Done right, robots can make a super satisfying videogame enemy. The one thing Binary Domain got right was its robots, who dented and broke and dragged themselves toward you even after you shot their legs off. From the dinosaurs in Horizon Zero Dawn to the turrets in Portal, we love a metal jerk AI bad guy. Although, when you think about it, technically every videogame enemy is AI.
Before we get too philosophical, here’s Steel Seed to remind us why we like to fight robots whether they look like the geth out of Mass Effect or the loaderbots from Borderlands or, in this case, a bit of both. This stealth-action game featured in today’s PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted pits you against a variety of bots fresh off the assembly line and lets you slash them with a laser sword and shoot them with help from a friendly drone named Koby, who is here to prove not all robots are evil.
The trailer for Steel Seed shows our protagonist, Zoe, doing a lot more than just pushing robots off ledges with her laser sword. She’s a master of parkour, doing a lot of climbing, wallrunning, and skate-sliding, as well as some sweet stealth moves. Steel Seed isn’t just a pure action game, but one where we’ll be able to avoid at least some enemies with sneakery, while setting up others for a perfect stealth kill, whether via air-assassination, a tricksy backstab, or yanking them off a ledge.
Steel Seed is the next game from Storm in a Teacup, the developers of BioShock-esque horror game Close to the Sun. It’s due out in 2025, and you can wishlist it on Steam.
