Hands-on with Divine Knockout, the third-person platform fighter that hits PlayStation Plus on December 6 – PlayStation.Blog
Have you ever heard someone say that there is nothing new in the world? Turns out – that guy was wrong.
Divine Knockout introduces a whole new genre of game: 3rd person gladiator. Imagine a familiar side-scrolling platform fighter, but rotating the camera on the Z axis. Suddenly, you’ll find yourself jumping, dash and smash his friends in all three dimensions.
DKO’s Mythical Multiplayer mayhem is coming to your PlayStation on December 6th. Better yet: DKO Founders Edition is available for free to all. PlayStation Plus members* – talk about a magical vacation!
Read on for an exclusive insight into how DKO plays, the adorable Gods playable, the battlefield you’ll be fighting, and why DKO is perfect on PlayStation.
What is a 3rd person platform fighter?
People are fighting on the platform – DKO’s core combat is inspired by the 2D platformer fighters everyone played (and loved) growing up. You damage enemies to make them vulnerable, then you knock them out of the arena with a critical hit. Simple, right?
On Tuesday afternoon! – Wrong. DKO is something completely new: a 3rd person platform fighter. When you throw Thor’s hammer Mjolnir, it doesn’t just appear on the right side of the screen; you have to aim at your target. If you want to chase a running Ymir, you will need 3D platform running skills to jump between platforms. Somehow, it’s both familiar and something you’ve never played before – and that’s it very fun.
Repeated years – The dev team at Red Beard Games has been working on DKO for over three years, trying to discover what a 3rd person platform fighter really is. To be. They played dozens of different versions of DKO for testing purposes. The developers say one is more of a “physics shooter” than a platform fighter – no surprise given the core team behind the indie hit classic Sky Noon. But through years and experimentation, they found the DKO’s secret recipe.
Perform, not skillfully – Success in DKO depends on placement and timing, not memorizing combos or difficult inputs. Each character has light and heavy attacks that can be chained into combos and a dodge to dodge or swap positions. But characters are really defined by their three abilities (which cooldown after cast) and a game-changing ultimate ability – Watch out when King Arthur summons the power of the legendary sword His Excalibur!
Make the gods your own
The Mightiest Gods of Legend – Playable characters bring “Divine” into the Divine Knockout. You will play as a legendary god in DKO; Do you want to throw rocks like Hercules or master the katana like Susano? These gods come from all of the world’s myths, with 10 available at launch representing Japanese, Greek, Roman, Norse and Arthurian deities. The developers say more temples and deities will be added regularly.
Cute anime style – The gods in DKO are recreated in a charming chibi art style, inspired by the divine chibi skin in the hit MOBA Smite action game. Red Beard Games’ amazing art team has taken this inspiration to the next level with the full power of Unreal Engine 4, added shading scaling, and an anime-style remake so combat is still possible. readable. Somehow, even the Greek God of Death, Thanatos, looks downright cute in this beautiful game.
Play your way – Although DKO launches with 10 gods, it will launch with hundreds of ways to play each god. An extensive Talent system allows you to define your own playstyle for each God. As Athena, for example, you can become a long-range spear thrower, a shield-bearer focused on teamwork, or an agile martial arts expert – all belonging to the same god, only by equipping new Talents. Red Beard Games assures us that the system is not pay-to-win; all players always start with full Talent and extra playtime opens up extra options, not extra powers.
Battlefield of the Gods
Fighting Arena – You won’t be fighting in boring, lifeless stages in DKO. Each of the seven levels at launch has a unique mechanic that you’ll have to master to win. A level disappears as you fight, slowly narrowing the battle area – and making the action more hectic. Another challenge for players to avoid deadly spinning spikes – or smash enemies into them!
Adventure “Arcade” – In DKO’s core 3v3 Arcade mode, each round is a new adventure, with a new map – and a new mode. In this best of the 5 games you will roam around the arenas and play various game modes like Knockout, King of the Hill and Oddball. This more casual, team-focused mode is a great game to play with friends that almost feels like a party game.
Duel – If you’re the type of player who wants the most competitive experience possible, then DKO’s 1v1 and 2v2 matches are for you. These heart-pounding matches are all about mastery of combat and are set on seven smaller, simpler levels unique to duels.
Gods play on PlayStation
Optimized for PlayStation 5 – DKO plays great on PS4, but the developers at Red Beard Games have gone to great lengths to build a PS5 original to take advantage of the extra horsepower. Requires 120 FPS, 4K gameplay on PS5.
Included with PlayStation Plus – That’s right – all PlayStation Plus subscribers get DKO’s Founders Edition at no extra cost. This $24.99 version of MSRP includes access to the game, eight playable gods (Amaterasu, Sol, Hercules, Susano, Ymir, Athena, Thor, and King Arthur), and some cosmetics. Sweet exclusives like the Epic level Biohazard Sol skin.
Multi-platform – If your friends don’t play on PlayStation, don’t worry: DKO fully supports crossplay. You can invite friends to parties, play in custom games, or matchmaking online on all supported platforms. And if you play cross-platform (like your work PC when the boss isn’t watching) you can also bring all your unlocks with you thanks to cross-progress.
If you’re as excited about DKO as we are, then you don’t have to wait long to play it. DKO launches on PS5 and PS4 on December 6, with Founders Edition bundled with PlayStation Plus.
*Available June 12, 2022 – May 1, 2023. The monthly game is only accessible during the PS Plus subscription period.
