Steelrising, an upcoming action RPG from the makers of GreedFall recently dropped a 5-minute gameplay showcase and it seems to be turning a lot of heads. The studio’s previous game, Greedfall, was a rather ambitious RPG title that won a lot of acclaim from critics and fans alike and was considered a sleeper hit, in many ways, by the gaming community.
This time around, Spiders has elected to retain their period setting but has added a healthy dose of steampunk to offset the familiar surroundings. Steelrising is an extremely curious title, taking place in an alternate historical version of Paris, in 1789. The game features all sorts of mechanical wonders, including the player character, Aegis, an ‘engineering marvel’ tasked with taking on Louis XVI and their vast mechanical army.
The game is currently scheduled for release on September 8, 2022 and will be published by Nacon. A brand-new 5-minute trailer was enough to spark all kinds of comparisons to FromSoftware’s recent soulslike magnum opus – Elden Ring, and it’s time to see what the hype is all about?
Also Read: Elden Ring Review: The Crème de la Crème of Soulslike Games
Steelrising’s Gameplay Showcased for 5-Minutes
Steelrising is an action RPG and it appears to take a lot of cues from FromSoftware’s categorically successful formula. When considering whether the game takes after the soulslike genre – there are a few key pointers – deliberate combat, ruthless enemies, a fixed central camera that locks on to enemies, and a healthy amount of rolling and dodging.
Steelrising has pretty much all of those, and then some. What makes the game stand out in a sea of soulslikes is its dedication to its Steampunk setting. Aegis has the ability to wield all sorts of interesting mechanical shields as well as guns, which are sure to break up the pacing of the combat in a big way.
As is to be expected, the trailer also showcases the ruthless difficulty, punishing players for mistiming their attacks and getting too greedy with the combat. The game also seems to have a pretty interesting loadout system, which players can re-tool upon death, which might help players change their kit on the fly to adapt to certain areas.
Greedfall’s Studio Spiders and its Take on a Soulslike Game
If that wasn’t all to sell players on the Elden Ring comparison, Steelrising also has a pretty sizeable open-world map. The game allows players to traverse across cities and tackle objectives in any way they see fit – allowing a more non-linear approach to the game.
Finally, the boss fights. Steelrising seems to have an original take on its bosses, rather than horrifying Lovecraftian creations, the game’s bosses are a touch more elegant (at least aesthetically). That isn’t to say that the game seems to be making any concessions to difficulty as they seem as ruthlessly brutal as any Elden Ring monstrosity.
Following the Legacy of Elden Ring
Safe to say, many have come for the crown, but alas, FromSoftware continue to reign supreme in the genre they pioneered but that isn’t to say no other game has been able to break into the space dominated by the studio.
Games like Nioh have been able to find their audience, despite massive competition from the incumbent, and have been able to distance themselves from the legacy of games like Dark Souls and Elden Ring. Steelrising seems like another one of those games that can stand independent of the legacy of Elden Ring and exist as a game with a burgeoning community of its own, who are fans of the offering.
The key, in this case, is for Steelrising to be more than just a smaller-budget pastiche of Elden Ring, but be more than just the sum of its inspirations. Spiders have an exquisitely unique idea on their hands and even though the challenge is massive, the studio might have enough resolve to carve themselves a place within the gaming community separate from the likes of Elden Ring.
