Along with RTX, the studio and Nvidia have also confirmed that Black State will feature support for DLSS 4, including newer technologies like Multi Frame Generation to get smoother frame rates without losing out too much in visual fidelity.

Black State was originally announced all the way back in July 2024, and is being developed for PC using Unreal Engine 5. When it was announced, Motion Blur had noted that both Metal Gear Solid as well as Portal serve as major inspirations for the game. The title aims to combine the third-person stealth and action mechanics from Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain with the physics-bending mechanics of Portal.

“Obviously, we love the Metal Gear Solid series,” said the developers when asked about Metal Gear serving as an inspiration. “While working on our extensive, nearly 500-page game design document over 2.5 years, we constantly admired games like The Last of Us, Metal Gear Solid, Uncharted, and many others that push the limits of development and gameplay mechanics.”

“Inspired by these influences, our small team is committed to delivering the highest development quality and exceptional gameplay mechanics, despite our limited size. We strive to create rich and deep storytelling combined with engaging gameplay mechanics, offering an impressive and unforgettable gaming experience. Our goal is to push ourselves to our limits and give gamers the best possible experience we can provide.”

Back in January, a gameplay showcase had been released for Black State which gave us a look at the game’s alpha build. Going by the trailer, the Metal Gear inspirations seem quite obvious, especially when it comes to character, world and enemy designs that seem like they could be right out of Yoji Shinkawa’s art book. In terms of gameplay, the video showcased some of the title’s cover-based combat as the protagonist took on demons as well as enemy soldiers.

Some of the weapons were also shown off in the video, ranging from more standard fare like assault rifles to more exotic weaponry, like a gun that is able to seemingly shoot lightning at foes.

Art director Omer Faruk Gungor revealed a few more details about Black State in an interview from back in March, giving us information about the importance of visual fidelity for Motion Blur, as well as the tech that the studio is using to achieve its goals.

“Of course, the real challenge lies in achieving high visual fidelity without sacrificing performance,” said Gungor about the focus on fidelity and the balance that has to be struck with performance. “This is something we are deeply ambitious about. We strive to deliver a game that is stunningly realistic yet highly optimized, ensuring that players experience the best possible quality.”

For more details, check out the rest of the interview.

What prompted the decision to have visual fidelity and photo-realism as such a big factor of the game?

We believe that when a game feels realistic, it enhances the player’s immersion and emotional connection with both the gameplay and the story. Our goal is to create a strong bond between Black State and the players, making every moment feel authentic and impactful.

Of course, the real challenge lies in achieving high visual fidelity without sacrificing performance. This is something we are deeply ambitious about. We strive to deliver a game that is stunningly realistic yet highly optimized, ensuring that players experience the best possible quality.

Most importantly, we have always been committed to showing only what players can actually experience—no gimmicks, no misleading visuals. What you see is what you will truly play.

Can you give us some idea of what kind of insane tech you used to make the door transitions seamless?

We’ve spent extensive R&D refining the real-time portal door, requiring deep engine-level modifications. It enables instant transitions between multiple levels, and the real challenge—allowing players to move back and forth seamlessly with no limits, all while maintaining top performance.

"No gimmicks, no misleading visuals. What you see is what you will truly play"

What kind of PC hardware are you expecting Black State to be playable on? And how scalable will the visuals be in order to run Black State on lower-end hardware?

Some people might assume that Black State will only run on the latest high-end hardware, but that’s not the case. If you’ve seen Digital Foundry’s post-CES review, they’ve highlighted exactly what we’re aiming for—high visual fidelity, cutting-edge optimization, and great performance across a range of systems.

Our goal is to ensure that even on minimum specs, you get a visually impressive and smooth gameplay experience. We can’t provide the final system requirements just yet, as it would be misleading before we’ve completed all our optimization tests.

However, one thing we can confidently say is that when we do announce the minimum and recommended requirements, it won’t mean just barely running the game—it will mean experiencing a beautiful and well-optimized version of Black State, no matter the hardware.

While realistic combat is a big part of Black State, how often will we get to see stranger non-human enemy types?

Black State features a diverse range of enemies, each with unique abilities, behaviors, and attack styles. Players will encounter a variety of challenges, ensuring every encounter feels dynamic, unpredictable, and engaging.

How big of a role will gadgets play in combat?

Black State offers versatile gadgets, each with unique abilities for different enemy types. Whether you prefer all-out action or a stealthy approach, these tools adapt to your playstyle. How much they influence the game is entirely up to you.

Are there any plans to bring Black State to consoles?

We want to bring this stunning experience to all gamers, but right now, our focus is on the PC version.

"Black State features a diverse range of enemies, each with unique abilities, behaviors, and attack styles."

How many bosses can we expect to see in the full release?

While I can’t reveal the exact number, I can confidently say that for a single-player game, we have more than enough boss fights to deliver an exciting and satisfying experience.

Do you think you will improve the visuals further when the final game releases?

I certainly hope so! We’re constantly working on better graphics with even greater performance. But one thing I can assure gamers—we will never showcase something they can’t actually play.

Are you targeting a release this year?

