Bandai Namco recently announced Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet, a new third person shooter based in the Sword Art Online world from developer Dimps.
Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet features characters from the Sword Art Online universe and drops them in the virtual world of Gun Gale Online. Set during the second season of the anime, the game will tell an original story supervised by series creator Reki Kawahara. During the game’s events, players will be able to make choices in dialog that can alter the campaign.
Gun battles are unique depending on which character the player controls. For example: Kirito uses a sword as his main weapon and pairs it up with a handgun. This means during missions players will be able to consecutively alternate between the two weapons as they make their way through enemy groups. In addition, Kirito has multiple special abilities that can send him twirling in the air taking out anything that stands in his way.
On the other hand, characters like Sinon excel in using sniper rifles. This means battles can be avoided if the player wishes to stay back and take out enemies at a distance. However, she is also equipped with a machine game that will come in handy when the player decides to close in on the enemy.
Furthermore, both characters have the ability to use a grappling hook which they can use to lift themselves onto buildings and other structures to either get a better view of the map or take out a pesky enemy.
The game is being developed using Unreal Engine 4 and it definitely shows in the character models as they each look impressive and true to their manga and anime appearances. With only two character playstyles revealed so far, I’m interested to see what they do with the rest of the cast and how they equip them for battle.
The game is definitely different when compared to other Sword Art Online titles and that could make fans of the series nervous. However, it seems that Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet has a nice blend of the MMORPG-like gameplay from the previous entries combined with third person shooter mechanics shown in the gameplay footage below.
Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet is coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC in early 2018. A western release has already been confirmed.
You can watch both Kirito and Shinon gameplay below: