The studio wants to focus on its next three games

If you had told me Bleeding Edge would still be around in January 2021, I'm not sure I would've been able to picture it. Ninja Theory isn't delisting Bleeding Edge yet &nda??sh; a move that seems plausible given its failure to resonate with a big-enough audience &?ndash; but the team is done releasing content updates for the game.

The only-a-matter-of-time news was shared ??today on Twitter.

With the studio now focusing on our new projects (Senua’s Saga, Project Mara & The Insight Project) we have decided that there will be no further content updates for Bleeding Edge. The game is still playable on Xbox and PC. Thank you to the fans & keep teaming up & causing chaos!

— Bleeding Edge (@BleedingEdgeNT) January 28, 2021

Bleeding Edge has redeeming qualities – it's clear the developers genuinely tried – but better games have failed to make a splash in the tricky modern-day multiplayer space, and it doesn't make sense to fight this uphill battle. Not every game can turn it around post-launch, and not every game should.

I'm glad Ninja Theory is in a position to take the hit on Bleeding Edge and move on undeterred with a mix of familiar (Hellblade II) and new (Project Mara). I'd ha??te to lose this stud?io to a botched PvP game.

I was just thinking about Bleeding Edge yesterday afternoon in light of the PS5's Destruction AllStars. Not that these games are comparable one-to-one exactly, but there a??re broad-strokes similarities and I'm curious to see if the latter can establish a healthy foothold with PlayStation Plus backing it u?p.

I'll always have Kulev, my curse-slinging deceased professor controlled by a?? cy??bernetic snake.

The post Ninja Theory isn’t pulling Bleeding Edge offline, but it’s moving on appeared first on Destructoid.

Choose your fighter

I want to see the Venn diagram for Bleeding Edge, Madden NFL 20, and Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4. Is there anyone out there who has equal love for ?all three of these very different games?

Today through April 26 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific, Microsoft is running a Free Play Days event for the trio. Xbox Live Gold subscribers can download, install, and play these three games for the duration of the promo, and that also includes achievements if you're looking to pad out your running total. Bleeding Edge, in particular, only has 10 achievements. Earning all ??1,000 points is a matter ?of if, not when.

Frankly, I wasn't that hot on Ninja Theory's team-based brawler, but I do think it's worth checking out for free – and I hope they make the shift to free-to-play while they can. For now, a small group of developers is working on tidying up matchmaking woes, latency and lag issues, and other pressing concerns before introducing a new hero, Mekko the dolphin, who will join? the roster in the next patch.

I imagine most folks know where they stand with Naruto Shippuden by now. As for Madden, wi?th a distinct l??ack of sporting events in the world, I wonder if people are getting their fix with video games.

The promo also app??lies to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers, and all three ga??mes are discounted.

Free Play Days – Bleeding Edge, Madden NFL 20, and Naruto Shipp??ude??n: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 [Xbox]

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Short-lived thrills

As a four-on-four team fighter with limited content, Bleeding Edge has its work cut out for it.

Ninja Theory's third-person PvP brawler has drawn a lot of comparisons – and also a lot of skepticism. It's the kind of game you can download with Xbox Game Pass and enjoy for a week, without question, but does it stand any real chance of sticking around long-term? I'm already expecting the worst given the scope of the game, the release timi??ng, and all the other projects Ninja Theory has coming up next.

In the meantime, though, it's neat. The hero roster is surprisingly out-there and versatile, the melee focus is a pleasant change of pace for people who are burned out on Overwatch, and the hazard-filled maps can lead to brutal trap setups involving high-spee?d trains, electric walls, and missil?e barrages.

Bleeding Edge (PC, Xbox One [reviewed])
Developer: Ninja Theory
Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
Released: March 24, 2020
MSRP: $29.99

I'm in a weird place with Bleeding Edge. Many of you probably will be too.

I like this kooky game more than I expected given the premise (and my growing hero-shooter fatigue), yet I'm torn about the overall package. In some areas, the development team is clearly punching above its weight. In others, it feels ??like?? the creators had to scale back their vision. It's pretty bare-bones.

Let me set the scene. You're ideally going to play through a few quick but crucial tutorials to grasp the controls, watch a video that vaguely sets up Bleeding Edge's quirky cyberpunk world, maybe read a character bio or two, and then practice your bestie's abilities against programmable AI bots in the dojo. After that, you'??re looking at matchmaking with two modes across five maps, minor progression unlocks involving equippable mods that alter e?ach hero's ability stats, and rudimentary alternate outfits.

That's the reality of the situation. You have to fall in love with at least a few characters on the eclectic roster, most if not all of the arcadey arenas, and both game modes if you're ever going to stick with Bleeding Edge. There are 11 heroes at launch, with one more – ?Mekko the dolphin – coming s??oon.

