Kamen Rider (video game)

Kamen Rider is an upcoming action-adventure game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Bandai-Namco Entertainment. Based on the 1971 Japanese tokusatsu media franchise of the same name, the game revolves millennial prodigies Hongo Takeshi and Hayato Ichimonji battling minions and nefarious plots of evil organization Shocker before they can take over the world, after they were modified into cyborgs by them.

The game has an alternative story, not just the retelling of it. Hongo was already brainwashed after being altered by Shocker, but somehow snapped out of it and vowed to fight them. Instead of just Japan, the story takes place worldwide, starting with the U.S. Shocker may had ties with Illuminati still but are linked with Islamic terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS rather than Nazis. It even had different characters not present in the original show. And the tone is much darker, explicit, gritty, violent, scarier, bloodier, realistic, contemporary, and more mature.

Gameplay is presented from the third-person perspective with a primary focus on the Kamen Riders' combat and traversal skills. You can switch to either Hongo Takeshi or Kamen Rider 1, and the character can go on foot or ride his motorcycle named Cyclone across many well-known cities per country, interact with other characters, fight Shocker's foot soldiers and Kaijin, going on missions including side missions, and progress through the story and completing tasks in order to receive rewards especially upgrades for attacks, gear, and suits. As the story progresses, you can play parts of the story as Hayato Ichimonji/Kamen Rider 2, who too is modified and brainwashed by Shocker before he was freed and sides with justice like Hongo did. And later, you can play as Hongo again, thus wrapping up the story.

It is scheduled for a worldwide release in 2020 on the PlayStation 4.

Plot
Somewhere in the distant future, the world is plagued by Shocker, a mysterious terrorist organization hidden from the public. They are responsible for the deaths, disappearances, wars, crimes, disasters, and attacks globally for years. In order to achieve their plans for world domination, Shocker sends its operatives to kidnap innocent people (and kill anyone who tried to save them), turn them into part-animal/plant-part robot monsters, and brainwashing them with MK Ultra (most of the human victims they modified were criminals like serial killers, robbers, rapists, kidnappers, prostitutes, prowlers, domestic terrorists, etc.) One of them was the gifted college student Hongo Takeshi. After being brainwashed and sent to help Shocker, an incident somehow caused him to come back to his senses and turn on the criminals. He vows to stop them as Kamen Rider 1, with help from CPD detective Frank Merling, war veteran and foster parent Kelsey Marshall, and Interpol agent Janet Trammel. Later, Hayato Ichimonji had the same problem, but was free as Kamen Rider 2 and fought Shocker worldwide as well. The two would sometimes team up as Double Riders on the toughest missions. The first missions start out in Chicago and then other states as well as other countries.

Downloadable content
A playable DLC story pack centers on the Riders taking on Gel-Shocker.

Rating
The game was rated M by the ESRB.