We finally have a proper, long-term look at Flintlock: Siege of Dawnof gameplay. At gamescom, developer A44 brought a new version of the game to the press, followed by the release of a new trailer offering a more in-depth look at the gameplay.
As a follow-up to Ashes, the flintlock has always been considered soul-like in some ways. While that’s still true, the game leans more towards God of War, or even Warriors of Wonder, than it originally appeared.
The five-minute-long video starts out simple. Show off meaty axe fighting and how the flintlock pistol fits into the flow. But it soon jumps to the more involved parts of the action. When dying, enemies glow like in modern Doom games, and catching them in that window produces a Ares-like Terminator.
The Flintlock Pistol can also be used to deal standard damage, but it does look cooler as a combo finisher and can finish off staggered enemies. In fact, we’ve even seen it used as an opener rather than a finisher, which can come in handy when closing the distance with distant enemies.
Interestingly, enemies seem to change their tactics mid-fight based on their loadout. For example, it’s definitely a cool thing for an enemy to become more aggressive when they lose their shield, not to mention adding a little more variety.
Enki, your fox companion, plays an important role in the battle. Just like in Modern God of War, he’s mostly used to inflict elemental damage and distract enemies without killing them outright. Enki is also how you travel through certain parts of the world.
The whole thing looks solid, although the focus on scoring and skill rather than Ashen/Souls’ survival is surprising.
We recently spoke with developer A44 about Flintlock Studios’ AAA ambitions and how it differs from Ashen.
Flintlock: Dawn Siege will launch on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S in early 2023. It will also be available on Game Pass at launch.
