Hyper Light Drifter follow-up Solar Ash is out now
Gather around, skater boys and girls
Heart Machine's Solar Ash is out now, inviting players on a skating adventure to kill giant bosses. It's a follow-up to their previous game, Hyper Light Drifter, but this time around they've swapped the 2D style for 3D, and are sending you out into a big open world. I'm very much looking forward to jumping into its lush and colourful alien landscapes. Oh, to be a sci-fi skater.
Solar Ash is an action adventure game where you play as Rei, a hero trying to save her world from the Ultravoid (a large black hole). To do this, she'll need to skate her way to a number of big beasties throughout the world, and take them down.
I interviewed the developers back in July who told me the game was "like a mix of Mario Galaxy, meets Shadow Of The Colossus, meets Jet Set Radio". They want Solar Ash to feel pretty different from Hyper Light, so they put a lot of tech and energy into making sure the world was big enough for lotsa of movement and lotsa boss fights.
It seems they've done a pretty good job too. In his Solar Ash review, Ed says: "Don't expect one fluid joy ride, but when it does come together it really does impress. If you’re after a few hours of slicin' and skatin', I'd say it’s worth strapping those blades up."
Solar Ash is out now on the Epic Games Store, priced at £32/€40/$40. It's also on PlayStation. The devs haven't yet said whether or not it will come to other PC storefronts like Steam.