Guns of Eschaton Preview: A Methodical Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

It’s high noon, well, I actually played Guns of Eschaton early Wednesday morning, and it was one of the games I left thinking about the most when Gamescom week was all said and done.

Guns of Eschaton was one of my most looked-forward-to hands-on opportunities, as a lover of Soulslikes, and even now I’m sitting here pondering my playtime and still not sure what to think.

Methodical and Deliberate

The demo started with an introduction to the world, what to expect, some lore, and a tutorial on the game’s main mechanics. Initial combat boils down to your trusty revolver, which can hold six bullets, and you can’t fan the hammer and get all six shots away in the blink of an eye. Reloading takes what feels like an eternity, especially in the heat of combat, and therein lies some of my grumbles with Guns of Eschaton.

I’m ok with a game that demands patience. It’s just that Guns of Eschaton’s pace is almost glacial at times. I completely understand this is a deliberate design choice to make every action feel weighty and critical; the downside is that the painfully slow reloading is borderline monotonous and was aggravating me almost immediately. If every battle was a strategic one-on-one, then fair enough, but only a few minutes into the demo, I was encountering multiple enemies at once, including some fast-moving foes and enemies sniping me halfway across the area.

There’s a classic Soulslike parrying mechanic, which is a great barrier. It’s also a necessity for long-range enemies, and the window is generous enough; you just need to pay attention to your surroundings—which are glorious, by the way. This is the wildest of wild wests, with supernatural-looking skylines and an apocalyptic and dystopian feeling, but it’s hard to enjoy when you’re being shot at from all angles.

Riflemen are introduced immediately, and they can be hard to spot at first glance. With your pistol’s range only going so far, it means the impetus is on you to close down the distance and take them out with a single shot. Not all enemies behave this way, and this is where I hope your reading and comprehension are up to scratch.

Quick on the Draw

If there’s one area I’ll give Guns of Eschaton massive credit, it’s innovation. The combat, which is going to be unbelievably divisive, is different from anything I’ve played, even Valor Mortis‘ (another first-person Souls-like) more physical combat and action-focused gameplay. Your Cherokee Codex is a handy book that you can bring up, and it will prompt you with the enemy you’re looking at, showing its weak points, in the middle of live gameplay.

Sure, you can shoot and attack the enemy as normal, but the damage vastly increases if you hit your opponent in exact spots in a particular order and capitalize on parry windows. Again, this is innovative and commendable, but it’s something else that drags the pace down even further. There are a few fair enemy types in my demo, which had me perusing my notes more than Indiana Jones on his latest crusade.

Your memory will be tested for sure, and the sooner you can adapt and remember the sequences and critical hit points, the better time you’re going to have. Guns of Eschaton is already hard by any metric: Limited health, you can only take a few hits, and other Souls tropes. But the first hour or two with it are going to be as challenging as any you’ll play, but this might be a good thing, because it is so different.

The gameplay really could depend on what you’re hoping to get out of the game. If you prefer faster-paced games or swift Soulslikes, then this isn’t for you. I like both, and while I wasn’t immediately sold by Guns of Eschaton’s new ideas and radical gameplay, I won’t lie…I want to play more. It’s a unique challenge, and perhaps I didn’t respect it enough.

We want more variety in our games, and Guns of Eschaton is one. The setting and style are more than enough of a sell, and I’m ready to sling my guns once more.

Did you play Guns of Eschaton at Gamescom? Let us know on the Insider Gaming Discord server.

For more, read ‘Double Fine Will Develop ‘Brütal Legend 2’ if it Hits $100M Kickstarter Stretch Goal,’ and don’t forget to sign up for our weekly newsletter.