Chumps Preview is a special kind of post where we unofficially preview games in Early Access, Beta, or are otherwise “unfinished.” This kind of preview is meant to be a first impression rather than a definitive review where we provide a rating to determine a game’s value. As such, we fully expect a game covered in a Chumps Preview to have room for improvement, some bugginess/incompleteness, and other features associated with similar games in the category.
A short while ago, the folks at Dotemu (the publisher behind Absolum and MARVEL Cosmic Invasion) invited us to participate in a hands on preview of a Warhammer game deep in development. Developer Old Skull Games is the team behind Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Deathmaster, an upcoming stealth-action-platforming metroidvania (what a combination!) where you play as a sneaky Skaven (ratman) assassin named Vihneek. Vihneek has found himself immersed in a vermin-filled dungeon with multiple bloodthirsty factions fighting for survival.
I started my preview falling into a pile of bloody guts, unsure as to where I came from or why I was plummeting to my supposed demise. Vihneek emerged from the putrid pile, hands bound to a wooden plank. When I finally freed myself from my bindings, I became shockingly agile. Like any ratperson (or rat, for that matter), I could climb walls and walk along ceilings. Movement and traversal were quite fluid, fully hitting the ratperson fantasy that comes to mind. From a metroidvania standpoint, it’s refreshing to get this much fluidity at the start of a game. Heck, even without the metroidvania classic traversals like double jump and/or dashing, Vihneek felt like a midgame character in terms of his satisfying fluidity. The rat fantasy was clearly achieved in the game’s first few minutes.
What made this traversal even more satisfying was the intuitive level design and ease of wall detection. It was correct in detecting when I wanted to sneak along the ceiling or jump from wall to wall. The effortlessness made things satisfying behind all get out. If you played and enjoyed Pepper Grinder, this will feel somewhat familiar in the satisfactory traversal.
The stealth element came into play after a few minutes when Vihneek stumbled upon torches and some unsuspecting rat guards. If I moved too quickly by running, a visible noise marker would alert me to how my movement might be picked up by enemies. If I was detected, they would jump on me and force me back to a checkpoint. After a tense segment where I had to run away from a hulking rat monstrosity, I could then take down enemies from behind with a one-hit kill.
In the two levels I played during my ~two or so hours of playthrough, the world was delightfully open and featured so many levers I could use to take down enemies without breaking stealth. Slaying enemies meant that I could throw their dead bodies to create a distraction. I could draw out enemies onto a collapsible platform to impale them on spikes. I could scare enemies by extinguishing torches and blanketing rooms in darkness. The stealth sequences felt creative without being forced into a single path to proceed. It was absolutely marvelous. The last time I had that freedom to muck around in a stealth sandbox was when I was playing Metal Gear Solid Delta.
I’m curious to see how things shape up for Deathmaster as it continues through its development. I enjoyed the heck out of what I played, even if it was two levels of some stealthy rat silliness.
