Recent advancements in commercial game creation engines and asset-sharing markets have led to a revolutionary breakthrough in indie game design. Practically anyone with a vision, the drive to make a game, and plenty of patience can now create their own high-quality indie title. That being said, doing so remains an impressive, daunting, and challenging feat—even for the largest studios. As an aspiring game designer myself, I feel inspired and awed by the incredible indie games created by solo developers. Voin, even in its Early Access state, is one such remarkable title.
Voin is a brand-new action roguelike made by solo developer Nikita Sozidar and published by tinyBuild. Comparisons between Voin and titles like DOOM, ULTRAKILL, and Elden Ring can be drawn. While these comparisons help illustrate what the game offers, I must stress that Voin stands out as an incredibly unique experience.
In Voin, you play as an all-powerful entity sent to purge the land of plague and corruption. Murder is your purpose, and slaughter is your power; as you grow stronger, the more of the twisted hordes you cut down during your obscure mission.
The gameplay in Voin is straightforward: from your hub world, you jump into one of the available maps and begin slaughtering your way through the open-world level design. Enemies drop viscera, which you use to directly upgrade your character. This can be done either by reaching the end of a level and unlocking the next area or by retreating to the hub prematurely. Occasionally, enemies also drop new weapons or artifacts, each with a default effect and randomized bonuses. Even after finding your favorite loadout, there’s always the chance to discover better versions of your gear. Dying in a level drops your upgrade currency and non-protected gear at the spot where you fell, forcing you to return and recover them in your next life.
It’s a fairly standard roguelike structure, but instead of procedurally generated levels, Voin features static maps. These remain the same with every return, enabling extended exploration across multiple lives.
Combat in Voin is fast-paced, mechanically simple, and thrillingly brutal. Using a variety of weapons and powers, you hack and slash through hordes of enemies, most of which are quick to kill. This design allows you to experiment with the various effects in your build for exciting crowd control—or, more accurately, dismemberment. The game also features an intuitive dodge mechanic, where enemies flash yellow just before attacking, giving you the opportunity to avoid all incoming damage if your reflexes are sharp enough.
Your character in Voin is on the frail side, capable of taking only four hits before dying. However, the game compensates for this with a combat-based healing system and generous movement mechanics. As you lose health, you can recover it by landing hits on enemies, with each hit restoring a chunk of your HP. The movement system allows for quick dashes during combat without a stamina bar, featuring fairly generous cooldowns. There’s also an out-of-combat mode for traversing large distances or leaping great heights. The fast, powerful, yet vulnerable gameplay feels reminiscent of ULTRAKILL, and fans of that title will likely find Voin appealing.
When you’re not aggressively killing everything in your path, you’ll be admiring the absolutely stunning views within Voin’s level designs. While some areas feel awkwardly constructed, most environments are filled with fascinating fantasy landscapes and incredible views. The massive gray-grain plains, looming mountains, and horizon-dominating castles and cathedrals immediately evoke comparisons to Elden Ring and Dark Souls. It’s clear that these franchises inspired Voin’s dark fantasy aesthetic.
Even in its current Early Access state, Voin already offers plenty to enjoy. While I felt I mastered the combat and crafted a strong build within the first two hours, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The developer’s roadmap promises to expand on the already enjoyable experience, adding much more before the game’s full release.
That being said, potential buyers should keep in mind that Voin currently lacks content and contains bugs typical of any early-access title. While there’s a lot of fun to be had in the game’s current state, it’s not yet a finished product. Additionally, the game will likely evolve significantly throughout development, so don’t expect a fully polished experience during Early Access.
In hopes that the developer is reading this review, I’d like to suggest one quality-of-life improvement. When leveling up, you must jump through a portal to trade your resources for the next level. However, even if you have enough resources to level up multiple times, you’ll only spend the amount needed for a single level, requiring multiple trips. This becomes especially annoying in the early game when, after my first successful run (with the enemy amount slider turned all the way up, of course), I had enough resources to go from level 2 to 5. Allowing the portal to spend all your resources at once—or at least adding an option to do so—would be a welcome improvement. If it is already, disregard this; I might have missed it.
Pros:
- An excellent hack-and-slash roguelike with great movement mechanics
- A variety of unique weapons and artifacts for creating fun, powerful builds
- Incredible level designs with great views and an engaging dark fantasy setting
Cons:
- The Early Access version leaves you wanting more of the full-release
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