A new gameplay trailer for Black Myth: Wukong showcases its Unreal Engine 5 overhaul and implementation of Nvidia DLSS, marking a considerable visual improvement over its last showing. To commemorate the game's original 2020 debut, Game Science first released a series of Black Myth: Wukong development videos showing behind-the-scenes production and fearsome bosses that players might face in the final game.
Black Myth: Wukong is based on the Chinese literary classic Journey to the West. Wukong, or the Monkey King, has inspired several characters and stories, with many sharing his name or appearance. One example is League of Legends, whose simian champion Wukong uses several of the 72 abilities the character is said to possess in Journey to the West. Another famous example is Son Goku from Dragon Ball, whose flying nimbus, expanding power pole, clever trickster personality, and tail are all based on the legend of Sun Wukong.
In the new Nvidia GeForce trailer, Game Science unveiled that Black Myth: Wukong's development has been overhauled from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5. It's also adopted popular Nvidia DLSS upscaling, and the game's previously praised in-engine capabilities now look even better in resolutions up to 4K. A new gameplay segment was also shown, showing Wukong fighting mythical monkey and dragon bosses in large arenas full of snowy particle effects.
Using Unreal Engine 5 and its features allows the use of all the improvements Epic has made to the engine since UE4 - namely, the ability to create photorealistic environments with higher fidelity, improved photogrammetry, and ray traced lighting and shadows. Black Myth: Wukong already looked impressive before, but the switch to the next-gen engine is sure to unlock more possibilities for Game Science during development. However, it's unclear whether or not the game will release on PS4 or Xbox One considering the new software is built for newer PCs and consoles, and a 2023 release makes that last-gen versions seem all the more unlikely. It also remains to be seen if the developer intends to stick with Unreal Engine for the game's planned sequels or create its own proprietary engine further down the line, but its focus is presumably all on Black Myth's first trilogy entry before worrying about future of the franchise.
Game Science studio shows that a small team is capable of creating something epic in scope the same way that AAA studios can. If anything, its smaller size means less oversight and potential for mismanagement. Black Myth: Wukong and several other independent titles' use of UE5, Nvidia DLSS, and other cutting-edge technologies seem to be pushing the envelope of what can be expected from the indie game scene.
Black Myth: Wukong will be available for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC in 2023.