When Chinese developer Game Science revealed its debut console game Black Myth: Wukong last year, it immediately caused a stir. Inspired by the great 16th-century Chinese novel, Journey to the West, the action-packed footage featured the titular mythological monkey Sun Wukong battling Buddhist-folklore demons and sword-wielding anthropomorphic foxes in lusciously rendered forests. Smartphone games are inordinately popular in China, but console game developers are still few and far between, and the excitement for Wukong in Game Science’s homeland reached fever pitch. Within 24 hours, the trailer racked up 2m views on YouTube and more than 10m on Chinese video sharing site Bilibili, much to its creators’ shock and delight. One excited fan even broke into the developer’s office, desperate for more info on the game.
After playing Wukong for an hour and half in a London hotel suite, watched nervously by several Game Science employees, I can confirm that – somewhat miraculously – this stunning Chinese mythological twist on Dark Souls delivers on that showy trailer, marrying fluid-feeling combat with reflex-testing difficulty and the expensive filmic sheen of something like God of War. As I sprint through Wukong’s dense jungle, ducking and dodging through its deadly array of flora and fauna, I come face to face with everything from gi-wearing toads to nightmarish, gigantic-headed infants. Unlike many of its brutally challenging, FromSoftware-inspired peers, the difficulty in Wukong feels expertly judged. My simian avatar met a grizzly end more times than I’d care to admit, but I persevered. Eventually I defeated enough foes to unlock new abilities. Soon I can perch atop my staff mid-attack, giving me an edge against its murderous mythological monsters. I can buzz around the forest as a stealthy cicada, summon flames with my glaive, and eventually topple a snarling, lorry-sized werewolf atop a crumbling temple.
“We are under great pressure,” reflects one of Game Science’s co-founders, who is introduced only as Ted (Game Science would not give his full name), via a translator. “This is the first time that we have worked on a PC and console game, and we are also a new studio, so we would really like to thank how tolerant the players and the market is towards us, their excitement encourages us. However, the thinking of Chinese people tends to be that we look at the risks – and therefore, when we are faced with such great encouragement, the best thing we can do is to try our best to satisfy the expectations of the players … and to communicate with players in a very honest way.”
I am, unfortunately, met with very little honest communication when I bring up a report from IGN, which related alleged sexist comments from multiple developers at Game Science, as well as those in leadership roles. I present Ted with the opportunity to address the claims of misogynistic posts, and whether he feels that they represent Game Science’s values. Instead, I am shut down with a hasty “no comment” from their UK PR representative, and then, after a long wait, given a longer statement of “no comment” via Ted’s translator. I am then told that Game Science’s US PR agency will follow up later with a prepared statement, only to be sent the following: “Game Science is focused on the demo at this time and will only answer questions related to gameplay.”
The same thing happened to an IGN reporter at a demo in LA last month. It is disappointing that Game Science is opting to invite journalists to speak to them and play the game, but refusing to answer their questions. Perhaps there is no reassurance to offer. A generous reading of the situation would be that this inexperienced studio is petrified of saying the wrong thing. Yet in failing to say anything at all, Game Science is also failing to distance itself (and its game) from the multiple crude, disparaging and misogynistic comments attributed to its employees and leadership.
Journey to The West, of course, is no stranger to the world of video games. From Ninja Theory’s 2010 Alex Garland-penned and Andy Serkis-starring Xbox 360 adaptation, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, to the late Akira Toriyama’s world-conquering Dragon Ball, its world of myth and monkeys lends itself perfectly to gaming. Black Myth: Wukong’s stunning visuals, cinematic beauty and refreshing sense of speed could well make it the best playable adaptation of the fable to date – but the unreserved excitement I would otherwise feel about it is being trampled by the elephant in the room.