GRAVEN Review (PC)

The cultists, who might be undead or simply very sick, are closing in, probably around a dozen, ready to launch themselves at my priest once they get close enough. The ideal move would be to switch to my fire magic and then burn them all from a distance. But I don’t have a ton of red mana left and the range of my powers isn’t that great, so I backpedal while I prepare for a more classic battle.

My wrist crossbow allows me to keep them all at range and I use it to shoot two or three incoming enemies. But I need the arrows to deal with the very annoying poison-spewing flying wyverns. So it’s time to draw out the trusty wide blade that I recently found and go to town, slashing and moving back to avoid attacks, making sure to engage just one opponent at once.

I don’t get surrounded and eliminate all threats with minimal health loss. Now it’s time to destroy all the barrels that are lying around. Most of them will be empty but a few are bound to give me some vials to bring hit points up to 100 and, hopefully, even more mana. But I can’t move too fast and bash indiscriminately. One of the barrels might be an explodey red one and a big blast will force me to pay to revive at the nearest checkpoint.

GRAVEN is developed by Slipgate Ironworks, with publishing in the hands of 3D Realms and Fulqrum Publishing. I played the PC version on Steam. The game is also offered on the Nintendo Switch, the PlayStation 5, the Xbox Series X and S, and older consoles from Microsoft and Sony. This is a modern take on classic first-person action games, with added exploration and puzzle mechanics.

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The hero is a priest of something called the Orthogonal Order, which is not actually a branch of Christianity. Exiled for killing, he is put on a slow boat that delivers him to an island affected by an undead plague and patrolled by even worse horrors. As players push through the levels, they will discover a bigger threat and more detail about this universe and its inhabitants.

It’s a decent premise and the game adds extra detail through its environment design and via letters and notes left around by other characters. But this is not a story-driven experience. Characters in town are mostly silent, the writing isn’t very inspiring, and I never felt a strong connection to the hero.

GRAVEN is all about first-person exploration, action, and puzzle-solving. Shooting is not the main way to interact with the world. The player-controlled priest can run pretty fast and is handy with both melee and ranged weapons. But his jump is limited, and he tires pretty easy. A stamina meter depletes when players move fast or swing their weapon around too much.

Gamers will do a lot of that because melee is the best way to deal with many enemies. It can be hard to perfectly judge striking and dodge distance, but the idea is to get in some good strikes before moving away, making sure the stamina level is high, and going in for more. Ranged attacks are best reserved for flying opponents and truly dicey situations.

Spells are in the game to solve puzzles and open entry to new areas. A player with full mana and an idea that more is nearby can use fire to burn enemies or electricity to stun them, doing some light crowd control work. But using a magic book for combat feels uninspired and rarely makes battles easier to win, a baffling choice given the setting. Make sure to hoard the purple healing potions and use them only in emergencies. Money is less of a priority, mostly used to upgrade weapons in town.

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GRAVEN’s puzzles are not hard to solve, although it can be annoying to find the written material that usually offers hints. The game is at its best when it opens up a new area and allows players to run around, deal with enemies, and discover what they have to do to push further.

It becomes less appealing when it throws more enemies in just to give gamers something to do. It moves toward an annoying territory when it becomes clear that there’s no map. I understand the developers want players to explore and improvise but it is not fun to wonder how far back in a level you need to go to find a door handle.

GRAVEN understands the ingredients it’s working with but never quite finds the best way to balance them. Gamers who fondly remember FPS titles from the 90s will enjoy most of its ideas, but the game needs a few updates, and especially the addition of quest tracking.

GRAVEN uses a retro look, the kind that has defined some of the nostalgia-powered FPS space. The idea is to deliver an experience that looks at how players remember the ‘90s but using modern techniques and engines. I like the world, with its many Hexen influences, although the limited detail on all enemies feels weird. There are also graphical glitches, which seem to mostly appear when players heavily engage with the extensive destruction opportunities.

The sound design is also tinged with nostalgia. I broke a lot of barrels and plenty of pottery and the sound they make seems to be extracted straight out of genre classics. The combat effects and voice acting are uninspired. The game’s soundtrack is good, gothic, and dark to suit the world players are battling through.

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The Good

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