Each week, Epic Games' digital storefront gives gamers the chance to play at least one free game, with titles ranging from lesser-known indies to some fan favorite AAA options. The Epic Games Store is a great way for players to experience games that might otherwise have passed them by, much like subscriptions services such as Xbox Games Pass, which provides a wide library of varied releases that makes it easier for gamers to access many different titles. March has already seen some great free Epic Games Store titles like In Sound Mind and Demon's Tilt, but it's the upcoming City of Brass that fans of BioShock might want to keep an eye out for.
The singleplayer first-person dungeon crawler may not appear to have much in common with the foundational sci-fi series, but City of Brass' publisher and developer Uppercut Games is made up of some ex-2K Australia veteran employees who worked on both BioShock and BioShock 2. There are also some other links between the two, and now that City of Brass will be free on the Epic Games Store from March 31st to April 7th, players can try out the game for themselves.
A World Of Magic And Mayhem
City of Brass may not have caused much of a stir when it was released in 2018, but there's a lot about the title to recommend it. The Arabian Nights-inspired rogue-lite lets players explore the streets of an opulent metropolis as they fight skeletal enemies and other dangers. There are traps around every corner as gamers navigate the spike-laden corridors and alleyways, armed with a scimitar to hack and slash at obstacles and foes, or other weapons like a crossbow for more FPS action. Players also wield a whip that lets them swing about their environment, pull objects or antagonists toward them, or interact with their environments in other interesting ways as they solve puzzles and clear the streets of monsters.
Players may want to spend their time exploring the gorgeous environments filled with hidden wonders and spooky enemies, but dallying too long will have consequences. City of Brass has a timer, much like the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time mechanic that slowly runs down as players complete each level, and if it runs out then they'll be engulfed in a sandstorm and plagued by fiery spawning enemies. City of Brass also has an interesting genie mechanic, with these mythical beings serving as merchants, healers, or even wish-granters that can remove all the numerous traps from a level in addition to other helpful endeavors.
Why BioShock Fans Should Give It A Shot
An Arabian-inspired hack-and-slash may not seem like an obvious counterpart to BioShock's dystopian underwater adventure, but there are some surprising similarities. Both BioShock and City of Brass follow an outsider who enters a once-great city that has now fallen into chaos after a violent uprising, with gamers exploring its crumbling grandeur. In both titles, the location is really the main character, and the games' designs do a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to story and atmosphere. The first-person action is also an easy point of comparison, as players fight off swarms of enemies that run at them headlong in claustrophobic close-quarters settings.
BioShock and City of Brass are challenging, with fast-paced combat and features that help to increase the game's overall tension like City of Brass' timer and BioShock's flirtation with horror. BioShock's protagonist may be more of a clueless pawn in their adventure, but City of Brass' main characters is very much there of their volition as they seek the treasures that the eponymous city contains despite its many dangers. City of Brass may explore different themes, feature a contrasting aesthetic, and have dissimilar core gameplay, but there's something in it that feels reminiscent of the BioShock series, and fans that crave the unsettling atmosphere of a dilapidated metropolis filled to the brink with things that want to kill them should definitely check out City of Brass.
City of Brass is available now for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.