Colossal bosses take centre stage in looter shooter The First Descendant

Interdimensional aliens have invaded with murderous intent. Humans are an endangered species. Our world is in ruins. That’s the setup in The First Descendant’s newest trailer, and yet, all I want to do is zip around with grappling hooks while wearing the most fashionable cyber-bunny exosuit available. Thankfully the Gamescom trailer has that on display, too. Ta!

For a quick refresher, The First Descendant is developer/publisher Nexon’s forthcoming live-service looter shooter that has big Warframe vibes. That’s a bog standard pitch, but the sick-looking laser ropes and colossal boss monsters make this one a slightly more tempting proposition. At least for me, a massive grappling hook stan.

The above trailer fleshes out the game’s space fantasy setting a little further. Solo or in four-player co-op, you play as one of thirteen Descendants whose job is to fight off said alien invasion. Lucky for us, there’s a convenient object called the Ironheart which has the “power to destroy the Vulgus.”

I quite enjoyed a few lines from my favourite bunny ear soldier, and I’m kinda curious to see how much personality our heroes have throughout the inevitable seasons. The cutscene production values in the trailer are certainly impressive, but we’ll get a clearer image when Nexon holds its Open Beta tests next month.

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The First Descendant’s Open Beta runs from September 19th to September 25th and includes a prologue chapter to properly introduce yer warring factions and steely MacGuffin. There’ll also be eleven playable classes and eight boss battles, including a mecha-crab you can grapple around and another that rains down icicles like a Final Fantasy summon. You can register here to gain access on PC, Xbox Series X|S or PlayStation 5. The beta also supports crossplay, so you can hook console friends into trying the game with you.

Gamescom 2023 has arrived, and you can find all the latest news and previews from the show floor in our Gamescom 2023 hub.