“There’s a new sheriff in town! By “town” we mean menacing abandoned space station, and by “sheriff” we mean robot tank obsessed with order, justice, and (of all things) politeness. That’s right folks, it’s time to meet Bunker!”
SEGA and AMPLITUDE Studios are proud to announce the second hero to get the star treatment in their Hero Reveal series. You can watch the hero’s latest reveal trailer below.
So, who is the lucky lady? Bunker’s history goes back a long way, as she was conceived and constructed as a part of an autonomous police unit tasked to track down criminals and illegal life forms. Though unrelentingly civil and polite, Bunker does not put up with lawbreakers, corruption, or rudeness.
Created with a distinctive set of morality routines, for Bunker the famous first law of robotic behavior was rewritten: “During the course of your work you may not harm organization property or, through inaction, allow organization property to come to harm.” Nobody on the Station seems to have any idea of who owns what, however, so Bunker feels free to jump right in.
Bunker Skills
Much like our other heroes Bunker has 3 skills. And as you might guess from her name, they’re quite tank-y.
- Triggering (Passive Skill) – Increases attack damage the more she gets hit within a short time.
- Back off (Special Skill) – Deploys her shield to generate a short wave that knocks back, stuns, and damages monsters.
- Hunker (Ultimate Skill) – Creates an energy dome that attracts monsters while protecting her from the attacks for a few seconds.
Bunker QnA
- “Sheriff” is a bit of an odd title on a Space station. How did that happen?
- Part of what we wanted to do with TED was develop a narrative environment based on Galactic Western styles and tropes. Science fiction and Westerns go well together as they touch on a lot of common themes – isolated communities, surviving in a difficult environment, motley groups of locals mixed with drifters and adventurers, exploring unknown frontiers, unpredictable law enforcement, and so on. In the case of Bunker, we decided that the archetype she would represent would be the sheriff; after all, every town needs a sheriff who is the voice of law and order…
- Bunker’s job is protecting the rest of the team, and her big shield ties nicely into that. When creating a character, do you start with the lore, the look, or the gameplay? Or in other words, what came first, the tank or the shield?
- The way we do this stuff at Amplitude is highly iterative. I’ll be in one place with the designers, coming up with the different playstyles and archetypes; in the meantime, the artists are off in their corner coming up with whatever character art they think looks cool. We toss ideas back and forth, and things just start to coalesce. Or clot, if you look at it that way. In the case of Bunker, the artists came up with the image, and it was pretty clear from their intentions that this would be the tanky character. So, while we knew we want that sort of paladin-y defender type, we didn’t have any clear idea (Human? Alien? Robot?) until the artists brought us the Bunker concept art. Which was awesome.
- One of Bunker’s skills attracts the attention of nearby enemies. How does that skill help you survive that?
- Every tank needs their aggro boost! Well, maybe not, because then game design gets awfully derivative… but in the case of this skill we have paired the aggro boost with a massive damage shield. It’s one of those things that is very useful when the waves of monsters look unstoppable.
- We’ve seen Bunker and Zed work together in previous trailers. But while Bunker seems calm and orderly, Zed strikes me as more of a rebellious hothead. Doesn’t that cause some friction?
- Zed is definitely a hothead; the type to leap in fearlessly rather than be cautious and deliberate. Bunker is as brave, but much more responsible. There will be friction between some of the characters, but Zed and Bunker aren’t the worst!
- What would you say is Bunker’s biggest contribution to your team when you venture out into the station?
- One of the key elements of the gameplay mix is tower defense – and Bunker can be a mobile part of that tower. She will be helpful in controlling a zone, slowing waves, and helping allies; all important elements when you are trying to manage the rhythm and intensity of attacks.
- In many games, the “tanky” characters are slow because of their heavy armor. Does Bunker have any trouble keeping up with her more nimble teammates?
- Fortunately, Bunker was designed (and the community gets to decide by who) with an awesome set of servomotors. She has no problems with speed or maneuverability!
Vote on Bunker’s Lore via Game2gether
There are aspects of Bunker’s background that are yet to be determined, though, and we’re calling on you to help us choose them!
Check out the Bunker lore vote on our community site Games2Gether. You can also visit Bunker’s hero page on the official ENDLESS™ Dungeon website, and sign up to get an exclusive skin available on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, or PC (via Steam).
Source: Press Release, Steam
