Bounty Star Hands-On Preview: A Girl And Her Mech

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Over the past few years, Annapurna Interactive has become well-known for publishing creative and unique indie games, and their newest game continues that trend. Created by DINOGOD, Bounty Star, also known as The Morose Tale of Graveyard Clem, is a 3D action game played from an over-the-shoulder perspective. It’s a story about finding yourself again and discovering hope in a world that’s fallen apart. You’ll use a mech that you can customize to fight bandits, broken robots, strange creatures, and other dangerous enemies.

Recently, Game Rant got a chance to play as Clementine “Clem” McKinney, the main character in Bounty Star. They experienced what it’s like to manage her home base, complete bounty missions, and even relax by playing the guitar.

Clem’s Daily Life Is Compelling And Realistic

Bounty Star features gameplay split into two main parts: growing resources and constructing your base at Clem’s home in the Red Wastes – a desolate, post-apocalyptic version of the American Southwest – and fighting in mechs while completing bounties for cash and supplies out in the dangerous areas of the Wastes.

The game skillfully balances its two main parts, ensuring that neither one feels too heavy or takes over. Importantly, the base building aspect doesn’t seem tacked on; it’s central to the story of Clem creating a new life after the difficult experiences she had as a soldier, and that growth happens during the peaceful moments she spends at home.

I really enjoyed how authentically Bounty Star depicts life in a desert after the apocalypse. Clem can order food using a high-tech shopping system, but she saves money by gathering things like cactus fruit near her home. A lot of the parts she uses to customize her mech and other machines are used or salvaged from the desert. I especially loved that Clem’s leg guards appear to be made from old skateboards!

Honestly, a big part of playing as Clem is just dealing with the basics – getting water and turning it into fuel for her mech. She also uses it to keep her plants alive; she’s got this really cool, detailed hydroponics system going to grow food and everything she needs. It really hits home that water is everything, and it makes all of Clem’s actions feel so believable. I spent the first few minutes with Bounty Star just doing these everyday tasks, and it really showed me how tough life in the Wastes is – and I loved it! You can clearly see Clem slowly rebuilding her life, taking things one step at a time, and figuring out who she is beyond just being a soldier. It’s awesome to watch!

Mech-Based Combat Is Versatile And Fun

After Clementine finishes her everyday chores – checking she has enough food, water, and fuel – she can accept Bounties for money and other prizes. But before starting a bounty, I always customize the mech’s equipment. At first, I felt a little overwhelmed because there are so many different things to choose from. It took some getting used to.

The game features close-combat weapons, long-range weapons, and tons of extra parts, but it does a great job of clearly explaining how everything works. I felt confident going into battle knowing exactly what my mech was capable of. Players can also use a training area with practice targets that give useful advice on how each item functions.

I really like that Bounty Star lets you play however you want, because you can customize the mech so much. For my first bounty, I picked a “mini-gun” with a super fast firing rate, hoping I could just shoot everything down. That worked for the first one! But on the second bounty, I faced a lot of human and robot snipers who were good at using the environment to their advantage, always hiding behind big piles of rubble.

I completely changed my equipment after that, choosing a gun that fired guided bullets, a melee weapon – a kind of “bomb bat” – that could dislodge snipers, and upgrades that boosted my speed and agility. The next attempt went much better, and I finished with plenty of health remaining. I really liked that I felt like I was learning and improving, and that I needed to adapt my weapons and enhancements based on the enemies in each mission. This kept the core gameplay – accepting a bounty, defeating enemies, and collecting the reward – from ever becoming monotonous.

The combat feels really good – the mech is surprisingly agile for how big it is and doesn’t feel awkward to control. There’s a lot of enemy variety, even within a single mission, which keeps things interesting and prevents you from getting too comfortable. You’ll battle humans, robots, and other unique creatures that live in the Wastes. I remember during my second bounty, a weird mechanical creature called a “Geopython” suddenly emerged from the sand when I thought I was done, and it genuinely startled me! The creature’s design is really striking – a segmented metal snake that can burrow and attack with lasers – and it made me curious to learn more about the wildlife of the Red Wastes.

My few criticisms of Bounty Star relate to the fighting. I didn’t have a mini-map when completing bounties in the areas I explored. While this fits the story – Clem likely hasn’t mapped these locations – it did make navigating a little difficult, particularly when trying to understand the area’s limits.

I also would have liked a counter to give me a general idea of how many enemies remained-during one part of the first bounty, I spent some time running around aimlessly, getting annoyed because I couldn’t find the last human enemy, and the large area made it hard to locate them. However, these are minor problems, and the game’s combat is generally quite enjoyable.

The Kind Of Lore That Makes You Want To Learn More

I really loved the world and story in Bounty Star. The post-apocalyptic American Southwest is wonderfully created, with details like the cacti around Clem’s garage and the pieces of collapsed highway that snipers used during a bounty. I was genuinely curious to learn more about the world-what events led to this situation? And who currently lives in the Wastes, and how is their society structured?

I’m really digging Clem’s library in Bounty Star! You can read books to learn all about the game’s story, and it looks like unlocking more books will give you even *more* details. I can already tell I’m going to be lost in there for hours when the full game finally comes out. I definitely plan on spending a ton of time uncovering all the lore!

Clementine McKinney is a compelling main character. She feels incredibly authentic – her past trauma is believable, and she navigates her new life with a blend of hesitation and inner strength, reflected in the thoughtful entries she writes in her diary each day. I’m eager to learn more about her history and the events that led her to this remote location, as well as to discover more about the individuals who correspond with her at this isolated outpost.

Just spending a single day as “Graveyard Clem” has made me incredibly excited to experience much more – and I’ll get to do that when Bounty Star is released on October 23, 2025.

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2025-10-01 13:05