My favorite character, Kulev, is a dead voodoo-loving Cambridge professor whose "soul was digitized" and inserted into a poisonous robot snake – or something like that. It's a blast to toss last-second shields on a teammate (or myself), throw down an area-of-effect healing/damagin?g ward, and curse a high-priority foe so we can quickly take them out of the equation. Hey, someone's gotta pick Support.

My next-favorite fighter – to play as, not to look at! – is El Bastardo. I can't stand his aesthetic (a complaint that extends to a few other Bleeding Edge inhabitants), but it's so much?? guilty fun to leap-stun and tornado spin with dual machetes to accumulate lots of self-shielding in a chaotic crowd.

Did I mention there's a cyber?-witch who can cage enemies and siph??on their life force? Well, there is!

Bleeding Edge's brawler combat can be hit-or-(literally)-miss depending on the match-up, and I can't over-stress how important synergies are to not only winning, but your enjoyment. If your team doesn't work as a group, the opposition is going to wipe the floor with you. It'll seem absurdly one-sided.

Both of the modes are objective-based. Objective Control involves capturing control points that activate and deactivate at regular intervals, and some of them are placed near devious environmental traps, which I adore. Power Collection is similar, to an extent, but it has a different flow?? and far more tense vibe. This mode is all about grabbing, hoarding, and finally depositing nodes on a strict timetable.

Generally speaking, you'll need to stick with your group to survive at any given moment, and that goes double for contested objectives. Most of the melee-centric heroes h?ave simple multi-tap combo strings, and ranged heroes rely on holding down the attack button to fire off shots. In both cases, there's auto-aim (to the nearest opponent), though you can manually lock-on with the left t??rigger and swap targets.

If you aren't the best shot in hero shooters but you enjoy juggling ability cooldowns, working out team positioning, and prioritizing threats, you might dig Bleeding Edge. In the heat of battle, I sometimes struggled to switch my lock-on target as intended or hit the wrong teammate with a life-saving support buff, so it's not totally foolproof, but it works pretty well. Combat abilities are flashy and just chaotic enough that yo??u can usually grasp exactly who's doing what, and when, and who's affected.

Movement also plays a major role. You can dodge using a stamina bar that refills its "charges" over time, and dodging – along with a very basic parry mechanic that?? I'm not super into – is the main way to escape combo attacks. You can also "mount up," MOBA-style, and zip to objectives on a hoverboard.

The maps are reasonable – not to?o big, not too small – so there isn't much downtime after respawns.

If anything I'm describing sounds cool, it is – or it can be. Bleeding Edge isn't some throwaway game.

I just wish it had way more depth. I have nitpicks here and there with balancing, good-but-not-great netcode, uneven matchmaking, a lack of matchmaking options, a poor sense of progression, and wishy-washy targeting,? but the m??ain criticism – the thing that kills it for me – is a lack of longevity. I genuinely think most players are going to have their fill of the arena brawls in five hours or less. I know I have.

There's a decent multiplayer action game concept buried in here, absolutely. Some of these characters deserve to live on in future projects. At the same time, it feels like there are only so many team dynamics to experience. It's all too fleeting. Once you've hit that point of no return, there's no real motivation to continue. I'd like to pick this back up one day, but realistically, I don't see that ha??ppening.

If you're even remotely interested in Bleeding Edge, play it now while the matchmaking is s??till lively.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game ??provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Bleeding Edge appeared first on Destructoid.

Damage, healer, tank

Bleeding Edge is now out on PC and Xbox One, and the?? meta is very early yet. We're here to help.

Here are three of the strongest characters in Bleeding Edge t?hat are great to pick up and play immediately so you get off on the right f?oot.

Damage - Daemon

?Daemon is the ninja of the group, and although he's a ?very strong 1v1 fighter, he can get pretty much anything done when he needs to.

His shift ability serves as a fourth dash of sorts (Daemon has access to three dashes by default), but make sure you finish shift by pressing X to trigger a slash combo. Daemon can scale walls with wall jump to get away from near-death situations: make sure you always keep an eye open for ways to change your elevation, as most of the fighters in Bleeding Edge can't follow you if you exit a battle ??this way.

Stealth is similarly invaluable for getting away or pursuing a weakened enemy without them knowing, but you can also cancel stealth with the Y button when next to an opponent to sleep them. This can be huge in a teamfight as you can run over to the healer or tank in the corner, sleep them to shut them do??wn, then go back into the fight.

But his shurikens (which house multiple charges) are his greatest tool. While it does drain health over time and do damage, the slow is its most valuable asset. Stagger your shurikens against retreating enemies to constantly slow them and finish them off. Even with dashes they won't be able to get away from a staggered set of slows and a sleep, with a shift finisher.

