Mechabre

Mechabre is a new cyberpunk-themed Action-Adventure Hack-And-Slash game developed by Capcom and published by Square-Enix.

A new IP as part of a joint-collaborative effort between Capcom and Square-Enix, the game was directed by Jean-Francois Dugas (Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided) and produced by Hiroyuki Kobayashi (Devil May Cry series) featuring battle mechanics inspired by the Devil May Cry series and futuristic cities and environments inspired by the Cyberpunk and Deus Ex series of games. Additionally, character design was done by Tatsuya Yoshikawa (Devil May Cry 4).

The game was released on September 12, 2017 for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows.

Synopsis
In a parallel universe set in the far-distant future, an intergalactic space federation, known as Novak Corps., attempt to create the "perfect" super soldier. Finding the perfect host in their database, they travel to the present and abduct Navy SEAL officer Dirk Frost who, through the augmentation via future technology, is reborn as Mechabre, the "perfect" weapon they sought to create. However, when his own perfection equips Frost with a special "sixth" sense that allows him to see into the future, Frost rebels against his captors in an attempt to thwart an intergalactic reign of terror waged by Novak Corps.

Game Modes
Coming soon.

Plot
Dirk Frost is kidnapped during a S.W.A.T. mission in which his squad is tasked with finding and disarming a bomb placed inside the Sears Tower in downtown Chicago.

He soon wakes up on a fleet piloted by the Novak Corps, who've just completed the augmentation of the "perfect" super soldier. After running him through a training simulation in which he takes out Sentinels with supernatural levels of precision and physics, Frost winds up back upon the Novak Corps. ship. Dubbed as Mechabre, he soon begins having futuristic visions in which the Novak Corps. wages an intergalactic reign of terror, causing mass genocide across multiple galaxies. Mechabre revolts against his captors, who narrowly escape after siccing him with Guardian drones. Using his advanced weaponry and augmentation, Mechabre navigates through the ship's many quarters, successfully making it to the ship's bridge. He eventually encounters Novak's anonymous second-in-command. However, he is reluctant to attack her upon seeing holograms of a defenseless orphan child in her place, also a result of his special "sixth" sense. Discovering a flaw within their supposedly "perfect" super soldier, Novak's aid deports Mechabre after he attacks him.

Frost soon wakes up on a prison dimension. Sapped of all of his memories, he soon encounters many souls in the form of Phantoms in his search for answers, who blame him for "their" death. Driven to madness, he inevitably creates a giant fissure that devastates the entire planet, turning it into a burning magma pit. Battling his way through self-inflicted obstacles, Mechabre navigates his way through the barren hellhole, destroying Sentries, Linxys, and gunship bogeys with the use of his advanced weaponry, which was conveniently digitally-highlighted on his body via his sixth sense. Along the way, Mechabre calls for rescue via holographic device, using his sixth sense to pinpoint the exact coordinates. Impressed by his perseverance, the Novak Corps sends one of their own agents, Viper, to neutralize him. After defeating Viper, Mechabre is congratulated by a blonde mercenary, identifying herself as Ursula, who helps him escape via Passportal super computer.

Winding up right where he was first captured, Mechabre is confused when he wakes up in the middle of a futuristic metropolis, seeing the Chicago skyline being terraformed and carried away by a telekinetic force at the site of the warhead he encountered earlier. He soon finds himself subdued as the entire city is attacked by Helldestroyers, Reapers and Sentinels. After sweeping through the city, he runs into the Revenant mothership, who soars over the city skyline, destroying everything in sight. Mechabre defeats the giant mothership and once again encounters Ursula, who's being "escorted" away by Novak. Mechabre chases after her, but is conveniently led into a portal leading straight into a high-tech interstellar prison.

At the prison, Mechabre battles his way through the multiverse's most dangerous mercenaries and built-in security obstacles. During his quest, Mechabre eventually sees a holographic broadcast by a cybornetic space pirate named Cypher. Mechabre tries to respond, but the feed is cut by a system hack. He eventually finds and frees an imprisoned Ursula, each going their separate ways in their attempts to override the security breach. Searching for clues, Mechabre discovers a file of Carnifex, a wanted space tyrant from U-6189 (short for Universe-6189) for many crimes, including genocide. However, the file unknowingly triggers a Self-Destruction Sequence, engulfing the prison. After narrowly-escaping an explosive SDS, Mechabre is EMPed upon entering the security terminal. A holographic Carnifex appears and beats down and nearly kills a powerless Mechabre. However, Ursula appears and disables the hologram, revealing it to be a simulation. The two appear to begin to slowly bond, having rescued each other. However, Ursula curiously leaves after rejecting his offer to join him, which is made all the more ominous by the sight of the Passportal.

