Planed Release: To be announced
Devolved by: Moth Atlas
Produced by: Midwest Games
Available on:
Steam

This review is based on the demo that you can find HERE.

Let’s take a look at the game

Tombwater Is a top-down hardcore action or souls like game.  You have a good selection of starting classes to choose from each with their own starting equipment and stats. The game takes place in a fictional western world.  With demons and magic.

With this game being a souls like it is designed to be hard and infuriating. You will have limited healing and when you rest at a campfire all enemies you have beaten will respawn. When you die, you will have to go back. Break your tombstone to get your money back. The demo did not have a way to level yourself up. So, the only currency was money. On full release I imagine there will be a leveling currency, but I don’t know for sure.

The world is great. The level you get to explore in the demo feels good. With multiple paths that connect back to the campfire makes this feel like a good souls like game. You will also find yourself going back to areas you have been before once you unlock a new path. This makes the level feel connected. It’s not just a straight path you go down. The devs did a great job on level design.

Combat is interesting. You have a gun and melee weapons. You can have 3 guns, and 3 weapons equipped, which you can switch between.  You have a limited number of bullets, and some guns take more than 1 bullet to fire.  You get bullets back from melee attacks.

The guns are cool you can use a pistil that will only use one bullet each time you fire. Then there is the shotgun that uses 2 bullets with each fire. Some guns have an element to them like an electric gun. The melee weapons got some verity as well you can use a short-range melee like a dagger. Or you can use a whip that does more damage if you hit the enemy with the tip. These are just some of the weapons.

You also have a dash that is really handy.  As well as items like grenades you can have 3 different items equipped at a time.

Then there is the magic you get.  Each spell you cast will increase your sanity meter.  When the meter fills, you will take more damage from attacks. You won’t be able to use spells until the effect ends. Some of the spells are a single shot magic bullet. To a spell that creates multiple clones that fire a gun.

Graphics are really cool I like the retro look this game has.  The character models are really well done and the one boss in the demo looked great.

But the controls are not great.  It took me a bit to figure out why I did not like the controls.  It turned out to be that you only can melee in 4 directions.  This does not feel good.  You can shot in any direction it’s like a twin stick shooter for shooting.  Not being able to melee in any direction will mess with your attacks. You think you’re going to attack one way, but you end up attacking in a different direction.  It’s definitely something you need to feel by playing.

Should You Play?

I really want to say yes, this game is a real cool take on the souls like games. But the controls feel really bad and is hard to get passed it. It’s one thing to have a difficult game because of the enemy and bosses. But having the game be hard based on the controls is a real let down. For this reason, I will say this game is a pass for me.

It’s a shame I feel this way. The world is great. I was excited to have a souls-like take place in a western setting. The level design was amazing. Even with the game being top down, I was surprised on how well a souls-like works in this perspective. I really hope the devs make the controls better letting the player melee in all directions. If this happens I do feel this will be a game people remember as a great souls like.

I uploaded a video of the demo on my YouTube channel. You can watch it here.