Dispensing Lead-Based Justice in Limbo
Imagine, if you will, that you are dead. Bear with me here, there is a point, I promise! So, after a life spent doing whatever it is you do, you wind up in Limbo, and then Death offers you a job. This is the premise of Soulslinger: Envoy of Death from Headup and Elder Games. In a Western themed afterlife (why not, after all?) we are tasked with carrying out Death’s will, bringing justice to Limbo and dispensing lead based justice.
But is this a worthy entry in the roguelite FPS genre (a small, but growing niche), or are we better off hoping that the grave is nice and quiet? Let’s grab a gun and find out.
Trading Souls with the Cartel
The story of Soulslinger: Envoy of Death Review is quite important to the whole procedure, as the game is billed as a “a fast poached story driven roguelite FPS”. We find ourselves recruited by Death to bring an end to an evil Cartel in the afterlife. However, instead of trading in drugs, they trade in souls, and Death obviously would rather they didn’t. Can we bring an end to them, and free ourselves from Death’s service? Who are the various NPC’s we meet, and what do they have to do with the story? All will be revealed during a playthrough.
High Noon in the Afterlife
Soulslinger: Envoy of Death Review is presented really well. The game is viewed through the Envoy’s eyes, and all we can see is whatever weapon we are currently wielding. The world of Soulslinger: Envoy of Death is pretty well realised, with a variety of arenas joined end on end: from Western style towns to rocky canyons, everything here looks like it straight out of a John Wayne film (ask your parents, kids!). The arenas are quite tight too, forcing us into conflict with the waves of enemies pretty much constantly, and those foes themselves are an interesting bunch; ranging from skeletons to knights in suits of armour, all of life (or undeath) is here. And we are tasked with shooting it all. The camera is up to the task as well, moving with a fluidity that is very nice to see, and whilst the enemies move quickly, their animation looks good.
The audio found in game is also pretty good, with each different weapon having its own sound and the gunfights being suitably loud and bombastic. The voice acting is of a high standard as well, mostly found in the hub between runs – a place called Haven. There is a cast of characters to meet and interact with, including Death, and chatting is a good way to advance the story. All in all, the game looks, and sounds very nice.
Soul Essence, Blueprints, and Skill Trees
The gameplay is also pretty good, to be honest, and while it doesn’t blaze any new trails in terms of mechanics, what it does do it does well. The shooting action is fun, and the action is fast and furious, with enemies coming at you almost non stop.
As you may expect, the basic premise is very simple. Each run starts with a single weapon, and we pick up a second in the first area. After this, we can choose where to go, with each different arena providing various different things to collect, such as Soul Essence and even Blueprints that allow us to craft new items in the hub. Hanging onto these things is useful, as it allows the opportunity to make ourselves stronger between runs. There is a skill tree to unlock nodes on, giving us extra health or new abilities, as an example. These upgrades can make the difference between success and failure, and so the more runs you do, the better you get, and the easier the subsequent runs become. That’s the theory, anyway…
The Art of the Active Reload
As we go through the levels, there are set encounters to overcome. Every few areas there is a kind of mini boss, and then at the end of each run, a bigger boss to take down. These guys are proper bullet sponges, and keeping them at bay, while attacking and scoring hits is the name of the game. To make this a bit easier, there is an active reload mechanism, just like in Gears of War; hit the reload button (X in the standard control layout) and a bar starts filling up, before you are left to press X again when the bar is in the reload zone. Doing so will reload the gun almost immediately, but I have to be honest, trying to do this in the middle of a firefight is a bit tricky. With practice it becomes second nature, and the timing is slightly different for each weapon, so the more you practice, the better.
A Fast-Paced Ride into the Great Beyond
Of course, each weapon can be upgraded in the hub, and there are also various powerups to be collected in the runs; from fire bullets to phantom gunslingers who shoot at enemies for you, the choice of powerups you take can make a difference. The challenge in the levels is real, and you do need to be on your game: even weak enemies can ruin your whole day should they sneak up behind you. So head on a swivel, Envoy!
As a game, Soulslinger: Envoy of Death works very well, with some fast paced, pretty great shooting action on offer. The story helps with immersion, but the main element is that of the roguelite structure, and how that adds to the longevity. Making Envoy stronger for each run is absolutely central to the gameplay, and as the difficulty rises, the challenge gets harder, as it should.
If you like Westerns, this is an easy sell, but the action should be enough to provide an excuse to play it.
Important Links
Soulslinger: Envoy of Death Fires Onto Console – A Supernatural Wild West Roguelike Shooter – https://www.thexboxhub.com/soulslinger-envoy-of-death-fires-onto-console-a-supernatural-wild-west-roguelike-shooter/
Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/soulslinger-envoy-of-death/9pbwmrztgjqn
