RWBY: Grimm Eclipse

RWBY: Grimm Eclipse

Statistics
Publisher	Rooster Teeth
Developer	Jordan Scott
Platforms	PC
Release Date	April 1st, 2014 (Fan-Made) December 25th, 2014 (Pre-alpha) December 1st, 2015
Genre	Hack and Slash

RWBY: Grimm Eclipse is the official video game adaptation of Rooster Teeth Production's ongoing web-series: RWBY.

Summary

Plot

The game features its own unique plot that will be canon within the show's continuity, and will introduce a new villain unique to the game's storyline. Series writers Miles Luna and Kerry Shawcross are collaborating with the game development team on the story.^[1]

The storyline of the game takes place between RWBY Volume 2 and Volume 3. Peter Port guides RWBY through a mission to the Emerald Forest, where there have been issues with the security network. Along the way, they fight hordes of Grimm, defending the control centers of the security network as Port fixes them. The team discovers that the security network has been reprogrammed by an unknown party.

They also find mysterious equipment created by the now defunct Merlot Industries, an old research and development corporation that was headquartered at the ill-fated settlement of Mountain Glenn. Team RWBY thus returns to Mountain Glenn to investigate the abandoned headquarters of Merlot Industries, this time guided by Bartholomew Oobleck.

There, they fight through more Grimm before an enormous explosion causes the headquarters building to collapse around them. The team falls into the subterranean ruins of the city, which they find have been booby-trapped with a large bomb. Team RWBY manage to contain the explosion by dropping the bomb down a large chasm. They also encounter mysterious mutant Grimm Creeps, which detonate explosively when they get close.

The Steam Early Access release ends at this point in the storyline.

List of Appearances

Characters

Enemies

Weapons

Crescent Rose

Ammunition Types

Frost Magazines (Fan-Made)
Ghost Magazines (Fan-Made)
Normal Magazines (Fan-Made)
Silver Magazines (Fan-Made)

Pickups

Cloth Armor (Fan-Made)
Potions (Fan-Made)

Development

Ge fangame trailer — Screenshot from the trailer for the original fan game

The game was originally created as a fan-game by Jordan Scott over a period of approximately 5 months. A demo version was released on April 1st, 2014 (the 11th anniversary of the founding of Rooster Teeth) and quickly received widespread recognition from other fans. Upon its release, Scott stated that no further development would be made on the game as he intended to follow original concepts out of necessity.

Less than 24 hours after the public release of the game, Scott was contacted by Monty Oum and brought into discussions to develop the game for Rooster Teeth.^[2] On July 4th, 2014 during the RTX 2014 RWBY Panel, it was announced that the game was picked up by the company to be made into an official game. The game was shown off with more polished graphics, a new heads up display, and a teaser for another playable character: Yang Xiao Long.

With respect to the game, Rooster Teeth CEO Matt Hullum has stated that, "RWBY is a natural choice for us to focus on for our first in-house produced video game. Fans can expect that we will bring the same level of originality in action, comedy and design to the video game that has made the RWBY animated series such a hit. We're excited about expanding the RWBY universe, and also excited that this is a project that originated as a homegrown community endeavor."^[3]

April 2015 update preview — Teaser image from the April 2015 update.

On December 25th, 2014, a pre-alpha version was released to sponsors in order to showcase the updated animation and mechanics. It was made available only until shortly after New Year. The pre-alpha version included updated gameplay elements, environments and assets, as well as a new enemy: a stronger version of the Beowolf that was white in color.

On April 1st, 2015, Rooster Teeth's 12th anniversary, and exactly one year after the initial independent release of the game, several updates were added to the sponsors-only pre-alpha. The additions included a co-operative multiplayer element for up to 4 players, with players controlling re-colored versions of Ruby, corresponding to her team colors of red, white, black and yellow.

The update included new enemies and "a variety of tweaks to gameplay and the environment." These updates were broadcast in a journal by Gray Haddock on the Rooster Teeth website, in which it was also announced that a new developer, Michael Hadwin, had joined the team.^[4]

Arryn grimm eclipse rtx2015 — Arryn Zech playing as Blake at RTX 2015

At RTX 2015, the game was playable on the show floor, with a new game mode where up to four players must protect an objective. At the showcase during the RWBY Panel on August 7th, 2015, all four members of Team RWBY were revealed to be playable, each with their own unique set of moves in a co-operative multiplayer mode.

In an interview, it was announced that the game is targeting a holiday 2015 release on Steam, but may release on other platforms depending on the level of success. More content, such as more playable characters, potentially including Team JNPR, might also be added as downloadable content.^[5]

Abe Robertson, Casey Donnellan and Brian Reilly also joined the team in order to handle other sectors of development in support of Scott, who will continue to focus primarily on gameplay. The team commented that they were given the creative freedom to add new elements that might later appear in the show, and expressed their desire to create an original type of Grimm for the game.^[5]

Gameplay

Grimm Eclipse is a survival-based action role-playing game. Scott cites the games Kingdom Hearts, Devil May Cry, Final Fantasy, and Mystic Heroes as inspirations for the gameplay mechanics of Grimm Eclipse.

In the independently released version, the player controls Ruby Rose as she fights Beowolves in a setting similar to the "Red" Trailer. The objective of the game is simply to survive for as long as possible against indefinitely respawning enemy waves. Other gameplay elements, such as items and stats, are also present in the user interface, but are not functional in the released version.

Rooster Teeth announced through their informational video game show The Know that in the full version of the game, the rest of Team RWBY would be playable as well, and that co-operative multiplayer was a focus. Each character will have a unique set of moves and abilities that will be put at the disposal of the player.^[3] Subsequent pre-alpha development builds available to sponsors introduced additional features, including functional co-operative multi-player elements.

The official player guide refers to the game as a "mission-based character action game."^[6] In the mission "Extermination," players must progress through several different playable zones by defeating enemies in the area. Once all areas have been cleared of enemies, players are ranked on their performance from A, B, C, D, and F. In another gametype, players must cooperate to protect a generator and substation from waves of Grimm.