Blackwind is an isometric sci-fi action game developed by Drakkar Dev and published by Blowfish Studios. It released on all platforms on January 20 and puts you in the shoes of a teenager trapped inside a prototype battle armor suit during an alien invasion. Players face off against enemies, cut through their ranks, and fight back to stop a planetary invasion. In my review, I found the hack-and-slash action to be fast agile gameplay with a good mix of puzzles and platform sections. I asked the developers some questions about development of the game and their learnings since their previous game, War Tech Fighters.
How big is the development team for Blackwind and how long did it take to develop the game to the current build?
Drakkar Dev’s team is really small: 1 programmer, 1 3D artist, 1 animator, 1 script writer and 1 2D concept artist. Blackwind’s development took nearly two years, a bit longer than expected due to the global pandemic.
How has the team progressed from your last release, War Tech Fighters? Were there any learnings from that game that helped influence the design of Blackwind?
A lot of things have changed since War tech Fighters. Both the team size and the acquired knowledge about hard surface design and fast and responsive gameplay. It all contributed to getting to Blackwind.
What makes Blackwind stand out amongst other top-down sci-fi action games on the market today?
Blackwind summarizes many aspects of sci-fi action games we love. There’s hack-n-slash, there’s twin stick shooting, environmental puzzle solving and platforming all combined. Also, the ability to deploy the Blackwind drone to explore, solve puzzles and fight (both single player and co-op) strongly contributes to creating a unique experience for the player.
What was the most challenging feature of Blackwind to implement?
The finishing moves were really fun to make but also challenging to develop. We wanted each enemy to have a unique way to be “terminated” in the most brutal way.
What has been the most rewarding part of developing Blackwind?
We think we did a pretty good job with the hack-n-slash part of the gameplay. We love how it “feels” to hit enemies and destroy things in the game. It’s quite satisfying and addictive. The destructible environment plays a big role in that as well because while you’re fighting some aliens in a research complex, you might find many things have been blown up because of your actions and it’s a really fun thing.
What’s next for Drakkar Dev?
We’ll soon start pre-production for a new project. Something a bit different and with a very unique setting. I can’t say more for now.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
We hope that players will feel the passion that we put in the game and the love we have for this game genre.
This interview was facilitated by Blowfish Studios and Blackwind is available now on PC, Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch.
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Written by: @ChrisJInglis
