Steelrising takes the Souls-like formula that made Elden Ring such a huge hit, and plants it into a very cool world full of French robots. Check out our preview impressions.
Yes, you read that right: Steelrising, the new game by the makers of Greedfall, is a Souls-like game that isn't just full of robots. It has you play as a robot yourself. In the time around the French Revolution. Sounds absolutely insane, doesn't it? It's not just a bit crazy, it's also really fun. We were able to play Steelrising ahead of its September release and can confirm, that the game could be a potential hit.
See everything about Steelrising and our preview impressions here:
Steelrising Is A Crazy & Fun Adventure
In Steelrising, you play as Aegis, a machine fighting in the service of King Louis XVI. Yes, this is all for real: the game is set in an alternative version of the French Revolution, where the conflict was fought out not between peasants and bougies, but between different types of machines. Here is the official description:
Steelrising takes place in an alternate version of the revolution in late June 1789 just after the Tennis Court Oath and before the storming of the Bastille. Attempts at revolts and independence from the “Tiers Etat” were quelled in blood by the corrupted machines that the clockwork king had built by Eugène de Vaucanson. Paris is frozen in fear, and the heads of the rebels line the gate of the Tuileries Palace, as King Louis XVI cracks down the Revolution in Paris with his army of automatons. Eugène de Vaucanson, the king’s favorite engineer revolts against the violent use of his machines. The king has him locked away and confiscated his most wonderful creation: Aegis.
This crazy idea isn't just super fun and creative on paper, it can be felt in-game as well. At least to some degree. We were able to play multiple levels from the first few hours of the game, and in this time, we had fun exploring the “gothic, fantastical representation of Paris” that developer Spiders and publisher Nacon are promising for the game.
However, it also shows a bit that this isn't an AAA-production. The game overall looks pretty nice, but some of the animations looked stiff and a lot of the environments were pretty... brown. Still, the design makes up for a lot of it, especially in terms of the robotic enemies you will face. The designers call the style of the game "Clockpunk" and that is a pretty apt name. It's a very cool and intriguing style, and we're excited to see, what the rest of the game has to offer with this weird design.
Like we said, Steelrising is a Souls-like, and that really means what you think it means. Enemies hit hard, you don't have a lot of healing items, you dodge roll, strafe etc. etc. And it's fun! However, it didn't feel quite as refined as the combat in a game like Elden Ring. We still had a good time fighting it out with robots. The best part of the gameplay is the grappling hook though, that elevates the exploration of the world to more than Souls-games ever offered.
What really reminded us not just of Souls-games, but Elden Ring specifically, is the large amount of freedom that the game will give you. There are many different types of weapons, tied to an expansive RPG system that promises to give you the freedom to form your character in any way you would like.
Steelrising Preview Verdict
While Steelrising is a bit rough around the edges, the solid gameplay, large variety and genuinely creative ideas give it a lot of potential. This could be a sleeper hit, and we are excited to see how the full release turns out. Steelrising releases on September 8 for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
