Dolmen is set in the distant Sci-Fi future in the world called Revion Prime with 1 mission and 1 mission only, to retrieve samples of the crystal called Dolmen, why is this crystal unique? It has inter-dimensional properties allowing interaction between various realities. Sounds easy enough right?

You might be asking the same question as we did, R219 (Steam) or R719 (PS Store) for a single mission? What a waste. Well, what if we told you the very 1st creatures you encounter could kill you without a problem? Yes, this is a challenging game that people would classify as a game that “verifies that you are a genuine gamer” sounds familiar? Care to take a guess which other game this was also said for?

The overall feel and vibe of the game is very Soulslike but set in a horrifying futuristic Sci-Fi setting. You navigate through this treacherous world and activate beacons which work as respawn points. No matter how far you got you will always respawn and see your dead body where you died if you manage to reach that area again.

Along with extremely difficult opponents, the gameplay feels natural on a controller with a really great albeit unorthodox button layout. You will also be facing puzzles which in theory look simple enough but could take hours to overcome. You could always decide to stream someone who had already passed this level, but we personally feel that ruins the experience. Personally we’d rather struggle in the game ahead, because we’d rather be surprised by things like the Boss you are about to face, figuring out the challenges ahead of you, or even realize that you might be overthinking the situation at hand.

Graphics during the cutscenes could have been shown a bit more love and attention, but the in-game graphics are good enough without the worry of your PC or Console melting, with attention to detail focused on mostly the environment around you.

Everything out there is meant to kill you, from creatures to eggs and even the environment itself.

Away from the creatures and more towards you as the character, You get to name your character and colour the different components of their armour (male or female) which always makes the player feel a bit more involved in the game. Along with this you get multiple classes ranging from Recruit which is the default layout consisting of an axe, shield and pistol, to Sharpshooter, which focuses more on the use of Ranged weapons (this class also comes with an axe and shield) to being a tank with a massive 2 handed sword, and last but not least, the bounty hunter, which has duel melee weapons and focuses on Stamina with quick attacks and dodging mostly.

In the game there is a skill tree to improve various parts of your character ranging from health to stamina and energy, Energy is your key to victory in this game, correct management of energy could help you survive and defeat an incredibly difficult foe.

But what is energy in this game if we have stamina? Energy is what is being used by your character to apply various status effects, heal and fire your ranged weapon, with these status effects could cause a reaction if combo’d correctly to do massive damage to an enemy. If your energy does run out you have capsules in your inventory to restore some of this, but use these sparingly, you never know that beyond the next door might be an encounter stronger than you have faced before.

Final Thoughts: Overall a very challenging game with a beautiful environment setup, we are provided with multiple classes specializing in different combat styles, skill trees and customization, this game is set to keep you busy for hours without end and hopefully not a broken controller, might not be for the younger audience or an audience just looking to play for the story as this game would then drive you through the roof in frustration, but definitely a game worth investing