Returnal‘s procedurally generated world of Atropos is full of hostile enemies looking to tear Selene limb from limb. The latest trailer showcases just some of these enemies while developer Housemarque details their inspiration, unique gameplay and special attacks.
Enemies tend to fall into three categories: the organic/parasitic in the Overgrown Ruins, the cosmic/corrupted in the Crimson Wastes, and mechanical automatons found in the Derelict Citadel. Each of the world’s biomes has enemies with different key roles and archetypes. For example, there’s the parasitic Mycomorph that festers on the corpses of Selene’s previous unsuccessful runs, so players will be able to glimpse her skull and ribcage if the enemy stands still for long enough.
Each enemy will specialise either in close-range attacks or more distant attacks. The former category needs precise timing to avoid their attacks too. The Titanops is one of those creatures, a giant bipedal creature. One arm is made out of tentacles, the other out of a “cleaver-like extruded bone”. Both will do a lot of damage and the creature will constantly chase players and jump large distances to reduce any gap players try to put between it and them. This one will take a lot of damage before it is finally killed.
The latter category gives players a bit more room to manoeuvre. The organic Mycomorph prefers to shoot homing projectiles from a distance, teleporting to different spots to get a better line of sight. It also has a “grenade-style” attack, each releasing a cluster of vines that slows players down by rooting them to the floor. Most of the organic enemies have been inspired by bioluminescent deep sea creatures as “they felt like the most alien lifeforms one could find here on Earth”. As such, Housemarque developed their own VFX-driven tentacle tech that’s been used on many of their enemy designs. Their bioluminescence will depict oncoming attacks and provide the hit reactions when Selene lands a shot.
Despite each enemy having their own unique design and attacks, the developer has tried to combine them so that they work together as effectively as possible. The environments have a large amount of verticality that can be used by both Selene and enemies. They want combat to be challenging but not unfair and players need to keep moving, making full use of Selene’s abilities and weapons. After a brief delay, players will be able to test their abilities against these enemies when the game is released on April 30.
[Source: PlayStation Blog]
