Dolmen is a Soulslike whose opening level reflects the dreaded Blighttown

(Image credit: Koch Media)

Portal tomb is a Soulslike. Okay, indifferent enough, the gamy that was recently voted the greatest ever casts a longsighted shadow. Eastern Samoa a fan of FromSoftware's action-RPG series, and the writing style information technology has since inspired, I'm hardly complaining. Throw a sci-fi setting into that mix and I am well and truly in. Portal tomb is a Soulslike whose opening level mimics the daring Dark Souls' Blighttown. Satisfactory, wow, that's a very different sentence. And a very bold move from developer Massive Work Studio.

Because even the specified mention of that wretched poison swamp is enough to turn the stomachs of Dark Souls' most dedicated fans. Its boulder-hurling, acid-spit foes are among the most twisted in Lordran and beyond; its spider lair boss battle is a slog, and its ambiguously constructed catwalks are a nightmare to traverse. To draw from all of this in your opening zone – when players are still getting to grips with movement, fighting, and your halt's systems – shows confidence on the developer's part. To be clear: I'm silence not complaining. In fact, I spirit quite the opposite.

Consummate mimic

Key Information

UnfitDolmen
Developer Massive Work Studio
Newspaper publisher Koch Media
Platforms PC, PS5, Xbox Series X
Release 2022

Delinquent at just about point later this year, in that location is course a find Dolmen will be rejigged in geomorphologic damage do release, but I hope it's not. The press demo I'm playing drops me into The Dump, an appropriately-titled clash zona and starting country that's clearly seen bettor years. Broken fuselage arcs over towering piles of larvae-infested dust, and skeletal, dinosaur-scale fossils double as broad walkways and bridges to high ground – an ominous glimpse at what lies ahead.

In the meantime, I'm told that the argue I'm here at The Dump, an domain situated somewhere on the major planet Revion Peak, is to inquire a ruinous accident involving dimension fissures and a powerful resource called Dolmen crystals. I'm asked to watch for hostile creatures and, in front long, I stumble upon few spider-like, poison-vomiting baddies, World Health Organization are rapidly sent by my cardinal-handed steel. I've adopted a Tanker class, you construe with, which, much like other ARPGs, favours stats so much As strength, survival, and vim, while departure little board for active defense. Buoyed by my early victory, I retain marching onward and activate a beacon light checkpoint at the foundation of the spirit level's main drag. I'll later enjoyment these to teleport to and from my spaceship headquarters, where I'll follow able to customize my character's visual aspect, craft New weapons exploitation foraged materials, and level up using 'Nanites' – the latter of which is earned by slaying enemies in the baseless. Thus far, so Soulslike.

And Dolmen continues to double down on its influences as this level wears on. Those eight-legged, poison-spouters from ahead grow in numbers the deeper I delve into The Dump, often attacking in packs, swarming from all angles. As I climb the precarious ledges of 'The Crater' – The Deck's most central field – fireball-hurling zombie spirit-alikes charge at Maine from both behind and in front. And, after wading deeper into an otherwise uninhabited operations centre, I'm abruptly afraid down by respective sheer terrifying Alien meets Vega from Tough with a splash of Edward Scissorhands-types, who more than keep me on my toes.

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"I'm abruptly hunted down by several downright terrifying Alien meets Vega from Street Fighter with a swas of Edward Scissorhands-types, who more than keep Pine Tree State on my toes."

Like Dark Souls, success here is hinged on timing. Knowing when to move on, when to throw off back, when to bankroll and when to parry is key in Dolmen – distinct rules it lays forth from the offset. Unlike Dark Souls, however, a compounding of swordplay, shieldwork, and a secondary firearm can and should be used to your advantage. In one picky set-to, I aggravated incomparable of the latter twinned blade-wielding terrors with a eruption of fire before engaging it in a arduous affaire d'honneur. After literally chopping lumps out of one another for different minutes, it was the imperishable flames from that first dead reckoning that claimed my foe's final sliver of health. Much to my delight.

Aft that, IT was onto a boss fight – a gigantic, lair-dwelling version of the poisonous spiders, whose moveset mimicked its little 'uns on a much grander and more destructive scale. It even spawned a dozen roughly of the pesky blighters to snap at my feet, a la Bloodborne's octo-legged cousin Rom, The Vacuous Spider, who were best dispatched immediately before backward fire on the big lad.

Upon completion, I was straight off transported to a different, pre-set mid-game save. Hither, I was given my first glimpse of the world outside in Dolmen, which in this instance was a sandswept, hostile robot-ridden surroundings which demanded quick thought process and stealth in equal measure. The sandbox feel of this peculiar zone broadened my ambit for experiment in combat, which was lovely, but, naturally, in the petit mal epilepsy of any form of communicatory Oregon explorational guidance, the transition to this admittedly beautiful part of the game's humankind was a wee bit jarring. Still such is life (and destruction, jeez, so much death) in a pre-set up build.

For fans of the Soulslike genre, 'Dark Souls just in space' is an leisurely deal out – but it must represent done just. Luckily, I'm convinced Cromlech is on the honorable track. It's scarcely reinventing the wheel. But that's not to say I assume't fancy fetching information technology for a birl.

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Joe is a Features Author at GamesRadar+. With over five years of experience operative in specialist print and online journalism, Joe has written for a number of gaming, sport and entertainment publications including PC Gamer, Edge, Wager and FourFourTwo. He is well-versed altogether things Grand larceny Car and spends much of his free time swapping real-creation Glasgow for GTA Online's Los Santos. Joe is also a mental health advocate and has written a book about picture games, mental wellness and their coordination compound intersections. He is a regular expert contributor on both subjects for BBC radio. Many moons ago, he was a fully-qualified plumber which basically makes him Super Mario.