There has been a recurring theme in video games, if something languishes in an unsteady development for too long it tends to result in a poor final product. Ghost Song first emerged as a Kickstarter all the way back in 2013, with an estimated delivery date of May 2014. Promising to create a striking 2D “metroidvania” that would appeal to fans of Metroid and Dark Souls. An overly optimistic target considering the game finally made its way to release a whole 8 and a half years later in November 2022 after undergoing a full rebuild on a new engine in 2018. Mostly created by one developer who did all the gameplay design and art, Ghost Song is certainly a testament to determination. Thankfully I am happy to report that, bucking the trend of most titles that get stuck in this form of “development hell”, this one is actually pretty good.

New Beginnings

You play as “Deadsuit”, a robotic looking protagonist who wakes up on the surface of an alien moon called Lorian with no memories of who they are or why they are here. No immediate story presents itself, instead you must explore this strange and intimidating rock to find ways of progressing forward. On your journey you will meet characters who will either add to your understanding of the world or attempt to kill you on sight. As well as one specific group who needs your help and will be your driving force to continue onwards and explore the subterranean tunnels beneath you. At this point the Dark Souls influence begins to show itself rather clearly as this is not a game that is here to tell you a direct story. Instead it just seeks to constantly whisper in your ear and pique your interest in the world around you, keeping questions in your mind as to what happened, it’s remarkably effective. Just don’t go in expecting answers, Ghost Song seems fairly content to let the audience try and piece together for themselves what is going on without ever giving the full story.


Time to Delve

As far as the gameplay goes it’s mostly a standard metroidvania affair, light platforming with plenty of combat while searching for abilities that allow you to progress further to as yet unexplored areas. Initially I found the platforming and movement a little clunky however this is greatly improved as you unlock additional movement options and pretty soon I was navigating around the levels with ease. This turned out to be a blessing because the game really does like to make you run around an almost unnecessary amount. While there are multiple fast travel points dotted around the map they feel a little too few in number, as well as being slightly too far from points of interest. Any time you end up dying to a boss (and you will be dying to the bosses) will result in a tedious trek back to face them a second time. Dying will also take a small chunk off your health bar until you repair it by spending resources so you are doubly punished for losing to a boss repeatedly as you need to take time out to get some xp and repair yourself. You will also be repeatedly forced into sections where you are unable to use the fast travel system. At first glance this felt like an interesting gimmick to re-traverse explored routes with my updated knowledge and powers, but by the 5th time it felt like padding and a lack of respect for the players’ time. These repeat journeys are made a bit fresher by adding some new enemies and challenges but the backtracking combined with a slightly abrupt ending gives the game a rather rushed feel, ironic for its extreme development time. It’s not a dealbreaker but given the exploration is great, I couldn’t help but feel covering the same ground repeatedly was taking me away from the strengths of the game.

Ghost Souls

Out of the platforming and the combat, the latter sees a lot more focus. While I referred to Dark Souls in the heading, it’s clear a lot of inspiration was also taken from Team Cherry’s Hollow Knight which was released during this game's development. Ghost Song actively encourages you to play a more aggressive high risk play style with its combat mechanics. If you use the blaster too much it will overheat and slow down to a mere sputter, however that heat is then built into your melee attacks to deal extra damage. Encouraging you to whittle foes down from a distance before dealing some damage up close. Thankfully Deadsuit can find a wide variety of different melee and special ranged options so you can find a combination that works for you. There is also a large variety of modules you can use to further enhance yourself with passive bonuses, very much akin to Hollow Knight’s charms. Although the amount you can equip is based on your level and you certainly don’t have room for all so you will have to make some agonizing choices on what you equip, and what stays behind.

The rest of the combat feels straight up Dark Souls. Enemy design is fantastic ranging from intimidating to grotesque. Run of the mill enemies are mainly a threat early on but are capable of chipping away at your health bar throughout if you aren’t careful. The bosses are an area where the game shines and are all varied in appearance/moves while mixing up attack patterns as their health is depleted. Each one initially gave me that feeling of being in over my head that souls-like players will be immediately familiar with. Their damage is high, their windows to get the perfect dodge are fairly slim and they will be sending you back to save points repeatedly until you “git gud” and learn their patterns. A number of these are also completely optional and guard new weapons/unlocks for those masochistic enough to seek them out. If you do fall in combat you will need to head back to that point and retrieve your body to avoid losing all the experience you had… very Dark Souls. The enemies can feel rather spongy but I can’t deny that I enjoyed littering the underground with robotic and alien remains and the feeling of triumph from beating a particularly hard boss.