Like all fighters, Bleeding Edge lets you pick between two supers (ultimates) each game, and Daemon's is a no-brainer: shadow strike. This is one of the strongest supers available, as it allows Daemon to hit a giant area of fighters all at once for several seconds, and remain completely invincible in the process. It's a great "about to die" button or a way to finish off a healer or prime target (like someone who's holding a ?lot of objective currency) when all of your cooldowns are spent.

When fighting against Daemon, remember that his stealth ability is on a large cooldown (18 seconds). If you're the aggressor he can be taken down quickly if you knock him out of stealth by doing area-of-effect damage: with stealth out of the picture you can better chase him do??w?n, keeping in mind that he can still wall jump to safety.

Healer - Kulev

At?? Jordan's recommendation, I started to learn Kulev and never looked back.

Although your other two healer choices are enticing, Kulev, like the other characters listed here, can rock 1v1 and group fights equally. Sacred Ground is an area-of-effect heal that hits your whole team (and damages enemies at the same time), while Good Omen (a shield) can be self-casted or aimed at an ally. Curse (25% increased damage for an enemy in the form of a debuff) is extremely useful for taking out healers or a 1v1 opponent. He's a jack of all trades.

When casting sacred ground, make sure you aim it at a central location, like directly on top of an objective. This is early in the game's lifecycle and not everyone knows how all of the abilities work, so using Kulev's healing ability in a corner where no one can see it is a surefire way to get people to ignore ??it. I found that by placing it in the most obvious spot, your teammates can't avoid it. You can also put it around a corner to prevent enemy teams from dest??roying it.

If you're getting attacked, mash Y (double-tap, specifically) to self-cast good omen, then dash? away. One very quick method of getting away and confusing opponents is to drop down a level, then immediately jump back up using a jump pad. If they aren't following you the entire time with their camera, you're already gone or out of range of their abilities.

Although mind control can be a decent super in a group fight, I've found boon to be far better as it's more flexible: at first. Once you really have some map study under your ??belt, mind con?trol is excellent for forcing enemies into runaway trains or energy barriers on certain maps.

Fighting Kulev can be a pain, but make sure you take down his sacred ground ward (it can be targeted) whenever he puts it down. His main heal is on a long 13-sec??ond cooldown, so if you stop it before it starts, he's mostly out of commission.

Tank - El Bastardo

Although I refrained from picking him at first because of his dumb-ass name,?? El Bastardo can put in work as a true tank.

He's one of the most resilient characters in the entire game, thanks to his life support passive, which converts damage into shields. He also excels in 1v1 combat due to his stun, leap of faith, and does well in groups thanks to his spinning death spiral area-of-effect whirlwind. Add in the life-leeching empower and you're off to the races.

One thing you really need to keep in mind is that leap of faith really should be aimed with a lock-on. If you went into the game sight unseen, skipping the tutorials, you may have missed that LT actually serves as your lock-on button. Make sure you hold it down before you use leap of faith. Also make sure you only trigger empower when you're at about ha??lf health, so its ??bonus isn't wasted.

As for what super to take, I recommend overload if your team is lacking damage: in fact, I take this super most of the time to increase my 1v1 and teamfight capabilities. Unbreakable (cannot be killed for five seconds) is nice in theory, but I've found that if you're in the position where you're about to die, you'll just die after that five seconds is up. When playing public games wi??th randoms who won't heal you up, this only spares you a few ??extra moments before your untimely demise.

Countering El Bastardo is easy if you have stuns at your disposal. He can't heal if he can't damage you, so stay far away from him and be ready to dodge his leap of faith stun every 12 seconds. If he just leapt, go all in on him from mid to long range. Maeve's cage is a good hard counter to El Bastardo.

The post Bleedi????ng Edge tips: Here are the best starter characters for each class appeared first on Destructoid.

A new tank, Mekko, is coming around launch

The final Bleed Edge closed beta is running from Friday, March 13 to Monday, March 16. Like before, Nina Theory is letting in Xbox Game Pass subscribers and ??players who ??pre-order the PvP brawler.

With only a few more weeks to go before launch on March 24, the studio also showed a wacky new character. Not unlike certain other animal-in-a-mech combatants, Mekko the dolphin is a ranged tank with a sonar gun, bubble shield, and the ability to create Safety Zones that generate armor ?and lifesteal.

Mekko can also attach a Lifeline to allies to take a percentage of their incoming d??amage, Surge forward to knock enemies around, and either send a Sonic Barrage as his super move ?or trap a foe in an Exclusion Bubble to disable them from the firefight until their teammates burst it open.

