Set in an odd Japanese game-show-style land of tomorrow, Hammer of Virtue is something I didn’t know I needed in my life until fairly recently. Developed by Swedish studio, No Pest Productions, the studio’s first 3D outing has you cosplaying as a knight with a big hammer taking on armored dinosaurs, bears, monkeys, and robots in construction sites and Stepford Wives suburbia. That doesn’t sound too exciting, so where is the exciting part? Fully destructible houses that fold like a house of cards in a light breeze.

“Defend humanity from an onslaught of cybernetically enhanced animals by stepping into a protective suit of armor and wielding a powerful hammer,” says the press release from earlier this month, continuing with: “Lay waste with engaging melee combat with timed directional blocks, strikes, and parries to send enemies flying across stages and into destructible environments. Experience emergent chaos by toppling buildings, bowling robotic raptors into one another, and turning trees into makeshift cannonballs.” Releasing August 7th on Steam, I know I am excited about this strange and wonderful idea.

It may not be everyone’s cup of tea and the physics sandbox with a melee focus isn’t going to instantly excite everyone. There are more than 20 levels of the aforementioned Wisteria Lane, the set of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, and more. Fans of split-screen co-op also get 10 maps to play across. I find the word “silly” a bit childish to use regularly but that’s exactly what Hammer of Virtue is and that’s a good thing. In other good news, a PS5 edition is planned to come, though it only has a 2024 release window at the time of writing.

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