Gameplay
Mechabre is a cyberpunk Hack-And-Slash game similar to Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, but featuring battle mechanics similar to that of developer Capcom's Devil May Cry series. As the titular character, you venture through highly-detailed futuristic cities similar to that of the Cyberpunk and Deus Ex series of games, including, but not limited to: a displaced Chicago skyline (from the present time [2017]) set in the reaches of outer space and an underwater cyberpunk city, and these are just a couple of the "unique" environments you'll encounter. Along the way, you'll face off against a number of different enemy robots, and droids, including robotic tanks, armed mercenaries, guardian robots and droids and airborne and sentient spike-chained drones similar to those seen in Call of Duty: Black Ops 3.

The game draws many parallels to Deus Ex and Devil May Cry. Like Deus Ex, you can purchase "augmentations" that'll upgrade various types of character stamina, and like Devil May Cry, this is done through collectible Zen left by slain foes. You can also purchase new skill-sets/combos as well as upgrade current ones, also akin to Devil May Cry. Among these are a chargeable sword dash combo similar to Devil May Cry and a spacejumping shockwave ability seen in Deus Ex (and, ironically, P.N.03 also developed by Capcom).

Takedown
The game also lends itself to a "new" counter move, known as Takedown, where, by pressing Triangle/Y at the right time, you can counter (unmarked) strikes from nearby soldiers/droids and perform a variety of different sword and melee strikes on them, even two at the same time, as another subtle nod to Deus Ex, eventually capping them off with a sword finisher, derived from Devil May Cry.

Examples: Takedown abilities/combos can also be chained.
 * Headhunter: Mechabre slashes two foes with repeated back-and-forth swipes before cutting both their heads off with a spinning slash.
 * Decapitator: Bring a foe down with a Frankensteiner before snapping his neck via Neckscissors.
 * Scapegoat: Puncture a foe with an upperhanded fatal sword slash through the chest before tossing him/her/it into nearby foes.
 * Mercenary: Similar to the Scapegoat technique, only instead of throwing him/her/it into nearby enemies, you grab a hold of their gun and shoot nearby Sentinels/mechs while using the enemy as a shield. Against Helldestroyer tanks, you simply grab their grenade launcher and use it to blast nearby tanks or mechs. This can be capped off with a sword finisher.
 * Lyncher: Uses a similar animation to "Mercenary" and "Scapegoat" with the underhanded sword fatality through the chest, only Mechabre then responds by holding the foe high in the air and unloading one of several types of rounds from his arm cannon into the foe's mouth.
 * High Flyer: Launch an enemy high into the air with a backflip kick before parrying and eventually landing on top of his/her/its shoulders. He then slams him/her/it to the ground with a downward sword slash.
 * Die Flyer: An "upgraded" variant of High Flyer that sees Mechabre perform an inverted headlock backbreaker from many feet in the air. He holds on and tosses the foe onto his/her/its stomach with a snapmare-like throw and finishes him/her/it off with a sword finisher.
 * Guillotine: Toss a foe to the ground with a judo arm throw and then finish him/her/it off with a sword finisher right to the chest.
 * Speed Demon: Using time manipulation, Mechabre will dissect the Sentinel's arm in midair with a springing slash following a front flip while in Bullet Time. He will then catch the enemy's gun upon landing-in a forward roll-and take out hordes of nearby soldiers/sentinels while firing in a rapid spinning motion similar to DMC3 after entering Turbo Mode. Finally, Mechabre will turn around and throw the enemy's gun like a boomerang at the final target, piercing its skull.

