PAX 2015: Play as Cybernetic Femme Fatale in BOMBSHELL

Exploding onto the PAX Prime 2015 scene as the first 3D Realms title since its takeover by Interceptor Entertainment, Bombshell is an action/RPG game you’ll want to keep an eye on. In this Unreal Engine-powered isometric platformer, you'll play as titular character Shelly "Bombshell" Harrison, a former Colonel in the Global Defense Force.  

As a bomb technician she failed to disarm an explosive made of alien tech — the resulting detonation taking the lives of her squad as well as her own arm. During this event, known as “The Washington Incident,” the President also goes missing. Because at this point, why not, right? The entire situation was eventually deemed her fault, and while she was given an honorable discharge, the debacle ultimately cost Harrison her career and reputation.

Because @#$% Mondays, that’s why.

As the game’s lore has it, shortly before the player assumes control of Harrison, a private military contractor approaches her. She’s offered a replacement limb made of salvaged alien tech from the same bomb disaster that cost her the flesh and blood arm she previously enjoyed. With this offer comes a chance at redemption, and Shelly embarks on a planet-hopping journey from one alien world to the next as she searches for the missing President, a task that comes with a totally chill side quest of saving the Earth from the apocalyptic threat of the hostile Kyrr and their leader: Jadus Heskel.

Like a cross between Handsome Jack and Satan.  Possibly also the Borg.

Bombshell ups the ante of awesomeness with its presentation of Shelly, our aforementioned protagonist. While a female main character is no longer unique in gaming, it’s still rare enough to get a mention. Harrison even takes a step further from many of the offerings featuring female main characters. She’s the focus of the game without doubling as a mechanism for fan service delivery or being defeminized. She gets to be feminine and badass at the same time, taking a break from the weakening trope that female characters in games can only be an obstacle or sex object.

Dystopian eyeliner on point, cleavage encased in functional looking armor, and a big damn gun.

Since we’re talking about the look of the character, let’s check out the game itself. Bombshell’s aesthetics are pure win no matter how you look at it. The detailed, multi-dimensional environments are reminiscent of ambience-rich games like Diablo III, while massive boss battles more closely resemble God of War on the scale of gritty, epic grandeur.  

Archaic-looking alien culture, complete with glowing cryptography and crumbling edifices, is juxtaposed with more familiar looking urban centers. Oh, and places that look like what would happen if the TRON universe had its own version of Hell.

End of line.

With the PAX 2015 Trailer giving us a solid look at gameplay, we can see that it’s going to require more than just frantic button mashing. A dynamic wheel menu for Harrison’s arsenal enables the player to change weapons mid-combat, with the developers touting her bionic arm as having more than 10 weaponized arm modifications possible for the enterprising player.

Despite the brutally fast pace of combat, this game is far from a run-and-gun, boasting powerful skills and a heavy hitting tech-tree for customization of play style. While the game itself is presented in an isometric platform, developers have given it the familiar controls of an FPS for an appealing fusion of the two game styles.

While the game has its roots in the Duke Nukem series, claims that it’s nothing more than a “female Duke Nukem game” seem premature. With Bombshell’s gorgeous graphics and deep RPG elements, it emerges onto the scene as a standalone franchise ready to rock your face off.

At the time of this writing, Bombshell is slated for release on Windows, PS4, and Xbox One later this year.