Summary
The story isn’t usually the defining feature of a Soulslike. Instead, a Soulslike will often dedicate its resources to ensuring its combat mechanics, level design, and enemy/boss design are of the highest standard possible. Thenarrative in a Soulslikeis often more of a background aspect of the experience, deepening the player’s connection to the world and its characters but not taking focus away from the action.Flintlock: The Siege of Dawnfollows this pattern quite closely.
ThoughFlintlock: The Siege of Dawn’s opening hour lays some pretty heavy exposition on the player right out of the gate, that narrative focus is paired back significantly when players start exploring the world for themselves. But rather than feel like an afterthought,Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn’s story manages to stay an exciting part of the experience thanks to it borrowing a compelling component ofGod of War’s Greek saga.
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn Borrows a Key God of War Narrative Element
A revenge epic, the firstGod of Warhas a simple, but incredibly compelling narrative backbone. After making a pact with the Greek gods, the Spartan warrior Kratos is forced into service by the God of War, Ares. Ares eventually tricks Kratos into murdering his wife and child, and the warrior decides to embark on a quest for vengeance. Though Kratos originally sets out to just kill the gods responsible for his wife and child’s death, his rage soon puts other Greek gods on his path for revenge, and by the time theGod of WarGreek sagareaches its climactic end, most of the Greek Pantheon is dead and buried.
Kratos' epic tale of revenge is the perfect backdrop for an action-focused game likeGod of War. While its hack-and-slash combat is the main draw,God of War’s premise drives the action forward and keeps it engaging throughout, enticing players with the notion that there are more larger-than-life gods to fight just around the corner. These gods are even more satisfying to take down when they’ve been built up over the course of a game, such asAres and Zeus, whose reputation sets them up to be intimidating challenges long before players clash swords with them.
After four mainline entries and a handful of spinoffs, theGod of WarGreek saga’s epic god-hunting premise did start to become a little repetitive, with players having wiped out most of the well-known deities during the original trilogy. But with theNorse saga,God of Warwas able to refresh this core premise, beginning again with a new pantheon of gods and adding new stakes to the story with Atreus.
Flintlock Borrows God of War’s Pantheon Hunt
The opening ofFlintlock: The Siege of Dawndelivers a pretty lengthy monologue filled with exposition, setting up the game’s world before players get control of the action. Essentially, inFlintlock’s world, there’s a large doorway that seals tyrannical gods from the world of the living. InFlintlock’s opening hour, the player-character breaks this seal and opens the doorway, allowing an array of evil gods to take over parts of the world and establish their defenses.
The player’s task is to hunt down these gods, and free humanity from their rule. Much likeGod of War,Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn’s god-hunting story is a nice backdrop for the game’s action, paving the way for some interesting enemy types and some larger-than-life boss fights.
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn
WHERE TO PLAY
From games studio A44, makers of Ashen, comes an explosive Souls-lite, where Gods and guns collide in a battle for the future of humanity.The Door to the Great Below has been opened unleashing the Gods and their armies of the Dead. The lands of Kian are besieged, the city of Dawn is on the brink of destruction. It’s time for the Coalition army to fight back. Embrace vengeance, gunpowder and magic as you embark on an epic journey to defeat the Gods, close the door and retake the world.Kill all gods.Your battle begins now.
