Guild of Darksteel Review (PC)

fair
key review info
  • Game: Guild of Darksteel
  • Platform: PC
  • Show system requirements
  • Gamepad support: Yes  
  • Reviewed on:
Guild of Darksteel artwork

Yet another bandit steps in front of my character, issuing a challenge. I block as soon as possible, taking two hits to my sword, and then tag my opponent on the shield. I then launch one combo, which takes down about half his health, before once again blocking. This time I misjudge and only stop his second strike, which means about 5% of my own health is gone.

I launch two quick strikes, repeat the blocking process once again and finally slay the enemy. I need to be more careful with the timing of my blocks and, probably, more conservative with my attacks. I have another two just like him to deal with on the screen I currently am on and probably another five of six before the end of my current quest.

Guild of Darksteel is developed by Igor Sandman and published by Digerati. I played the title on the PC using Steam but it is also offered on the PlayStation 4 from Sony and the Nintendo Switch. This is an action title with very classic exploration and personal combat built around a simple rhythm game.

The premise of the narrative is that the player character, clad in the impossible to take off Darksteel armor, needs to find a purpose. He cannot die but he can feel pain and he seems less than happy with his situation. In the city of Ravenrock, where gold rules lives, he discovers a dark plot and interacts with a diverse cast of characters. The writing is mostly passable but filled with classic role-playing and adventure cliches, subverted by some dark humor I liked.

Guild of Darksteel
Guild of Darksteel
Guild of Darksteel
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Once the player gets a quest he will need to explore dungeons and deal with enemies. This is not an action platformer. Exploration seems to be based on the first iteration of Price of Persia, up to the animation used when the character grabs a ledge and pulls himself up. I like the classic approach and the fact that there are clearly marked exits for all screens.

The main twist of Guild of Darksteel is the combat. When the immortal armor wearer gets close to an opponent the screen shakes and they get locked into a rhythm mini-game. Blocking is arguable the most important element in this phase. Gamers need to keep in mind that their character will act with a short delay.

Once gamers have understood the way their enemy acts and when he strikes they can use single strikes or combos to attack them. They might block a strike or two but they never react as well as a human does. The combat system also features experience gain, which allows the player to upgrade the combos best suited to his playstyle.

The rhythm concept is a good fit for the overall concept of Guild of Darksteel. The problem is that there is little variety to the encounters. Learn to block the strikes of one enemy and you never need to understand anything else to take that type down. It feels cool to execute a complex strike that takes down a ruffian in ten seconds, including the two attack blocks at the start of the encounter. But the same enemy can be dispatched by simply blocking and then spamming the core attack a few times more.

The game also suffers from quite a bit of backtracking, which also involves respawning enemies. Statues act as save points but they don’t feel adequate given the game structure and the presence of falls that can kill faster than an enemy can.

Guild of Darksteel uses a retro look with pixel-based graphics, which a lot of indie action titles gravitate to. Unfortunately, the quality is not always high and the levels are mostly bland. Characters are more interesting, especially when it comes to the combat animations, but there’s limited variation and I quickly became disenchanted with the universe.

Guild of Darksteel
Guild of Darksteel
Guild of Darksteel
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The Good

  • Retro approach
  • Rhythm concept
  • Some good writing

The Bad

  • Lack of depth
  • Relatively short story
  • Pixel-based look

Conclusion

Guild of Darksteel is impressive because it is a game created by one man but the game does not have any staying power and its mechanics are not fully developed, presumably because everything is the creation of one man. The rhythm-based combat is a nice surprise at first, with plenty of potential, but it becomes just strings of button presses because there’s nothing in the game to add depth to it. The world has detail but the narrative itself is never engaging enough to make it worth moving through yet another set of battles.

The developer clearly is a fan of some classic experiences and knows how to take their spirit and bring it to the present. The challenge is to update the core mechanics interestingly and choose the right concepts for the world he is building. Guild of Darksteel is ultimately a shallow experience that does not offer much more than its demo but I am curious what Sandman can create in the future.

story 7
gameplay 6
concept 7
graphics 6
audio 6
multiplayer 0
final rating 6
Editor's review
fair
 
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Guild of Darksteel screenshots (21 Images)

Guild of Darksteel artwork
Guild of DarksteelGuild of DarksteelGuild of DarksteelGuild of Darksteel
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