When ReCore was first shown at Microsoft’s E3 2015 briefing the game has since been shrouded in mystery but knowing that Legendary Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune and Metroid Prime Alum Mark Pacini, of Armature Studio, were working on this game had me intrigued. My biggest question was what exactly is ReCore?
The game revolves around Joule as she adventures through a post-apocalyptic desert world. Joule is a worker on the planet Far Eden, one of the few remaining humans assigned to help terraform the planet. She was previously asleep, waiting for her shift to start, so she doesn’t quite know what’s happened when she wakes up. Joule is joined by her robot companion Mack, who is part of a faction that’s on a mission to bring humanity back to the planet, which goes against another robotic faction’s goals.
A 10 min single player demo for the Xbox One was available to play. The demo begins with an unknown voice speaking to Joule, giving her guidance and encouraging words, “if anyone can do it, you can.” She immediately discovers enemy robots, who used to be friendly but have changed their objective throughout the story. Compared to Metroid or Mega Man series, the game felt like a combination of both worlds. There were noticeable features that were inspired by both games. The game play was very similar to Mega Man with a presence of Metroid series.
Joule can shoot in any direction of the enemy and you can even lock on to an enemy and her shots will land and if you hold down the right bumper, you can unleash a powerful charged shot, but what is more important is paying attention to the type of ammo and robot companion you are using through a color matching system. Your enemies, and robot companions, and weapons are all color coded. You need to match the correct colored weapon or companion with whatever enemy you are fighting. These colored enemies can also carry different types of elements: for instance, red creatures will set things on fire, whereas yellow can be more defense based and may shock you.
Combat in ReCore is very fast-paced and fluid. There is a good balance between using movement and coordinating the right abilities to avoid damage and using the right weapons and companion. Similar to Mega Man, there is a good mix of platforming and combat. I had two companions to try out, Mack and Seth, but you can only have one out at a time. One would fire a string of missiles toward the enemy and the other had a dash attack which served as what looked like a stun move as well as the ability to attach onto rails and glide along them, very similar to Samus’s morph ball in Metroid Prime. Aside from her gun, one of Joule’s signature tools is her extractor, which is not just a weapon to change out cores and tamper with enemies, but you can also traverse around the area and unlock specific doors.
There’s so much more I would like to know about ReCore. On top of everything I learned, there are systems chain combo kills, that give greater experience. As I attacked enemies, numbers would fly out, suggesting that there could be a treasure or upgrade system as well. As a huge fan of Mega Man and the Metroid Series, I am personally excited learn everything there is to know about this game. Players who love robots or enjoy fast paced action should definitely check out this game when it’s released September 13th in North America.