I shouldn’t say anything about this but, we’ll announce the date only when we’re confident that Black State delivers a complete experience—fully polished and ready for gamers from day one.

The game seems like a great combination of MGS5 and Splinter Cell. What kind of inspirations did you take from those games?

It’s an honor for us to be mentioned alongside MGS and Splinter Cell, but Black State has its own unique gameplay style. While these classics, along with Uncharted, The Last of Us, Inception, The Matrix, and many other movies and games, have been sources of inspiration, Black State stands on its own vision.

What kind of progression or customization we can expect from the game?

Our biggest leap is stunning graphics with incredible optimization, thanks to our custom pipeline. But beyond visuals, we’re committed to delivering a deep and engaging gameplay experience in every way.

• Diverse Levels & Exploration – With a stunning variety of locations and constant evolution through portal doors, exploration stays exciting and unpredictable. Creating so many unique environments in a single game has been a massive challenge, but we believe it heightens the thrill of discovery and keeps gameplay fresh.
• Diverse Enemy Spectrum – Enemies aren’t just reskinned—they have unique logic, abilities, and tactics, making combat more challenging and dynamic.
• Varied Guns & Gadgets – Players can shape their own playstyle with a wide selection of weapons and tools, designed for different strategies and encounters.
• Unique Boss Fights – Each boss has a distinct style, backstory, and skillset, forcing players to adapt and rethink their approach. Not every weapon or gadget works in every fight, ensuring that every battle feels fresh and rewarding rather than predictable.

We believe these elements push Black State to new heights, delivering a thrilling, ever-evolving experience where players will truly feel how we’ve pushed the limits in every aspect of the game.

"Our biggest leap is stunning graphics with incredible optimization, thanks to our custom pipeline."

What can you tell us about the game’s story?

Not much different from the synopsis at this point, but before launch, gamers will learn more details about the story—what’s going on and what these doors really are.

Are you guys working on making the enemy AI better?

We’re putting special focus on enhancing enemy AI to make them feel like trained tactical soldiers. They won’t just stand around—they’ll resist, call for reinforcements based on the situation, and attempt to flank you.

You won’t be able to simply hide behind cover and pick them off—they’ll do everything they can to flush you out and keep you on the move.

Going by the video, some of the influences of seminal games like Metal Gear Solid are evident, with quite a few of the title’s designs seemingly coming right out of the pages of Yoji Shinkawa’s art book. The video also indicates that the game’s visual fidelity is definitely a high priority of the studio. There are lavishly-designed rooms with incredible levels of reflections all over the place.

The video also gives us a brief look at what we can expect from Black State when it comes to gameplay. The game will be a third-person shooter where the player will use cover to take down enemies ranging from regular soldiers to all-out demons with telekinetic powers. Various weapons are also shown off, from the humble assault rifle to a strange gun that seems to shoot electricity.

Black State will have players taking on the role of a military “legend”, according to the game’s original announcement, and will set out on a mission to uncover the truth about a cataclysmic event, and while they’re at it, also rescue a scientist potentially linked to these events.

Alongside Metal Gear Solid, the studio has previously also cited other games as inspiration, including The Last of Us and Uncharted. Black State is currently in development on PC and doesn’t yet have a release date. The game is developed on Unreal Engine 5.

To summarise what Black State’s all about: you, a mercenary and former military legend for hire, is deployed by a mysterious group of scientists known as the Architects to rescue captives whilst uncovering the truth behind a cataclysmic event. This mission is shrouded in secrecy, with the gameplay trailers released thus far doing nothing to embellish the narrative foundations laid by this opaque explanation. You’ll have to play it to find out what’s truly going on, it seems.

Compounding mystery further are these real-time door mechanics, a unique selling point for the game whereby our super-soldier can seamlessly transition between worlds via travelling through doors. One moment he’s cantering atop the deck of an oil tanker, then – poof –! A rustic, bare-brick cellar exists adjacent to a shiny subway carriage. The environs waiting behind these closed doors are unknown to the soldier, so there’s a sure-fire way here to continually surprise and engage us as players. Speculation here, but the trailer’s voiceover questioning whether any of this is real perhaps points to our mercenary operating inside some sort of simulation. A Matrix style reality, perhaps.

Speaking of The Matrix, the game’s combat utilises some very Matrix-y time manipulation. Our soldier carries a bushel of slomo grenades which once active slow the world to slug-speed, enabling our mercenary to pop the heads off any opposing soldiers who’re rendered near-motionless akin to an inverse Superhot. You move, they don’t. In fact, Motion Blur state we’ll stock plenty of weapons and tactical gizmos in our arsenal, giving our super-soldier access to numerous methods to take down an array of gun toting foe. Alongside the usual pistols and machine guns, a highlight seen in the trailers is the sparking shotgun with a capability to launch jagged electrical laser beams at enemies, immediately blasting their bodies into violent viscera. According to Motion Blur, Black State’s trailers only scratch the surface in terms of full-game weaponry and gadgets, so it’ll be intriguing to see what else they’ve come up with given the time-slowing mechanics as prominently described in the game’s press release. Boss battles are aplenty too, featuring some fantastical designs lifted straight out of Death Stranding’s playbook; mastery of your arsenal – alongside the usual Dark Soulsian attack pattern recognition – will prove integral if you’re to survive these encounters.

