ELDERBORN is a Metal Action Fantasy Slasher with brütal FPP melee combat and souls-like/RPG character progression. In the times of legend, the barbarian tribes need a new dark messiah. The player becomes a merciless slayer who will uncover ancient secrets in the city of doom, and forge their...
ELDERBORN is a Metal Action Fantasy Slasher with brütal FPP melee combat and souls-like/RPG character progression. In the times of legend, the barbarian tribes need a new dark messiah. The player becomes a merciless slayer who will uncover ancient secrets in the city of doom, and forge their own destiny. This ambitious indie game, five years in the making, combines old-school single-player feel, a classic heroic story, and modern level of skill-based challenge. All this and more creates an action-packed, engaging adventure that will last 8-10 hours in a single play-through. Prepare for:
Skill-based, souls-like melee combat in first person perspective, complete with 11 varied weapons to master
Character progression and skill system that allows you to play the game in your very own way
A hand-crafted, mysterious, and dangerous world to explore - catacombs, ancient, monolithic city, and more
A large selection of enemies, each with their own fighting style, tricks, strengths, and weaknesses
An epic and somewhat exotic original heavy metal soundtrack with an occasional electronic beat
An unapologetic tribute to Robert E. Howard-esque heroic fantasy and the awesome pop-culture of the 80's and 90's
This game is perfect to get that adrenaline pumping, I was skeptical because there are no ranged weapons or magic spells, not even shields, but this barbarian don't need that kind of coward tools, only pure and brutal melee, face enemies that hit like trucks, outmaneuver them and parry like your like depends on it (it does), but more importantly, become the ultimate kicking machine
The combat is fluid, the graphics are nice (although the zones are not as varied), and the music gets you in the mood for some monster slaughter, I like how the ending sets up the stage for a far more crazy adventure, I really hope they can do a sequel because this is the spiritual successor to Dark Messiah every fan has been waiting for
Stop reading and start playing, and have fun trying to complete all those insane achievements
This is such an awesome game. The music and gameplay are just simply top notch, its basically melee fps Doom. I have enjoyed a lot of first person FPS games and this is by far the best single player version of this genre. I would highly suggest this to anyone who like Vermintide, Chivlary, Mordhau, Dark Souls or Doom. Slay on brothers!
After my 1. playtrough, i must say if you become familiar with the fighting, it becomes quite fluid and fun. Buit the downside is, the leveldesign is in my opinion from hell. A few stages are okay to nice, but i think the major levels in this game are just not very much thought through, i'm sorry. Especially the last few levels disappointed me and i became really frustrated, when in a few of them i (quite a few times) got stuck inside enemies and died faster than i could look.
But i'd still give it a 4 out of 5 just because there are quite a few weapons and it is really f***ing satisfying to smash your opponents with each one of those. I would really look forward to a dlc with nicer levels, the game itself feels a little bit to short. Oh and it can become pretty fucking hard, but thats one more reason to love it. (played it on difficulty: Elderborn)
Elderborn is pretty darn sweet, especially for what it is. First-person melee games usually kinda suck, but this one nails its gameplay with style and simplicity: all you do is flailing your weapon at enemies while doing your best to dodge and parry their attacks, which is actually very satisfying due to good attack feels and some smart mechanics. Enemies can easily deplete your health in a few seconds even in the more forgiving difficulty modes, so you’ll need to get familiar with their behavior and attack pattern: while challenging, Elderborn does not get unfair or frustrating, as there’s always a way to bring down your foes without taking too much damage yourself. Managing to place a perfect parry/counter attack never gets old!
Elderborn is thus a satisfying romp which do most things right: the level design is fine, and the weapons all find a role to fill. However, the fact that it’s made by a smaller team is a bit too obvious in a few regards: it’s quite repetitive, I was unimpressed by the music, sound effects and gore, and unless you die a lot or look for every single secret, a playthrough is much shorter than advertised and lasts only 4 to 5 hours. This is not much of an issue anyway, as the game ends before running out of steam and has some replayability due to its New Game + mode and customizable stats.
The game is also neither particularly pretty-looking nor plot-driven, but the environments and enemy designs are still cool to look at, and it has a bunch of detailed lore you can read about if that’s your thing. Plus, it’s hard to say no to its aesthetic, which is a mix of barbaric fantasy, middle-eastern architecture, and mysterious glowy tech.
In the end, having never played a “soulsborne” game I can’t speak for Elderborn’s target demographic, but I personally enjoyed it. It’s very well-priced so I see no reason not to recommend it, especially if you like badass action games about burly barbarians slaying their ways through armies of monsters.
The best melee combat in a game to this day and lo and behold its in a 10 Euro game made by a tiny indie studio.
The game is outstanding for what it wants to be. Its somewhat short but you probably expected that already considering the price.
If you struggle with the first hard section i urge you to push through (you know the one) then go down and grab the spear. The sword is a poor weapon overall and doesnt do the excellent combat justice.
Minor gripes:
The sword and greatsword are terrible and should never be used. Stopping enemy aggression is way too important and the only way to do that is to parry or to hammerstun them.
The game is a bit too gear dependent and since the later areas are more open its easy to miss crucial weapon upgrades.
No borderless window, turning on vsync kills my framerate.
