I did not fairly know what to anticipate after I acquired my fingers on Flintlock: The Siege of Daybreak at Summer season Sport Fest. I had a hands-off preview a yr or two in the past, and was intrigued then, nevertheless it appears to dip beneath the radar at each alternative. Although I loved my time with it and appreciated the concepts I noticed, particularly the boldness to drop us in pretty late into the narrative and simply inform us ‘it is likely to be powerful, have enjoyable with it’, I could not assist however really feel a bit of haunted enjoying it in a room adorned with Xbox posters, surrounded by employees in Xbox lanyards, in the identical constructing Xbox simply rocked the world with its summer time showcase whereas avoiding mentioning its latest layoffs fully.
I had by no means been extra glad than after I left the preview, double checked that builders A44 had been certainly nonetheless impartial, and breathed an enormous sigh of reduction as I noticed it was additionally coming to PlayStation. This was not, because the green-pilled amongst you could assume, a part of the Xbox tax or inherent bias towards Xbox. Microsoft undoubtedly gained Summer season Sport Fest and even with Nintendo arriving late, I believe that crown nonetheless belongs to Xbox. It’s simply that, given latest occasions, I’d worry for this studio’s future if Flintlock had been an Xbox unique.
To be clear, Flintlock: The Siege of Daybreak appeared fairly good. The fight was various and difficult, traversal was fascinating as you teleported from rift to rift, and the world it created had a extra distinctive intrigue purely by advantage of feeling tailor-made to the sport’s actuality, not copied from elsewhere. However information have to be confronted: it didn’t lodge itself within the minds of gamers in the course of the showcase, being outshone by larger reveals, and the sport is out in a month with little traction. This can be a recreation which will have to percolate with the general public and develop right into a cult hit by phrase of mouth. It won’t smash gross sales data from the off and today, that is a harmful predicament to be in.
It is a bit of unhappy that my first thought after enjoying recreation was not ‘huh, that was fairly good’, however ‘I hope that studio would not get shut down’. It is the atmosphere fashionable gaming has created and it does suck the whimsy out of three days of hopping from sales space to sales space enjoying video video games. Summer season Sport Fest is fortunately fairly heavy on the indie aspect of issues the place experimentation is inspired and danger isn’t met with sure doom as typically as it’s for larger firms (who, satirically, can afford higher danger), however being taken out of the summer time solar of Play Days and transported throughout city to Xbox’s off-site and sterile demo website reminds you that behind all of the enjoyable of the fayre, jobs are consistently in danger.
However in any case, sure, the sport was fairly good. Regardless of actually being named after a gun, Flintlock isn’t a shooter within the conventional sense. As an alternative, you might be armed with a melee weapon in a single hand, a gun within the different, and should use the pair in conjunction to beat powerful fights. As I say, we had been dropped in pretty late, nevertheless it’s clear that the problem is a part of the draw right here. I may maintain my very own even whereas figuring issues out, so it is not Darkish Souls ranges of punishing, nevertheless it’s not a hack ‘n’ slash loaded with weak fodder to tear down both. Each battle retains you in your toes.
It is also surprisingly old fashioned in a few of its fashionable touches. A retro strategy to recreation design, making the previous really feel new once more. Melee hits recharge the ranged weapons, and on reload a meter seems that, if tapped in time, affords a extra highly effective blast subsequent time round. With extremely kinetic battles and enemies that do not offer you a second, these traditional touches add a stage of problem and satisfaction which have a pleasingly analogue really feel in our digital, meta-infused excellent combo parry world.
The design of the sport left me with the identical sensation. That is one thing we have seen earlier than, however not for therefore lengthy that it comes again round to feeling recent. Half Victorian, half Historic Greek, it performs round with aesthetic selections and comes out the opposite finish with a higher persona. This concept of merging is current all through Flintlock, and never simply within the mesh of fight approaches. It half kinds itself as an Elden Ring, the place you roam throughout a mysterious world and tackle big bosses whose presence is as menacing as it’s obscure, the place battles are hard-fought and require persistence, and half as God of Warfare, the place the motion is quicker and linear, propelled by narrative and constructed round combos and aptitude.
Flintlock has the standard to be successful however many who performed final yr’s Immortals of Avenum mentioned the identical factor. Flintlock has all of the substances to be an important recreation besides folks to play it, and so they’re the one ingredient devs can by no means actually management. Enjoying it felt like getting ready soundbites for a future dialog. “I performed that at Summer season Sport Fest as soon as. Yeah it was alright. Disgrace it by no means actually discovered its crowd.” I hope I am flawed, as a result of there’s a lot to love about Flintlock: The Siege of Daybreak. However only a month out from launch, I discover myself terrified of its future.
