As I swung my Desert Raptor MKII mech through this huge canyon, it was like — there I was, in the middle of the desert, surrounded by these annoying rocket hover bots and bandits. I thought, “Man, Bounty Star is really on to something.” My mech? A total DIY project, like someone’s bizarre garage experiment. It pummeled through these foes like a beast, shot some cannons — took a few tries, not gonna lie. But by the end of it, I just wanted more. Can’t wait to dive back in when it drops on Xbox Series X|S later this year.
So, in Bounty Star, there’s Clem. She’s this fighter, a mech pilot — and she’s dealing with all this past trauma. War stuff. She’s trying to make amends, do something good, ya know? It’s set in the Red Expanse, which, if I had to sum it up… feels like a really messed-up American Southwest post-apocalypse deal.
Right, where was I? Oh yeah, Benjamin Ruiz, the creative brain on this, told me about being in Sedona, Arizona. The landscape there grabbed him — he thought it was perfect for some hardcore action game scenario. Here’s the kicker: he woke up and started piecing the idea together immediately. Fast forward five years, and here we are.
Oh, he’s into Westerns, turns out! Bounty Star kind of mashes that wild-west vibe with this lighter Armored Core mech action. Sounds weird? It works, trust me.
Ruiz also wanted the day-to-day vibe of a bounty hunter — like, there’s base-building, cooking, dealing with water issues, even raising chickens. It’s a survival thing. Balancing between the coolness of a Western and mech-enthusiast dreams — that’s how Bounty Star found its groove.
Now, Clem’s place? Like something out of a sci-fi set. Her garage, a mess of power lines, makeshift kitchen — she cooks food that ups her stats in combat. You’ve got ammo barrels just lying around. Very Firefly, very Serenity — you’ve got scraps, but they’re your scraps.
And customization — wild! So, Ruiz mentioned you can craft any mech you want, as long as you’ve got what you need. Guns? Check. Melee? Double check. You can choose heavy armor and bulldoze or go for speed and grace. Your call.
I mean, even the testers played around with skipping healing totally, just speed-running through skirmishes. Lots of room for different tactics here — unique mech builds, various enemies. You name it.
It’s not just about blasting enemies, though. You’ve got NPCs too. The Marshall — a friend from the past, gives you bounties. And this shady merchant guy — sells you the good stuff. Limited but solid character set, says Ruiz, aiming for memorable exchanges.
Bounty-wise, the game cycles through different missions — capture this criminal one day, clear that place another. Sometimes it’s about stealth, sometimes pure chaos. Side quests, extra objectives, loads of arena-style combat. Keeps you guessing.
To sum it up, Bounty Star’s got that scrappy potential. A makeshift home like Clem’s, waiting to surprise you when it finally arrives on Xbox.
