Black
Myth:
Wukong,
the
action-RPG
from
Chinese
developer
Game
Science,
is
due
to
launch
on
August
20th
for
PC
and
PS5.
Just
days
ago
the
developers
did
a
fantastic,
consumer
friendly
thing
by

launching
a
PC
benchmarking
tool.
Now,
they’ve
pulled
off
a
second
consumer-friendly
trick
by
allowing
reviews
to
go
live
a
full
four
days
ahead
of
the
game’s
launch.

Before
we
dive
into
the
reviews
themselves,
I’d
like
to
offer
a
brief
synopsis
of
what
the
critics
are
saying:
the
game
takes
around
30+
hours
to
play
through,
and
like
Game
Science
made
sure
to
emphasis
it
is
an
action-RPG
rather
than
a
Soulslike,
which
is
what
some
media
outlets
branded
Black
Myth:
Wukong.
That
said,
a
lot
of
reviews
still
push
it
as
being
more
Soulslike
than
ARPG.

It’s
so
big
than
Eurogamer
had
to
post
an
article
stating
that
they
need
more
time
with
it:
 “It’s
a
big
ol’
game,
and
we
haven’t
had
very
long
with
it,
meaning
we’ve
not
had
enough
time
to
make
significant
enough
progress
for
a
full
review.”

UK
outlet
Push
Square
also
don’t
have
a
review
up
yet,
citing
that
only
PC
code
has
been
made
available
so
they
understandably
want
to
wait
until
they
can
get
some
PS5
hands-on
time.

Now
let’s
dive
into
the
reviews.

Over
on
Metacritic
the
game
currently
holds
a
score
of
82
based
on
52
critic
reviews
at
the
time
of
writing.

GodisaGeek
slapped
Black
Myth:
Wukong
with
a
staggering
10/10
in
a
review
penned
by
Mick
Fraser:
“You
might
argue
that
GameScience
is
just
putting
new
gems
in
old
jewellery,
but
it
simply
doesn’t
matter.
When
the
level
of
quality
is
this
consistently
high,
no
one
need
ask
for
more.
A
flurry
of
sublime
combat,
intuitive
level
building,
and
expert
boss
design,
Black
Myth:
Wukong
is,
hands-down,
one
of
this
year’s
best
action
games.”

GamingBolt
was
equally
impressed
with
Black
Myth:
Wukong.
In
Rashid
Sayed’s
review,
the
author
gave
it
a
10/10:
“Black
Myth:
Wukong
delivers
breathtaking
combat,
stellar
production
quality,
and
unforgettable
boss
fights.
Its
few
quirks
don’t
hold
it
back
from
being
one
of
the
genre’s
best
games
in
recent
memory.”

On
the
other
end
of
the
scale,
we
have
GameRant’s
review
which
was
handled
by
Dalton
Cooper.
Scoring
it
a
3/5,
Dalton
writes:
“Black
Myth:
Wukong is
a
game
that
shies
away
from
the
Soulslike
label,
yet
it
is
clearly
gunning
for
the
Soulslike
audience.
It
is
far
from
the
best
in
the
genre,
but
it’s
also
not
the
worst
game
that
has
followed
in Dark
Souls‘
footsteps.
If
you
go
into
it
expecting
a
mostly
standard
Soulslike
experience
with
some
blood-boiling
boss
encounters
mixed
in
with
basic
level
design,
you
will
have
a
better
time
than
if
you
were
going
into
it
expecting
it
to
be
like
a
traditional
character
action
game.”

Jason
Coles
of

The
Sixth
Axis
also
wasn’t
overly
impressed,
giving
the
game
a
solid
6/10.
He
wrote:
“Black
Myth:
Wukong
is
a
stunning
game
to
look
at,
but
the
exploration
is
lacking,
and
the
fighting
is
just
sort
of
fine
for
the
most
part.
It’s
just
a
bit
uninspiring,
and
isn’t
a
game
that
I’m
expecting
to
stick
with
me
for
any
length
of
time
now
that
I’m
done
with
it.”

Venturing
into
the
middle
ground
we
find
Mitchell
Saltzman
of

IGN.
In
his
review
he
mentions
the
game
suffering
from
technical
issues,
stating
that
the
game
could
be
“even
greated
if
GameScience
can
Squash
the
bugs.”
It
didn’t
stop
him
from
handing
it
an
8/10
though,
and
saying:
“Despite
some
frustrating
technical
issues,
Black
Myth:
Wukong
is
a
great
action
game
with
fantastic
combat,
exciting
bosses,
tantalizing
secrets,
and
a
beautiful
world.”

The
Gamer
gave
it
a
4/5
in
their
review
which
was
put
together
by
Joshua
Robertson,
who
also
seemed
to
lean
heavily
into
the
idea
of
Black
Myth
being
a
Soulslike.
Here’s
what
he
had
to
say:
“Over
the
past
few
years,
it’s
become
clear
that
we
don’t
need
to
rely
solely
on FromSoftware for
competent
and
entertaining
soulslikes. Lies
of
P, Stellar
Blade, Rise
of
the
Ronin,
and Another
Crab’s
Treasure all
launched
in
the
past
12
months
and
managed
to
impress,
but Black
Myth:
Wukong goes
one
step
further.
It’s
the
most
polished,
intricate,
and
entertaining
soulslike
I’ve
ever
played
outside
FromSoftware’s
masterpieces.”

Windows
Central
went
with
3.5/5
in
a
review
posted
by
Brendan
Lowry,
who
notably
also
mentioned
some
performance
woes.
Here’s
how
he
described
the
game:
“Ultimately,
Black
Myth:
Wukong
is
a
very
solid
action
RPG
with
its
thrilling
cinematic
boss
fights,
diverse,
gorgeously
rendered
locales,
rich
combat
system
replete
with
build
options,
and
well-told
story.
However,
it
holds
itself
back
with
bland
level
design
and
disappointing
enemy
variety,
along
with
a
superfluous
gear
system
and
a
few
noteworthy
performance
issues.”

Let’s
wrap
up
with
Tyler
Colp
of
PC
Gamer
who
gave
it
an
87/100,
saying:
“Black
Myth:
Wukong
blossoms
with
an
eccentric
cast
of
characters
and
expressive
combat
all
wrapped
up
in
the
rich
world
of
its
source
material.”