The action isn’t all guns and shootouts though. No, taking inspiration from Metal Gear Solid and The Last of Us, Motion Blur are incorporating some stealthy elements to our soldier’s move set. There’re ample opportunities for cover throughout, with the usual patrol routes to observe before sneaking up behind unsuspecting foe and illicitly slashing their neck open (or via one of a supposed 100-plus brutal takedown animations). Opposing forces can swiftly outnumber us, so there’ll certainly be times when a silent approach is necessary to avoid being overwhelmed. Enemies – again, according to Motion Blur – are smart. They won’t hesitate calling reinforcements should your cover be blown, so there’s a risk-reward element at play too. Just like weapon handling, mastery of stealth, it seems, will be another essential factor for any successful operation.

This enemy descriptor though, their smartness, leads us onto the first of Black State’s noticeable problems. Now, before we get into the nitty-gritty it must be pointed out that the gameplay shared so far is alpha. Environments, graphics, animations (including, hopefully, the doors that’re so integral to the gameplay opening by themselves), are all subject to change, enemy AI included. But the thing is, at present it’s hard to see how these enemies – so called elite human tactical forces and relentless killing mechanoids the Robosapians – are anything but dim-witted bullet-ready body bags. They don’t seem to sense danger. Heck, they don’t even notice our soldier’s terrain scanning drone as it floats past their head. Apart from a couple of guys in the trailer’s laboratory sequence, they won’t even find cover when the bullets start flying. And – subject to change, remember – they’re deaf, completely ignoring our soldier as he makes next-to-no effort to silently traipse up behind them. Echoey footsteps or not, these soldiers either wear ear plugs, or their AI isn’t programmed to hear us yet. If Black State is going to achieve the deep and varied combat gameplay as promised by its developer, improving enemy AI must be a priority.

Improvements must also be made to the game’s glitzy photorealism. We’re not saying these environments look bad, not at all. The sheen of reflective puddles and marble flooring are excellent (if perhaps a little overdone), the bold fluorescence of subway car eye-popping. But there’s an inherent problem with all this photorealism in that it eschews any form of art direction. These environments are cold and clinical, lacking any defining characteristic. Motion Blur, as per their expertise, are going all in on graphical fidelity, but they’re sacrificing believability in the process. Everything looks brand new, jarringly so. These locales need roughing up a bit, perhaps some weathered texture here and there; dirt on the oil rig, smudges on the subway car windows, that sort of thing. If these locations are indeed the product of some Matrix style computer simulation, then Black State might be able to get away with their crisp cleanliness from a narrative standpoint, but some art direction wouldn’t go amiss either way. After all, a vacuous world devoid of character isn’t going to support the game’s supposedly engaging storyline, one we’re assured is stuffed with unexpected twists, intricacy, and emotional intrigue.

We’ve seen this time and again with UE5 tech demos of this sort. Graphics occupying the bulk of a developer’s effort to the detriment of gameplay, story, emotion, and feeling. However, there’s no denying the monumental effort Motion Blur have put into Black State. It’s vistas genuinely are a sight to behold despite their alpha status, but it’s hard to be too enraptured by their visual aplomb if the act of actually playing the thing leaves a lot to be desired. Don’t brush this one under the carpet though, it could be great, and it certainly deserves the attention it is getting from other press outlets and the wider gaming community. There’s understandable trepidation underlining its announcement, but the door portal zone traversal is enough of a selling point to keep an eye on its progress.

Unsurprisingly, there is no release window. Black State is likely slated for release the year after next given the unpolished nature of its gameplay and animations. The team at Motion Blur have invested two years into R&D with a huge design document the product of their development efforts. Given that, there is undeniably still a long way to go, and it’s going to take time given the relatively lower numbers scurrying behind the scenes, an alleged 40-strong team of passionate individuals.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Black Slate will see players stepping into the shoes of “a former military legend” who embarks on a mission to “rescue a captive scientist and uncover the truth behind a cataclysmic event”. The mission itself, handed down by the enigmatic group known as the Architects, is one shrouded in mystery, and may have more to it than meets the eye.

Speaking to IGN, when asked about Black Slate’s similarities to Metal Gear, its developers said, “Obviously, we love the Metal Gear Solid series. While working on our extensive, nearly 500-page game design document over 2.5 years, we constantly admired games like The Last of Us, Metal Gear Solid, Uncharted, and many others that push the limits of development and gameplay mechanics.

“Inspired by these influences, our small team is committed to delivering the highest development quality and exceptional gameplay mechanics, despite our limited size. We strive to create rich and deep storytelling combined with engaging gameplay mechanics, offering an impressive and unforgettable gaming experience. Our goal is to push ourselves to our limits and give gamers the best possible experience we can provide.”

Black Slate is being built on Unreal Engine 5, and is in development for PC. There’s no word yet on when the game will release.