Panzer Paladin, the March 2019-announced action platformer from Mercenary Kings developer Tribute Games, will launch for Switch and PC via Steam this summer, the developer announced.

Here is an overview of the game, via its Steam page:

About

The sight of giant swords blazing through the night sky might be hair-raising, but stand your ground! The sinister Ravenous and his legions of brutal demons are poised for battle. Even all the armies of the world can’t stop them, but humanity has one final ace in the hole: a cutting edge power armor called Paladin.

It’s now up to the strong-willed android named Flame to become a Squire, take control of the Paladin and track down all Weapon Keepers and their diabolical leader. The showdown between mankind’s highest technological prowesses and the powerful forces of the occult has begun!

Seize weapons from the denizens of the Netherworld and dish out a taste of their own medicine! Show them the power of cutting edge technology combined with swordsmanship. Slash, bash and thrust your way through a series of mind-blowing levels located around the world, all of it rendered in glorious 8-bit graphics! Hop in your Panzer Paladin and take up arms!

Key Features

An engaging action-platformer with fun and intuitive swordplay!

Take control of the mighty Paladin power armor or eject and play as the small but swift Squire pilot!

Robots meet demons! Crush the forces of the occult with the power of cutting edge technology!

Over 100 melee weapons to seize from enemies!

Use weapons profusely: wield, throw, or shatter them!

Snap a weapon in half to cast a powerful spell!

Slash, bash and thrust your way through 17 mind-blowing levels located around the world!

Carefully crafted 8-bit graphics like you remember them!

Gameplay

Panzer Paladin is an action-platformer game featuring intuitive swordplay mechanics. The protagonist pilots a power armor called Paladin to fight giant demons by using their own weapons against them.

The key components of the swordplay mechanic includes the ability to equip and use any weapon dropped by defeated enemies, high versus low attacking and blocking, a rock-paper-scissor weapon type system that grants attack bonuses, and the ability to cast spells by breaking weapons. Weapons abound in levels, so the player is encouraged to use them profusely. The Paladin is the main means to fight enemies but players can eject and also play as the swifter and smaller pilot called a Squire. The Squire uses a laser whip to attack enemies, swing across gaps, and recharge the Paladin’s energy.

Panzer Paladin lets the player choose the order in which to complete the first 10 levels of the game. The last 6 levels must be played in a linear fashion.

Story

Giant weapons—swords, lances, hammers—hailing from the dark depths of space, blazed across the sky and pierced through historic locations all around the world. Like a declaration of war against mankind, the Parthenon, atop the Acropolis of Athens, was first to be cut right through by an ominous blade. Upon impact, each of the weapons opened a breach in the fabric of reality and unleashed legions of colossal demons.

In anticipation of such unforeseen Earth-threatening events, the International Security Council had formed Gauntlet, a science committee developing super sophisticated defense technologies. Gauntlet discovers that denizens of the Netherworld can only be obliterated by their own weapons. Spirit Weapons are forged with spirits of the deceased and humans can’t brandish them without becoming corrupt by their foul power… However, a machine would be immune to demonic corruption! Gauntlet recommissions Flame, a former rescue operations android, to become a Squire and take control of the last remaining Paladin unit, a state of the art power armor capable of wielding Spirit Weapons.

To arms! Overseeing their operations from aboard the Avalon, their flying headquarters, Gauntlet is ready. The showdown between mankind’s highest technological prowesses and the powerful forces of the occult has begun! It’s up to Squire Flame and her Paladin named Grit to defeat all Weapon Keepers, and ultimately face off against Ravenous, the sinister leader of the invasion.