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Greedfall dev shares first gameplay footage of its 18th century automaton RPG Steelrising

Coming to PC and consoles in June next year.

Spiders - the French studio behind the scrappy but lovable RPG likes of GreedFall and The Technomacer - has shared first gameplay footage of its offbeat new action-RPG, Steelrising.

Steelrising, if you're unfamiliar, features a deliciously high-concept premise, unfolding in a heavily reimagined version of 18th century Paris, where players are cast as Aegis, one of Marie Antoinette's automaton bodyguards, and charged with tracking down their maker in a bid to stop Louis XVI's army of rogue robots.

Steelrising got its big reveal last summer, when Spiders shared a wonderfully atmospheric teaser trailer offering a glimpse of Paris' battle-ravaged streets and glorious automaton creations. And now, following a second cinematic trailer in June, the developer has provided a first look at Steelrising's gameplay, predominantly focussing on its flashy third-person combat.

Steelrising - Gameplay Trailer.Watch on YouTube

"Aegis was originally made to be a dancer, and wasn't initially designed for combat," explains Spiders CEO Jehanne Rousseau. "Considering each opponent you face is a literal killing machine, defeating them won't be easy. You will have to make good use of your inherent grace, think fast, stay on your toes, and strike at the right moment to come out in one piece."

Rousseau says Steelrising's resulting action will feel familiar to Souls-like fans and notes that players will be able to adapt Aegis to their own preferred play style using a "flexible levelling system, and a wide variety of different weapons, each with their unique strengths and weaknesses". Additionally, new tools will unlock as the game progresses, opening up new combat possibilities alongside new paths to explore around the city.

Spiders' previous efforts have had bags of charm, despite being a little rough around the edges, with Greedfall proving to be a considerable (and hugely enjoyable) step up for the studio. As such, I'm pretty excited to see what it can do with Steelrising's winning premise when the game launches on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC in June next year.