Gadgets
You may also make use of various gadgets in game, some of which are collectibles scattered in random parts of each level:
 * Thermal Vision: Allows you to see through walls as well as sense incoming enemies.
 * EMP Grenade: Disable all droids/mechs within its blast radius. NOTE: on human foes, it only temporarily disables some of their energy-based attacks/weapons.
 * Proximity Mine: Sticky mines that detonate when an enemy steps within range.
 * Decryptor: Hack security terminals and computers.
 * Smoke Grenade: Create a blinding smokescreen around the trajectory of your foes.
 * Arm Cannon: Allows you to carry and fire various types of rounds in limited bunches:
 * Incendiary Round: Highly explosive, armor-piercing rounds that give off multiple bursts on impact.
 * Plasma Round: Fire a single burst of plasma in the form of spiral rays.
 * Gravity Bomb: Send legions of foes flying into the air with a blast of telekinetic force by simply pointing it in the foe's general direction.
 * Chain Grenade: Lock onto multiple groups of enemies and then fires a chain of grenade launcher rounds that ricochet off of each highlighted group, creating an explosive domino effect.
 * Shinomura: Name literally means "swarm of death" in Latin. Fires a swarm of nanobots at a target(s) after locking on. Very lethal, but extremely scarce.

Abilities
As a genetically and technologically-enhanced supersoldier, Mechabre also contains a secondary power source from his SPU (Secondary Processing Unit) which grants him special exo abilities in limited bunches. It is marked by an SPU meter below the health bar.
 * Charged Attacks: Mechabre can charge his sword and perform longer, more sophisticated combos with his sword that give off a giant trail of energy, increasing its damage.
 * Turbo Mode: For a limited time, using Mechabre's GPU energy (as marked by a meter on your screen), you may enter Turbo Mode, allowing Mechabre to move really fast. Your Turbo Meter will slowly replenish as you advance through each level.
 * Electromagnetic Force Field: while in Turbo Mode, Mechabre may make limited use of Electromagnetic Force. In doing so, this allows you to dash at enemies while surrounding yourself in electromagnetic energy that obliterates them while luring other surrounding enemies to your destructive force field within a certain radius. This can only be done with a full Exo Meter surrounding his Turbo Meter on the bottom left hand portion of the screen.
 * Bullet Time: You may also make limited use of special Bullet Time effects using Mechabre's external energy supply. Slow down everything around you while you move and attack using your various weapons in real time. Useful for approaching swarms of Sentinels. Like your Turbo Meter, your Bullet Time meter will slowly replenish with time. Bullet time can also be used in conjunction with your Turbo Mode, slowing down enemies movements while speeding up your own.
 * Lock On: You can lock onto various foes in one area via SPU before taking them all out with heatseaking swarms of plasma missiles or other weapons at your disposal.
 * Air Dash Strike: You can dash into the air via base jump in order to take out entire swarms of airborne drones.
 * Wall Running: You can ride and hop off walls (either horizontally or vertically) to approach targets.

Special Abilities
Using any combination of the above abilities, Mechabre may utilize high-damage special abilities (Destroyers) that showcase his technological advancements.
 * Sudoken: Mechabre will blast multiple targets simultaneously with telekinetic blasts of electromagnetic force energy. COMMAND(s): Lock On + Electromagnetic Force Field (Activation).
 * Juggernaut: Mechabre will leap at a foe(s) in a straight line, encompassing himself in an aurora of energy as he lunges forward. He then performs a destructive, energy charged sword dash that gains traction while in midair and gives off a giant trail of energy when he lands, creating a giant fissure in his trajectory. COMMANDS: Charge + Bullet Time + Base Jump.
 * Chain Attack: A variant of, Mechabre will glide through multiple foes (up to 4) with telekinetic sword lunges in a zig-zagging motion. COMMANDS: Charge + Lock On
 * Electrocity: Mechabre will give off a giant, energy-siphoning discharge of electric energy that obliterates the surrounding turf and all encompassing foes in its blast radius. COMMAND(s): Charge + Electromagnetic Force Field.
 * Airbender: As the name suggests, Mechabre will bend time while dashing at various locked-on targets, the game slowing down as he charges at foes and speeding up as he performs a deadly sword combo before moving onto the next target and repeating the process. COMMAND(s): Lock On + Bullet Time + Turbo Mode + Sword Combo.

