Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn Review — Black Powder Zombie Killer

To say that Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn has an interesting setting is an understatement of the century.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn presents a world under siege by the undead, crawling out from a hole in the ground to feast on the life above. That alone isn’t incredibly unique, but Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn presents this undead invasion as a literal war being fought with black powder armies, right down to the muskets, sabers, and Napoleonic/Victorian uniforms.

It’s a kind of gothic black powder fantasy the likes of which I haven’t seen before, and I am SO here for it. It’s hard to express just how supremely cool I found the setting of Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn to be, staring in awe at the realistic yet stylistically fantastical uniforms, the impossibly deep trenches, and the period-accurate zombies. The game’s setting invoked both my nerdy love for uniforms and military history as well as my ever-evolving love for the goth aesthetic and fantasy settings. It’s a rare treat to see a game cleverly and successfully combine multiple aesthetics like that, and I’m all here for it.

The writing wasn’t always the best in Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn; in fact, I felt like it moved a little too fast in places, especially early on. However, it was never so bad that it was offensive or took me out of the experience, and overall, I found myself really liking the characters, especially Nor, our protagonist, who is, suffice to say, an interesting character. I also found myself really enjoying how diverse the cast was and how the game incorporates a litany of cultural styles into its setting, all pushed a bit further to have that cool fantasy edge.

What was probably the biggest, although welcome surprise was Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn’s unique take on familiar gameplay mechanics.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is something like a Soulslite crossed with Devil May Cry. Like any Souls game, you gather a resource by defeating enemies, which is then spent to level up. Dying drops all of your resources, which can then be picked up, etc. I’ve played plenty of these titles, and I’m sure you have as well, so this should all be pretty familiar.

Where the game gets interesting, however, is in the inclusion of a “style meter” or combo reward system. You are given a stacking multiplier for dodging, using special attacks, and otherwise just defeating enemies with style. This multiplayer sits on the left side of the screen and increases until you choose to cash it out, and multiplies the amount of “souls” you receive from defeating enemies. This multiplier is then lost when you take damage.

This is really, REALLY cool, and an undeniably clever way to incorporate the Souls system. The game also gives you plenty of ways to build that multiplier up as well, with gun attacks that interrupt unblockable enemy attacks, movement mechanics like double jumping, air dashing, fall canceling, and special abilities by virtue of your fox god companion. Just… Chef’s kiss. Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn surprised me with the depth of its gameplay and never made a combat encounter feel boring.

That being said, the combat in Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn isn’t exactly what I would call perfect.

Namely, the game seems to have an issue with attack frames. I say this with full acknowledgment that I generally have bad reflexes in these kinds of games, but the enemies in Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn tend to pull off the fastest, most unpredictable attacks, making death feel pretty cheap at times. I’ll often find myself stuck in an area because the group of enemies there attack too quickly or without what I would call a good visual warning beforehand, and then those attacks simply do too much damage. It’s never a string of attacks or a prolonged fight that kills me in Flintlock; it’s always one or two hits that seem to deal with my entire health bar.

That and attacks seem to follow through your dodges way too often. I’ll dodge an enemy’s attack at the last second, only for them to inexplicitly move forward again at the end of their charge or have an instantaneous second attack that hits me during or right after the dodge. It makes anything other than double-dodging (which, to be fair, you can do) feel kind of useless or risky at best.

The biggest issue in the gameplay, however, has to be inconsistencies with the camera lock. The target lock will seemingly at random switch between foes, or worse, lock onto an explosive barrel in the middle of combat with an enemy. This can lead to unexpected hits as your focus and aim is suddenly moved against your will, but in no way is this more frustrating then when an enemy slips behind you — exactly when you’d want the camera to follow and keep track of them — but instead you are now locked onto a new target, such as a barrel, in your line of sight, opening you up to a free hit from behind.

This isn’t to imply that the combat in Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is unapproachable. The game gives you plenty of tools for avoiding damage and getting one over on your enemies. Pistol shots still completely interrupt an attack, bombs are incredibly useful, secondary firearms give you near one-shots on most foes, and the amount of movement you’re given is absolutely insane compared to other Soulslite titles.

It’s just that it feels like some of the more traditional mechanics aren’t executed perfectly. Dodging especially can feel like a hit-or-miss mechanic, especially when compared to the other tools at your disposal. Suffice it to say, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn has something of a unique learning curve, but despite the issues I found in the gameplay, I never felt overly frustrated, and overall, I enjoyed the game.

Try Hard Guides received a PC review code for this game. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles on our Game Reviews page! Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is available on Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation.