Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is a rough but original take on Souls-like ARPGs.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn mixes up the action-RPG formula a little bit, allowing you to control and risk your currency to earn more. Combine that with a flashy, engaging combat system with a thoughtful difficulty adjustment system, and you have a recipe for a good time. Exploration tends to drag down the experience, with many side paths running far too long for what you find in them. Parrying also lacks the kind of refinement necessary to truly make combat shine. Aside from these balancing issues, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is still a solid Soulsborne affair worth checking out.

A smart, sporadically generic but on-the-whole exhilarating mixture of ideas from God Of War and Soulslikes.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn successfully strikes a balance between being a great entry point into the Soulslike genre for those new to the genre, while still largely scratching the itch that genre veterans will be on the lookout for.

With hyper-mobile combat and traversal, and a varied arsenal of 17th-century firepower, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn stands apart from its peers in more ways than one.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is a valiant attempt at a fun and accessible soulslike, but falls short of its many inspirations.

A few years ago, I attended a developer presentation for a promising new Soulslike called Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn. It left me intrigued and impressed. The 18th century-ish setting checked some interesting boxes and the duo-protagonist mechanic looked cool. The magic and guns combo helped the fast-paced combat stand out. Fast forward to the game’s full release, and all I can say is, what happened along the way? Flintlock still has many good ideas at its core, maybe even better than good. But some of the polish and freshness is missing. Don’t stop reading, though. The news isn’t all bad.

A well designed game with satisfying mechanics that is brought down by performance issues and some lack in enemy variety.

Everything together creates a package that at first feels hopeful and intriguing, ending in a chamber full of wet gunpowder. In other words… a dud.

This "Souls-lite" struggles to stand out among FromSoftware's many imitators.

“Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn doesn't quite do enough to make it stand out in a crowded genre.”

By the time we rolled credits, that was the prevailing feeling we were left with. While we found more enjoyment in the latter two thirds of Flintlock than in the initial intro and opening area, we couldn't help but feel let down by Flintlock in almost every way.