Characters

 * Dirk Frost AKA Mechabre: An ex-Navy SEAL officer. Abducted in the present by Riku, an operative of Novak Corps., he is experimented on by and eventually crafted into Mechabre, a cybornetic bounty hunter donning a powerful alloy, equipped with the greatest in future technology and can amass 80% of his brain power.
 * Appearance: Wears a strong, multi-layered body made out of a black and silver titanium alloy. Dons armored bracelets in his chest, abdomen, wrists and knees that are expanded from the connecting joints with the underlying circuitry visible beneath each. Has "Novak Corps." engraved on his collarbone area. Equipped with a retractable arm cannon that can fire several projectiles from his wrists. Carries missile silos on his shoulders that fire plasma missiles and an electro-powered scythe in his mechanical holster on his back. Elsewhere, Mechabre has plated shoulder pads, V-shaped cybornetic eyes and several glyphs all throughout his body that glare blue, including in his chest. He also dons a fancy luchador-like crown on his visor.
 * Riku: Officer working for Novak Corps. Responsible for the abduction and apprehension of Dirk Frost.

Bosses

 * Revenant: A sentient, shapeshifting UFO mothership. Grows giant claws from which it can swipe or throw objects at you. It can also transform itself into a giant spiked century (see below) and launch itself at you.
 * Viper: A cybornetic agent of Novak Corps. Considered by many to be the brains of the group, equipping himself with gadgets and weaponry that can take down a multitude of different foes.
 * Appearance: He's equipped with 4 mechanical arm attachments each carrying a scythe, which can be used to perform circular slashes. He's also equipped with thrusters from which he can dash at you.
 * Karmageddon: A giant alien warship in the sky. Complete with many machine gun turrets and phaser silos.
 * Destroyer X51: Giant 4-armed piloted mech complete with 2 scythes (bottom arms), 2 machine gun turrets (top arms) and missile silos on both shoulders.
 * Ursula: Novak's second-in-command and heir apprentice. She targets her prey in unique seductive ways while teasing them with her revealing outfit, forcing them to bend to her every whim. However, her troubled backstory would indicate that she may have a "soft" side buried deep in her vixen-like personality behind all the cat-and-mouse theatrics, being an orphan soldier who was later abducted while witnessing her POW husband's execution by the Novak Corps-before being taken in and mind-controlled as one of their own.
 * Appearance: Ursula has long, wavy black hair with red streaks and blue eyes. She also dons a curvy, metallic, symbiotic, red and silver-plated, maiden-like corset-thong outfit covering only her ribcage and part of her breasts, nipples, pelvis and backside similar to Witchblade. She also carries shoulder gear complete with curvy, horizontal red spikes on top. She wears a pair robotic gauntlets complete with giant claw extensions on her right hand. She also carries a wrist-mounted sheild on her left hand from which she can block melee attacks. Her legs are covered in robotic shinguards with hole leggings extending across her thighs. Additionally, Ursula may "trick" her foes with holograms and juggle portals from which she can either hit an insta-counter technique should you fall through them or attack from various directions simultaneously.
 * Caine: A shapeshifting, symbiotic cyborg villain and one of the 4 leaders of the Novak Corps. Can warp via "melting" into the ground and transform his molten claw arms into various weapons at will.
 * Jaylen Novak: Leader of Novak Corps. to which the organization is soughtly named after and the game's end boss. An unruly space tyrant who seeks intergalactic rule and oppression.
 * Appearance: He dons a muscular, purple alloy-armored suit along with a mask covering half his face, a mouthpiece and mechanical dreadlocks. He also wears a glowing mechanical red eye patch over his right (uncovered eye) from which he can either shoot eyelasers or lock onto targets. His ultimate attack consists of an explosive, electricity-siphoning shockwave.

Enemies

 * Sentinels: Gatling gun-totting cyborgs.
 * Reapers: Airborne quadrotor drones.
 * Helldestroyers: Robotic tanks.
 * Guardians: Quadrupedal mini-droids equipped with laser sight.
 * Sentries: Sentient turbine-shaped drones with spikes attached.
 * Linxys: Burrowing leech-like droids.

Reception
Coming soon.

Development
Shortly after wrapping up production on the first collaborative project, Capcom, who had entered into a working relationship with Square-Enix, had began R&D on their next original IP under their 4th Production Studio. Having been plagued by such commercial failures as Killer 7, P.N.03 and Viewtiful Joe, they sought new leadership in hopes to develop their next original killer app, looking to recreate the success of their Devil May Cry series.

In early 2015, Capcom hired a bunch of former staff members from Konami who left following Hideo Kojima's eventful departure from the company. Among them were none other than Masaya Kobayashi, who directed the cutscenes for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, a hack and slash game, similar to their own Devil May Cry series. Together, they started crafting their next original IP, and after submitting their game concept to Square-Enix, Deus Ex director, Jean-François Dugas hired them to externally-develop their next project, seeing limitless potential in working with Devil May Cry producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi and Metal Gear Solid/Rising cinematic artist and cutscene director, Masaya Kobayashi (relations unknown).

