Indus, the upcoming battle royale game from Indian video game developer SuperGaming, is going big on Indian culture with its latest hero. Revealed today, 'Mech Balika' is inspired by Rajasthani culture, particularly the art form of 'Kathputli' or string puppet theatre. The playable hero will be available to choose by gamers when Indus is out, with the closed beta date for the game expected to be announced soon. Indus is open now for pre-registration on Android devices.
The backstory of 'Mech Balika' is admittedly a bit ominous, particularly given the debate around AI right now. That said, it does make the character a bit more interesting, particularly the very distinct Rajasthani appeal which makes the character a tad bit more relatable than your everyday evil AI robot thingy. Mech Balika was designed to entertain and dance to the will of her creators, until she chose not to, breaking the chains of control and entering the Indus battle royale arena to fight it out. Like I said, creepy-ish, and makes me want to put ChatGPT away for a bit.
Pune-based SuperGaming recently also hit it big with Battle Stars, a 4v4 hero shooter featuring prominent YouTuber TechnoGamerz as a playable character. The whole India-focus might seem a bit cliched, but I'll admit it's a fun look, and a lot better than the much-overdone military camo you see on most battle royale games. We'll just have to wait and see how Indus is when it releases, although that's still a while away.