizard, I beat up some bandits, stole their tank, and went joyriding across the desert, opening hearth on dinosaurs–some had been like raptors, others larger and much more terrifying. While capturing from the tank, you possibly can cycle between missiles and a mounted machine gun, however reloading them is not so simple as a button press. Instead, reloading requires a cooldown, making switching forwards and backwards between the 2 essential to the move of fight, so you are not capable of solely depend on missiles when capturing down a few of the fierce dinosaurs that roam the land. And I imply fierce. If you are not cautious, there is a threat of pulling aggro on geji dragon-sized beasts, which may make for a tense sprint by way of the dunes to get as distant as attainable.The demo wrapped up with Rao and Beelzebub dealing with off towards an eccentric and colourful gang, sporting vivid yellow and black diamond-printed tights with large quiff white hairdos. This is the place I obtained a glimpse of Beelzebub’s particular assaults and talents that may be unlocked and leveled up. As you struggle, Beelzebub fills up an power bar, which provides you an array of particular assaults to unleash within the midst of a struggle, which may be accessed in a capability wheel and unleashed with a button press.Still, a serious focus of Sand Land’s story and gameplay loop is scavenging for elements and water, which I did not get to see throughout my hands-on time. While it is nonetheless unclear what function it would play within the sport’s development, I did discover I used to be choosing up scraps as I downed enemies. Additionally, I do know that you’re going to be leaping in-and-out of automobiles to traverse the sprawling dunes, and whereas I solely obtained the possibility to zip round in Rao’s jeep and an artillery tank, the sport will characteristic bikes, mechs, and can even allow you to harness up on the again of a dinosaur. Yee-haw!Sand Land’s reveal got here out of nowhere throughout this 12 months’s Summer Game Fest, and from my temporary 15 minutes of hands-on, it is shaping as much as be a enjoyable take as its first gaming adaptation. That’s very true of the visuals, which have that signature Bandai Namco contact that has nailed the look of its earlier Dragon Ball video games. While Sand Land’s CGI anime is about to launch in August, a launch date for the sport has but to be introduced. Suffice to say, Bandai Namco appears assured that now’s the time for Sand Land to emerge in spite of everything these years. Sand Land is anticipated to launch on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, and PC.
The merchandise mentioned right here had been independently chosen by our editors.
GameSpot could get a share of the income in the event you purchase something featured on our web site.