I can see? how that would be really useful. I can also see how, like Hammond, I'd be terrible with Mekko. The vengeful dolphin will be playable within the "launch window," according to Ninja Theory.

Landslide, a new map set in Mexico, was also confirmed for the full version of the game??.

Bleeding Edge Gets Even B???igger with Mekko and a Brand-new Map [Xbox]

The post Bleeding Edge is running one last beta on March 1?3 appeared first on Destructoid.

You can play it with Xbox Game Pass

Ninja Theory has its work cut out for it with Bleeding Edge, a hopeful new four-on-four brawler, and I'm worried, but I also can't quite shake my curiosity. If you have room in your life for another competitive multiplayer game, a humble heads-up: the closed beta is running this weekend on PC and Xbox One.

The Bleeding Edge beta is open to Xbox Game Pa??ss subscribers and players who pre-order the game. It's running from Friday, February 14 at 10:00 a.m. PT until Monday, February 17 at 12:00 a.m. PT.

If you heard about Bleeding Edge at E3 2019 and still aren't sure what to make of it, this beginner's guide from YouTuber Arekkz Gaming lays it out. It's taking me back to the days of Anarchy Reigns.

One purely positive thing I can say about Bleeding Edge is that it has cross-play and cross-??save support across not only Xbox One and Windows 10 PC, but Steam, too. That's bound to boost its odds.

Since the last pub??lic playtest (a technical alpha),?? Ninja Theory has fleshed out the Dojo with AI characters and also added parrying, which you can learn about in the Advanced Controls tutorial.

If you miss this beta, it'll be back on March 13, followed by Bleeding Edge's full release on March 24.

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Tough crowd

Not to totally knock Bleeding Edge, but I'm glad Ninja Theory has multiple projects in the pipeline and the financial security that comes with being owned by Microsof?t. Maybe it'll reach a big-enough audience with ??Xbox Game Pass to find moderate success. That feels like a best-case scenario.

At Microsoft's X019 event today, Ninja Theory brought out a trailer for Bleeding Edge and its release date: March 24, 2020. That's a rough time for any game to stand out, much less a hopeful new multiplayer IP. Folks who pre-order the Xbox One and PC title can check out a closed beta on February 14, well before Final Fantasy VII Remake and Animal Crossing and Doom Eternal consume us.

Godspeed, Bleeding Edge. I like your outlandish characte?r designs and ??I wish you the best.

The post Ninja Theory’s Bleeding Edge wants a piece of the March 2020 pie appeared first on Destructoid.

Fine-tune your fighter

One of the more intriguing titles that has popped up in recent weeks is charismatic-looking melee fighter Bleeding Edge. Developed by Ninja Theory, best known for their sombre adventure Hellblade, Bleeding Edge looks to do a full 180 on that release, with its over-the-top bombastic gameplay, ecc??entric characters and wild multip?layer action.

A new video by Inside Xbox - captured during this week's E3 festivities - features some Bleeding Edge gameplay, along with an interview with the game's creative director Rahni Tucker. Tucker takes the opportunity to discuss Bleeding Edge's roster of characters, explaining how not only are they defined by their three classes - Assassin's, Heavies and Supports - but also how each hero's slot ??system allows for further individual playstyles.

As explained by Tucker, players will earn various "Mods" as they play, each of which will apply various effects to their characters. As such, players can pick and choose which mods best fit their playstyle, and apply them to their favour??ite characters to fine-tune their own perfect build. Ninja Theory hope this will allow for more diverse gameplay, preventing, for example, one player's Gizmo from playing identically to another player's. It's an interesting effort to try and keep characters personalised between players.

If you fancy checking out Bleeding Edge for yourself, then you can sign up for the technical alpha that is set to launch June 27. Ninja Theory will be monitoring the action to work out which elements of the game need more work, or are sitt??ing pretty, hopefully tweaking this fun looking title to perfection for its eventual launch on Xbox One.

The post Ninja Theory discuss character individuality in new Bleeding Edge gameplay ?video appeared first on Destructoid.

Alpha test coming June 27

The next game from DmC, Hellblade, and Enslaved studio Ninja Theory is Bleeding Edge, a four-on-four melee-centric action game. The multiplayer project leaked before it could be ?revealed at Microsoft's E3 2019 press conference (and the same trailer aired during the event), but now i??t's official.

A technical alpha will open up on June 27, and Bleeding Edge is going to launch as a Game Pass title.

While on-stage, Ninja Theory also mentioned that it has "started work on a number of new games" and Bleeding Edge, in particular, is "several years in the making." The studio might not be known for multiplayer gaming, but the character designs and melee-action hook have me c?urious, for sure.

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