Severed Steel Review (PC)

This is my tenth attempt at clearing this level. I have a plan, I have my arm cannon, I have some incredible moves that make me invulnerable. I know how to deal with at least the first five enemies, using a combination of sliding, wall-running, conservation of ammo, and powerful kicks.

The problem is the disconnect between my planning and my ability to execute it. I take down four of the opponents quickly, although not exactly like I envisioned. And then I panic because I don’t have any more ammunition. I should wall-run back to a corpse and pick up another weapon or simply use my cannon. But, instead, I chuck the SMG at an enemy and try to get close enough to punch him and take his gun. Unfortunately, he has a backup close and he shotguns me to death pretty quickly.

Severed Steel is created by Greylock Studios and published by Digerati. I played it on the PC using Steam, but the game is also available on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and S as well as older consoles from Microsoft and Sony. This is a first-person shooter with a focus on speed and acrobatics.

Players will become Steel, a capable action hero with an arm cannon and some impressive moves. There’s almost no story to engage with, apart from a few short cutscenes. There’s little environmental storytelling. Giant blocky letters tell the player what to do inside each level. But the action is good enough that I never cared about the narrative or about Steel’s personality or why all the killing is happening.

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Severed Steel takes the standard first-person shooter formula and turbocharges it. Players need to move fast, decide quickly, and shoot only when needed. They can slide, dive, and wall-run to move faster than enemies. They also need to outthink them. Steel does have a powerful arm cannon (which can do a number on the levels themselves) and it can be used to deal with most enemies. But she also needs to use guns dropped by enemies because the game does not feature any reloading.

Players are only truly safe when performing acrobatics. All enemies are very accurate with their fire (drop the difficulty level down if their capabilities become frustrating) but predictable when it comes to their movement. Take one down, get his weapon, close the distance to another to get another kill, rinse and repeat. It’s exhilarating when it all comes together, with Steel becoming a stylist agent of destruction that rarely touches the floor.

This does not mean the game is easy. The levels are small enough that you can formulate a plan before acting. But it’s easy to forget small things or to panic or become too confident in one’s acrobatic ability. Enemies quickly kill you and the loop starts over. It’s fun to test one’s abilities against capable opponents. While Severed Steel can become frustrating after repeated level failure, a problem easily solved by the ability to lower difficulty at any point.

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I liked the game even as I was repeatedly dying in the first level, mostly because my fingers don’t keep up with my brain and eyes. I started to have a deeper appreciation after I moved the difficulty level to one setting under medium. This allowed me to be a little sloppier when it comes to execution while delivering a little more on the power fantasy side of the shooter genre.

Severed Steel is pretty functional when it comes to presentation. The levels have a futuristic-industrial look that meshes well with the action. Because the focus is on speed and acrobatics there’s not too much detail to take in but keep moving and everything looks pretty good. A little more differentiation between the weapons could have helped. The soundtrack is powerful and all-present, basically pushing the player to move and to do it stylishly. It’s way too high in the mix by default and the tune variety is a little limited, but I found myself humming pieces of it after play sessions.

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The Good

The Bad

Conclusion