One of our favorite things is when a brand new IP comes out of nowhere with a surprise announcement. That’s exactly how this new game, for now simply known as Project Magnum, was unveiled. With no warning, this new trailer introduced us to the basic concepts of this upcoming title from Korean developer NAT Games, which has been around since 2013. This is its first major, high-budget console offering, however. Based on this short teaser, a lot of high expectations have already been set for this game that still doesn’t even have an official title.
Despite the quick teaser, there are a lot of things we’ve been able to pull together about Project Magnum. There’s still a lot wrapped in mystery and plenty more that probably remains undecided for a game that’s still probably in its early stages of development, but there are enough clues to at least make educated speculation on what this exciting new game will be. If that short trailer got your attention, here’s everything we know — and some speculation — about Project Magnum.
Further reading
Release date
It will probably come as no surprise, but Project Magnum, which doesn’t even have an official title, wasn’t given a release date. We don’t expect to even hear about a possible release window for a while yet, probably not until next year. Based on how it looks, though, we can see it coming early 2023 or maybe at the end of 2022, but no sooner.
Platforms
The trailer itself was posted on PlayStation’s own official YouTube channel, and the footage shown was labeled as running on the PS5, so from that, we could easily tell this game is at least coming to that platform. Digging just a little bit deeper, though, we also found the official description stating that the game was a “PC/console-based game,” as well as the full title of the trailer listing the PS4 as well as PS5. So, altogether, that makes this a PS4-, PS5-, and PC-exclusive title. Whether it will be a permanent exclusive or eventually make its way to other platforms, such as Xbox, remains to be seen.
Trailer
The trailer we got for Project Magnum is almost entirely gameplay or meant to look like it, with a few instances of cutscenes sprinkled in here or there. There’s no voice-over, text, or anything to really get an idea of what the story is going to be in this game. However, paying close attention does give us some hints at the world we’ll be inhabiting.
First, we know that this world will have a combination of guns, monsters, and some invading threat that may be from another world. The giant sphere in the sky appear to play a large part in that. The environments are lush and wild, but there are also scenes of destroyed but modern-looking civilizations, making us believe this is going to take place on an Earth-like planet but not Earth itself.
The enemies run the gamut from robotic foes that are reminiscent of Sentinels from the Matrix films, giant armed tank-type robots, plus humanoid foes. Tech seems to be at the heart of this game, with humans and the unknown enemies all having advanced enhancements, such as the well-shown-off grapple device. As to who we’re playing as, why exactly we’re fighting these sci-fi creatures, where they came from, and why all remain hidden. We hope a future story trailer gives more context to the amazing action shown off.
Gameplay
Speaking of action, that’s what we got the most of in this reveal. To start off, the description helps put the entire trailer into context:
“Project Magnum presents beautiful visuals and attractive and unique characters based in a sci-fi style player versus environment worldview. It also provides exciting battles using various skills, actions, and guns, as well as the fun of high-quality PvE shooter battles that target huge bosses.”
From that, plus the footage, we can get a rough shape of what Project Magnum will be. Many are already comparing it to the likes of Destiny 2 and other looter shooters, but the looting aspect hasn’t been shown or spoken of. On the other hand, we do agree with the comparisons of it looking like it will feature large areas, or maybe one giant open world, where you can encounter giant battles dynamically with your teammates. There also appears to be multiple armor types with some striking designs, again hinting at a possible loot system but not confirming it.
In terms of exactly how you’ll be fighting these robotic, alien, or some sort of hybrid enemies, we know that guns are going to be the main focus. From a third-person perspective, we saw machine guns, pistols, rifles, and even rocket launcher-type weaponry on display. Melee also appears to be an option, with one character pulling out a massive hammer while advancing on a group of enemies equipped with metal shields.
The skills mentioned could be referring to the tech we saw shown off in various forms but may also be a completely new system yet to be revealed. However, the grappling hook was one of the most shown-off tools of the trailer, allowing for speedy traversal and uses in combat.
Multiplayer
While there is technically no confirmation, all signs point to this game at least having co-op of some capacity. The trailer shows multiple instances of teams of human characters working together, fighting enemies, and traveling through the environments. While it is possible these are just A.I. companions, the way they move and the style of game Project Magnum seems to be aiming to be indicate a strong multiplayer aspect will be included.
What’s interesting to wonder is how it will function. If Project Magnum is, like many believe, taking cues from Destiny 2, then will it also be a semi-MMO-style game where other players will automatically inhabit your world? Or will it be more closed, with you needed to actively group up with friends or open your game up to other players? The wording of the trailer’s description also specifically references player versus environment twice, but never PvP. That may end up not being something the game includes, making it perhaps more comparable to a game like Outriders.
DLC
There’s no word on any DLC plans for Project Magnum, which would certainly be putting the cart before the horse. However, if this is intended to be a looter shooter-style game and is following more in Destiny 2′s shoes than Outrider’s, then we can expect expansions of some kind to keep people on the loot grind long term. That’s purely speculative, though, so we’ll be keeping an eye on how this game shapes up as we see it more.
Pre-order
We don’t even know what this game is called yet, so pre-orders are certainly very far off. We don’t think they’ll be any movement on this until a release date is given, which again we don’t expect until sometime next year at the earliest. Stay tuned here for when this info does drop, and we’ll run through where you can pre-order Project Magnum and detail any and all different editions there are.
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