I’ve been playing Soulslinger: Envoy of Death with a view to preparing a big fat preview for your reading pleasure, Dear Reader. However, just as I was about to write up my impressions earlier today, I discovered an update from Elder Games explaining how the first round of feedback had levelled up their plans.
That being so, and in the interests of penning a feature that will be actually useful, I’m going to wait until the first major update has landed before putting together my hands-on preview. I think you’ll understand my decision once you’ve got to the end of the following:
Soulslinger’s Early Access Roadmap Expanded
A major enhancement is already on the cards, you see, with the devs planning for the Gunplay 2.0 update to land this January. We’re promised “vastly improved gunplay and impact” and better enemy behaviours. We’re also getting a new arena added to the Land of Memories.
In March 2024, another update is planned, this one is going to include a new essence, a new story-connected buff, another new arena, and building extensions in Haven, the game’s hubworld. After that we’re getting another update with a new realm in April.
In June things are getting saucy, with the first half of a new realm being added: Outskirts. This will mean six to seven new arenas, another new essence for players to experiment with, plus five plus new enemies and a new boss.
Assuming the above all comes to pass as planned, in July we’re getting a dual skills system added to the game. I’m not sure exactly how that’ll work but I am intrigued.
The penultimate update, which is pencilled in for September 2024, will see the addition of the second half of the new realm. That means half a dozen-ish new arenas, a new weapon, another five plus enemies, and a new boss for the final realm. On top of that, we’re told that Survival Room challenges are also being introduced.
Update #7 is said to be the full release, but details on that front are suitably scarce. I reckon there’s at least a year’s worth of development here if the Soulslinger is going to get anywhere near its full potential, so who knows how long we’ll have to wait. I’m a patient man, however.
What is Soulslinger: Envoy of Death?
This first-person shooter has you, an eponymous Envoy for the Grim Reaper himself, heading into a land between life and death to fight an evil cartel and save the souls of random folk from being destroyed on their way to a peaceful afterlife. It’s serious work!
Of course, you’ll be dying repeatedly, and going again and again at the campaign, so along the way you can experiment with different builds. There are different so-called essences that represent attack types. Currently there are electricity, poison, and fire-based attacks, off the top of my head, and you can mix and match them as you go.
You’re not just presented with short-term rewards, Soulslinger is a roguelite and gives you chances to improve things for future runs. You’ve got to balance these needs with your immediate challenges, which are lethal and many.
Soulslinger has you shooting at various undead types, and they run at you from all angles. As the roadmap above explains, the current enemy behaviours are a bit daft and need improving. Similarly, your shots aren’t as impactful as they might be, another obvious focus of the upcoming Gunplay 2.0 update in January.
I’m going to wait until I’ve played the game post-update before I commit anymore words to the page. I think Soulslinger is a game with plenty of potential, but it also has a long way to go. I’ll see you on the next leg of the journey then.