"We wanted to combine the groundbreaking concept of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, the overall look and feel of our own popular (Devil May Cry) series of action games and the futuristic atmosphere of the Deus Ex series and put it all under one roof," H. Kobayashi adds, citing their working relationship with Square-Enix on Square-Enix vs. Capcom: When Worlds Collide as inspiration.

Incidentally, their involvement on the crossover fighter (along with Sega's involvement) spurred numerous other collaborative projects between Capcom, Sega, Square-Enix and Bandai-Namco in what would become the Japan Six (referring to six unnamed projects between Japan's top publishers, a play on the Capcom Five), spread out across a pipeline of planned future titles from the respective studios.

Mechabre was the second such title to be unveiled. It was announced at Capcom's 15th anniversary event for Devil May Cry on August 23, 2016 (marking the exact date of the DMC 15th anniversary) alongside Devil May Cry 5 (officially titled Devil May Cry 5: Bloodlines). After announcing they were "well in development" on the next entry in the famed Devil May Cry series, longtime DMC producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi immediately followed up with another game "from the creators of Deus Ex and Devil May Cry". Deus Ex director Jean-François Dugas unveiled the announcement trailer as part of Square-Enix's panel, who were invited to the event following months of viral marketing on SEvC, officially revealing the project as ''Mechabre. ''

The tagline "from the creators of Deus Ex and Devil May Cry" would prominently be featured in ads and marketing not only to hype the game, but in honor of Capcom's working relationship with Square-Enix as part of the Japan Six. It was also incorporated on the official game cover art in order to spur sales.

The game was released on September 12, 2017 to coincide with the one year anniversary of Final Fantasy XV, also published by Square-Enix.

In an interview with Game Rant, Hiroyuki Kobayashi added "We wanted to commemorate 10 years of hard work on FFXV while honoring our own working relationship with the great minds at Square-Enix," indicating that he'd aimed for a September 2018 release right from the offset.

Designers Tatsuya Yoshikawa and Masaya Kobayashi also created subtle in-game nods to their respective works, including a child soldier origin story for Ursula and a budding love-hate relationship between the protagonist, Mechabre/Dirk, similar to Dante and Trish's in the first Devil May Cry. "Over time, we see it becoming a more intimate conflict of interest between the two and it [the game] becoming a series," Yoshikawa adds.

Controversy
Shortly after the release of the first screenshots, Mechabre faced a strong wave of backlash from feminists and social justice warriors alike. Many SJWs criticized Capcom and publisher Square-Enix for its overly-sexual portrayal of scantily-clad character, Ursula, who's controversial attire draws noted similarities to Witchblade, the sexualized titular comic book character portrayed by Sara Pezzini.

However, in a Twitter response, game director Jean-Francois Dugas insisted that, despite the fervent backlash, he has no plans to change the character, noting "The fine folks at Capcom and Square-Enix have a set vision for the game, and we plan to stick by it every step of the way." When pressed on the matter, character designer Tatsuya Yoshikawa, who created the character, insisted "We in Japan have our own way of expressing our newly-designed characters which do not exactly fall in line with the vocal minorities overseas. However, we certainly respect the right for them to design their own characters as they please."

SJWs responded with, among other things, death threats and attempts to get Yoshikawa and Dugas fired (in particular, former writers at IGN and GameSpot). However, representatives at Capcom and Square-Enix have insisted they will remain with their respective companies and the creative decisions surrounding their character and game designs are final.

Trivia

 * Masaya Kobayashi's hiring from Konami was said to be central in Ursula's conceptualization and characterization with designer, Tatsuya Yoshikawa, who wanted to create another Quiet-like character after the massive cult following she received from Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
 * Ursula combines key characteristics from several characters between the two designers. She possesses the child/orphan soldier origin of Raiden (Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance), the sexualization of Quiet (Metal Gar Solid V: The Phantom Pain), and the strong familial ties to the main character of Trish (Devil May Cry), Mechabre's father having served as a POW during the Vietnam War much like her ex-husband.
 * According to Yoshikawa, Ursula was created with the intention of crafting the next "major" female gaming character, wanting to create a vixen who's sexual and conniving in nature, but sympathetic in origin.