The mid-1990s were a great time for first-person shooter fans with Hexen: Beyond Heretic (1995), Quake (1996), and Duke Nukem 3D (1996), among others. Since then, it’s been mostly revival attempts by way of inspiration, as far as those particular franchises go, Dusk and Wrath: Aeon of Ruin continuing the legacy of Quake while Ion Fury is not entirely unlike Duke Nukem 3D, and now GRAVEN seems determined to take on the original Hexen (or more likely, its 1997 sequel).
With that in mind, it’s time to… earn your peace. How? Uh, by kicking you-know-what and taking names, obviously, in this rather old-school medieval fantasy setting where might and magic are absolutely vital components in the cocktail that’ll ensure the safety of its protagonist. With grizzly ghouls from every tomb closing in to seal your doom, you’d better hope there’s ammunition left in that crossbow or that your mana hasn’t all been spent, for how else are you going to manage? Sure, the classic boot-to-face might provide you with a brief moment of respite, but that is likely all it’ll do too, far more prominent in the removal of inanimate objects and, you know, opening doors.
Walk the parallel path, lest you stumble into the recesses of the world, where the fog knows no light, and creatures beyond time roam free.
Puzzles? Oh right, plenty of those too. I think. Maybe? I actually don’t know, given the whole Early Access (until 2022) thing and all, although I suspect there will at least be some to deal with – whenever you’re not busy laying waste to demon, skeleton, and heretic alike, that is – come full release. Ah, you’d also do well to keep the blacksmiths in mind, as upgrading your arsenal is bound to prove beneficial, much like how a trip to the alchemists lets you… “customize your capability”. On the topic of ‘good stuff’: do give the trailer below a view and tell me that’s not a groovy straight-out-of-the-1990s medieval fantasy aesthetic?
One final question: who’s ready to smash a bunch of eldritch perversions?
GRAVEN [Early Access] is available on Steam, GOG.com, and Epic Game Store, carrying a $24.99 price tag.
