The Indie Informer

I started closer to the end of Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn than it’s start, with warnings that the combat would be far more challenging then previous hands-ons. To circumnavigate this, the team running the limited demo put everyone on an easy difficulty, which I didn’t mind. This being my first time with the game, having only a limited time, and without tutorial, it is difficult to know how everything works well enough to blaze through later game content.

Some people in the makeshift room of Xbox’s weekend headquarters were having a hard time of it, to be fair. But soulslike controls and muscle memory served me well enough. Creepy baddies launched toward me and I chopped them down with my blade no problem. It didn’t hurt that we’d had a few later game skills unlocked that allowed me to sicc my supernatural companion — a fox-like creature with teleportation abilities called Enki — on foes for hefty, long distance damage.

My other option for long-distance attacks were a pair of guns — hence the game’s namesake. These had very limited ammo and took some arranging to shoot. I had to play a mini game of hit the button in the right zone to load while supernatural baddies loomed. Then aiming took a little finesse as well. Planning ahead and using these weapons only on the cusp of battle on an unsuspecting enemy worked best for me. I also had my own personal Flintlock whose limited, magical bullets recharged as I hit enemies. This could be shot at any time with holding right trigger.

I also made good use of consumable bombs and healing flask. The team had loaded up our inventory with three counts of at least three different explosions. So, if I felt overwhelmed at any point, I would run for my life and lob a sweet crowd-flattener. I favored this strategy a little too much, as I ran out before making it halfway through the demo, but it was worth it.

My best weapon turned out to be traversal. Slipping from alley to alley, zipping from rooftop to rooftop, not only felt slick, it kept me shielded from many enemy’s eyes. This is really what set Flintlock apart from other Soulslikes.

Making my way through a big — but now eerily quiet — city, I walked carelessly into a boss arena. I instantly slid down a side street to separate the minions from the main target. This helped make up for my carelessness, but I managed to use up all my ranged ammo on them. So, had none when I stepped out into the open to take on the giant undead foe.

Taking a page from my playbook, the hulking creature zapped onto a nearby roof to pick me off rather than face me blade-to-blade. Luckily, my earlier efforts filled up my ultimate attack. This allowed me to command my mystical partner, and I unleashed Enki in all its deadly force to take care of the boss. The fight was over in minutes.

Stepping beyond the body of my fallen foe, I discovered a way for traversal to become even more agile. I looked out from atop a sheer cliff at a series of floating purple triangles. Interacting with them revealed they acted as portals, shooting me across distances to the next portal in seconds. But no matter how fast I could fling across the map, time was creeping up on me. I didn’t quite make it to the end before time was up, but walked away looking forward to playing more Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn when it launches next month.