The makers of horror blockchain shooter The Bornless have released a first look at their in-game skins.
If you are battling an enemy team at close quarters in the game’s current build, a 2v2v2v2 early-access alpha, friendly-fire kills are a distinct possibility; the game’s dark, misty setting and the fact you have nothing but a small green marker on the HUD compass to identify your teammates, can make it hard to tell friend from foe.
These new player skins, or masks, revealed at a Bornless faction meeting late last week, will make it clearer which players are on your team, and will also allow factions “to equip their players with their brands”, Bornless community manager Hampus ‘Harpa’ Erlandsson told the meeting.
The masks were designed by Bornless artists Fred Drabble and Josh Brown, and they dial up your typical demon features, such as horns, and oversized sets of teeth, with giant canines, stretched into menacing grins. But there was also at least one Hannibal Lecter reference in the concepts presented.
Concept art of The Bornless’ new in-game skins.
The skins, or masks, were designed by Bornless artists Josh Brown and Fred Drabble.
In The Bornless, demons can be summoned to help teams take down their enemies, but when they’re not on kill duty, these demonic beasts stalk the map looking for trouble.
We have already met the demons Orobas and Bael, and at the faction meeting, Toby Saunders, the CEO of game-maker Cathedral Studios, introduced another; a minotaur with a broken horn.
A third demon, a minotaur with a broken horn, is set to join the ranks of The Bornless.
All we got from Saunders was an image, but from what’s already known about his game’s connection to the 17th century grimoire The Lesser Key of Solomon, it’s likely the maimed minotaur demon will be based on this book of spells too, or other closely-linked texts on demonology.
Another new character teased during the meeting was The Bornless angel. It’s likely this angel will be an AI NPC, and it will have a role in the single-player mode of the game, a prototype of which is being tested, Saunders said.
“You can’t have demons without angels. But the angels in The Bornless are not as you would expect to see in other works of fiction,” he said.
Concept art of The Bornless angel
There are connections in The Lesser Key of Solomon to the 72 angels of the Shem Hamephorash, whose purpose was to “bind” evil spirits, or act as the opposite and balancing force to these demons, so it’s possible The Bornless angels will have a similar role in-game.
Saunders gave a few other hints about the angels.
“You’ll need a microphone and a headset to really be able to dive into these creatures and to participate in this part of The Bornless.”
He also said a screenshot (see below) of what looked to be a laser strike was linked to the game’s angelic gameplay.
The Bornless was created by Saunders and his brother Robert. It will be free to play, but the game’s currency, incense tokens, can be collected and fought for as players move around the map.
Players can burn incense to gain gameplay advantages such as summoning demons to attack enemies, as mentioned above, as well as protection from the demons roaming the map. Incense tokens are also needed to buy in-game items and weapons.
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