I’m a serious journalist, and you know this is true because 1. I told you and 2. as preparation for this article I not only played the game in question, Sworn, but I also watched a really bad movie and fell asleep to a podcast (twice).
This deeply serious research was to refresh my knackered old brain about the mythology surrounding Arthur. History and folklore is a lifelong interest of mine, but it has been a while since I was immersed in the subject, and I do love a bit of ye olde mythology.
An ancient story retold
Fair play to developer Windwalk Games; the studio has remixed the well-worn Arthurian legend to make it feel like their own take. This is a story that has been retold across the generations, so I’m glad the devs decided to rip up the parchment of old and do something new with it.
In this story, rather than uniting a fractured kingdom under his banner from his base at Camelot, Arthur is the big bad, and his knights are the mini-bosses that you must overcome on your way to reclaiming Camelot. It’s a fun idea, and in this universe you respawn in a hubworld based on Carmarthen Castle. From there you’ll meet a constant stream of characters drawn from Arthurian mythology.
Sworn goes further than that, however, with other powerful characters drawn from wider British folklore. It’s a natural approach to take when filling up your stages with NPCs, and I think it’s fair to say that Windwalk are trying to do for Arthurian legend what Hades did for the cthonic gods of Ancient Greece. And you know what, for the most part, they truly succeed.
Getting in on the action
This one is pure action-roguelite, and so after each death, your progress is monitored back at base where you have the option to change class, adjust your loadout, and do a bit of levelling up. There are four playable classes, which are ostensibly fighter, mage, archer, and melee monk man, and each one of these classes can be tweaked with different main weapons and spells.
Once you leave the confines of home you’re into a series of encounters that escalate in challenge, as you try and undo Arthur’s blight by defeating his minions.
Stages are small and compact, and filled with traps. As you advance through the game, you are going to have to defeat larger waves of increasingly deadly enemies. It’s very similar to Hades in this respect, and it’s also quite similar in the way that you choose your path through the world according to how you prioritise. Clear the room, grab your prize, and then pick your path forward.
Generally speaking/writing, I found the combat to be good across the board, and I’ve spent time with all four of the main playable classes. There’s decent variety here, and you can make each one of the classes feel distinct with careful choices as you level up. Regardless of how you specialise, however, you’ll still need to duck and move, swipe and side-step, and avoid trouble as much as possible, which is easier said than done.
Controlled combat
Sworn’s more challenging enemies are at least kind enough to telegraph their attacks, which makes everything more approachable. Even the bosses will show their hand, letting you to stay one step ahead if you pay attention to their patterns.
Once you’ve dodged trouble, it’s time to go on the offensive, and to this end you have a selection of attacks mapped to the controller. These attacks – light, heavy, and a spell – can be upgraded with blessings gifted by the pagan gods, and these include fire, ice, and damage modifiers.
If you’ve played Hades then you’ll know the score, but if you haven’t, the short version is: you pick a special new ability to overlay one of your attacks, such as poison damage for your heavy attack, or deadly ice flakes that drop when you dash. Then, once you’ve built up a full array of special attacks, it’s a case of tweaking and improving your build.
If you’ve got a friend with you, Sworn’s co-op mode lets you bring an even greater selection of powers to bear. The challenge seems to scale with more players and I had a great time playing online, although I only sampled two-player co-op. To its credit, the game supports up to four players, and the chance to play an action-RPG like this with a couple of friends is undoubtedly one of its key selling points.
Pulling the sword from the stone
After several hours with the Early Access version of Sworn, I’m convinced that there is something special brewing in Camelot. I can’t claim to have beat the game, but I’ve played enough to get a good measure of what’s here; it looks great, it feels good, it has all of the important core elements locked down.
Yet, despite those positive elements, there is still room for Sworn to grow and improve. Not least because of a few bugs that need stamping out before the game is finished.
I look forward to seeing where the rest of this Early Access journey takes us, and the future looks bright. However, I still hope that Windwalk can take a couple more risks, because I think for all of its polish and poise, Sworn sometimes plays it too safe. I don’t want to sound like I’m ending on a negative, though, because I like this game, especially when playing with a friend, which is when this action-RPG really comes into its own.
Sworn is out now in Early Access on Steam PC (Win), and I played the game via code kindly provided by publisher Team 17!
