A new game from Sword Art Online is on the horizon. But can “Fatal Bullet” ever meet the fans’ wishes?
In recent years, there has hardly been an anime that has excited gamers around the world as much as Sword Art Online.
The anime Sword Art Online takes place in the near future, in the year 2022. The latest generation of video games is on the market and allows players to experience an extended VR experience.
In the anime, players can immerse themselves “completely” in Sword Art Online. They experience, through new hardware that can access the brain directly, the perfect illusion of an MMORPG. They see no screen in front of them or “feel” that they are wearing a VR headset. The immersion is perfect. They are part of a large MMORPG. They merge with the game world.
Anime success generates a lot of RPGs
Because the anime became a worldwide success, it didn’t take long before video games were created from the game world. There are already numerous smaller and larger RPGs that have secured the license from SAO. However, most of these games are typically solo RPGs, with at best a small, tacked-on multiplayer mode where a friend controls another group member. At heart, all these games are JRPGs.
In a few months, Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet will be released, set during the story of the second season of the anime, in the shooter MMORPG world of Gun Gale Online. Players experience a “game within a game”. As so often, the focus of the plot is again on mysterious events within the game world. Thus, it happens that players die in reality when their avatar is taken out in the game.
According to the template of the anime, Fatal Bullet is structured like an “MMO shooter RPG”, so shooting action takes center stage with cutesy characters. As a result, the game world is dark, as Gun Gale Online has nothing to do with the colorful Aincrad of the first season.
At least there is a multiplayer mode, where you can either team up in co-op to face special bosses or compete in 4vs4 to prove who the true “Death Gun” of Gun Gale Online is.
However, Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet will also have little to do with a real VR MMO experience.
Anyone who wants to get an impression of the game can play Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet from February 23, 2018 on PC (Steam), PlayStation4 or Xbox One.
A “real” Sword Art Online is still a long way off
Behind the interest in a Sword Art Online video game lies the great desire to be able to “really” dive into the world of Sword Art Online.
And not just as a small MMO experience, but as a “Full Dive”, as depicted in the series. For many players, games are a form of escapism, without wanting to label the word negatively.
Because to switch off from everyday worries and just have a good time without having to think about real-world problems, we play.
Players want to escape reality. They want to sink into a game world for days, maybe weeks, completely free of the usual social obligations or physical needs.
When looking through various forums discussing Sword Art Online passionately, one often sees statements like: “I would trade 20 years of my life for 1 year of Sword Art Online”. What sounds like a typical exaggeration could indeed be meant seriously. After all, what are 20 “average” years of life compared to a year in a world that gamers desire?
And that’s exactly the dilemma of the SAO games. They can only give players a small glimpse into the world of the anime, but – at least not yet – fulfill the underlying desire to dive into a game like that. Therefore, SAO games are doomed to always disappoint to some extent, even if the games are basically quite good.
It will likely be several more years before a “Sword Art Online” game can truly give fans what they long for.
There was already excitement about a “real Sword Art Online” – but that turned out to be a PR gag.
