Uniting genres can make for some seriously satisfying video games. So when I saw a snippet of gameplay for Soulslinger: Envoy of Death, I was hooked on the premise of DOOM-style arena FPS with a Rogue-lite progression system and a Western setting. To face a serious challenge and have the replay value needed to start yet another run would merely be a formality if it meant more cowboy run-and-gunning as my character got stronger every subsequent try. With this title entering Early Access for a projected window of a year, is it worth picking up Soulslinger: Envoy of Death before then?

Adhering to the tried-and-true Rogue-lite formula, Soulslinger: Envoy of Death sees you take on undead forces with only a pistol/shotgun in tow. You can pick up active skills such as explosive bullets or lightning shots, as well as passives like reduced damage while dashing or more damage with consecutive hits. Persistent upgrades kick in after you’ve fallen, as in your hub you can purchase upgrades with the array of collectibles you’ve collected in previous runs. I love that you can see what kind of upgrades will be in the following rooms so you can prepare accordingly on your path to end The Cartel.

The Western setting is really cool within Soulslinger: Envoy of Death, but you’ll soon tire of seeing the same ten or so level layouts after the first hour of gameplay. With how difficult the game is, you’ll be exposed to these for hours to come. The difficulty really could serve to be tweaked in the first few patches, as I can accept taking damage for my mistakes, but it’s a struggle when some enemies go down in one shot, whereas others take multiple clips before they’re dispatched. Your skills and passives can only help so much when the bullet sponginess turns into artificial difficulty.

As I felt the fruits of my labor in Soulslinger: Envoy of Death‘s progression, I did find future runs to be a bit easier. However, when I got my most anticipated upgrade, the double-barrel shotgun, I was massively underwhelmed by its perplexing bullet spread.

Sometimes I’ll have an enemy right in the middle of the on-screen crosshair, but not a single pellet will hit them. Other times, I’ll be far away and it’ll feel like half the pellets eat a huge chunk of a high-health enemy. If there’s one thing Elder Games needs to fix, it’s the shotgun spread – it’s what separates a DOOM 3 shotgun from a DOOM 2016 shotgun.

All in all, Soulslinger: Envoy of Death‘s foundation is strong and I did have a good time with the game. There are bound to be pain points in a game that is just entering Early Access, and it looks like the team is devoted to paying attention to the community as they’ve actively been commenting on early negative reviews on Steam. This is a title I’ll be keeping a close eye on as I adore its premise and know that after a few patches, it’ll be even better.

A PC review copy of Soulsslinger: Envoy of Death was provided by Headup Publishing for the purposes of this review.

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Soulslinger: Envoy of Death

$19.99

7

Score

7.0/10

Pros

• Satisfying Progression
• Nice Cinematics/Graphics
• Lots of Potential

Cons

• Bullet Sponge Enemies
• Awful Shotgun Spread
• Same Levels Over and Over