A Lonely Planet

So why do I recommend you play this game? Honestly it’s hard to put a finger on the exact
reason why I came out of this game so charmed. The best I can explain is that it just has so much atmosphere to it. As you travel through this rather desolate and hostile feeling environment, the game just constantly hits you with such an overwhelmingly melancholic mood. I never felt like I was on edge, despite the tough enemies, rather filled with a slight sadness as to what has become of this place and the few remaining souls stuck on it with me. This is all reflected in Deadsuits’ voice and character. Displaying a rather childlike sense of curiosity but without any of the excitement. Everytime an objective is completed there is no celebration, just tiredness and a desire to rest. None of the character’s dialogue shows any high levels of emotion, it feels that everyone is just resigned to their situation and doing what they can to get through. It might not sound like it from the description but it makes all the characters feel rather endearing because you can relate to their mood through the tone the game is setting.

The soundtrack provides the perfect level of ambient tone to bring out the emotion of the wonderful background art that is a joy to look at in every new area. In fact the sound design on the whole is stellar. It induced a rather visceral reaction in me when I was trudging through a fleshy, pulsating alien tunnel and found myself charged by some sort of humanoid that had been taken over by the bugs. The creatures’ screams muffled by the giant alien clamped tight around its head sucked me into and immersed me in this strange location.

Ultimately Ghost Song created a world I just wanted to spend more time searching in. After each quest out I was eager to return to the characters I had met to get some new snippets of dialogue and lore and I was always happy to meet a new face while out searching new areas. The game as a whole does a great job of rewarding you for exploring, whether that be with an interesting locale, a new boss to fight or an interesting upgrade for your suit. By the time I finished the game after around 10 hours I had only discovered about half of the possible modules for Deadsuit and after writing this review I will likely go back and hunt for more!


Final Thoughts

If someone was to go into Ghost Song expecting it to be the next Hollow Knight, then I can imagine them leaving disappointed. However if you want to explore an interesting world, if you want to experience a passion project truly come to life. Then you should give Ghost Song a try, it might not be the best metroidvania you have ever played on a mechanical level, but I think it will be one of the most memorable overall. I really hope developer Old Moon uses this experience to come back and create a truly great followup because they are undeniably an artist when it comes to games.

A game of 2 halves:

The environments? SO GOOD
The map/navigation? SO BAD
The sound design/soundtrack/voice acting? SO GOOD
The loot system? SO BAD

If you have some friends to play with or really want more cyberpunk, you will enjoy it, otherwise it's just ok.

Once upon a time, I was browsing through game reviews on YouTube and heard a quote around game development that stuck with me:

“It’s better to make something that’s amazing for some people, rather than something that is just alright for everybody”.

This review is not about deciding which category Greylock Studio’s FPS Severed Steel falls into, because this is certainly a case of the former. It’s about helping you decide if you fall into the “some people” group or if your time is better spent elsewhere.

REACH. THE. TOP.

You play as the titular Steel and upon game start will be greeted with a 3-second cutscene showing your arm has been severed, setting an appropriate tonal lack of subtlety before you are immediately thrown into the game. It works, because this is not a game about story or lore. No character development, no complex systems, no micromanaging. Just you, an endpoint in a cyberpunk-esque tower, and a whole bunch of bad guys with a veritable arsenal of small arms trying to stop you from getting there. The game clearly takes some inspiration from Superhot and when you are presented with a simple objective in capital letters and the music kicks in you know the firefight is about to start. It’s honestly rather refreshing to see a game just focus on one aspect and polish it to an absolute sheen.

KILL. THEM. ALL.

4 seconds… For this review I timed myself across a few levels in an effort to display quite how fast paced the combat is. For every 4 seconds spent in a level I left one perforated foe on the ground. Despite being a one armed protagonist Steel is remarkably proficient at handling whatever gun she can get her hands on and this game exists to be a stylish combat simulator. If you took the John Wick level of room clearance with the acrobatic finesse of a Matrix firefight then you probably have an idea of what to expect here. Firefights are frantic, damage levels are high and the only thing that can save you is quick feet and the ability to slow down time. This is what you will be doing for 95% of the game, weaving your way in and out of danger while bullet timing through rooms to put down silver armoured enemies and other miscellaneous targets the game tells you to in a ballet of slow motion hyperviolence.


Severed Steel does everything it can to avoid taking the player out of this alert combative state and it’s exhilarating. No aiming down sights, even with a sniper rifle, that would limit your vision. No reloading, reloading a weapon takes too long. When you run out of ammo your next click will immediately throw your gun ahead of you, hopefully stunning whatever poor enemy is unlucky enough to be in the way and allowing you to grab a fresh weapon from their hands. Alternatively weapons from nearby dead enemies will be picked up instantly if you are out of ammo and if all else fails Steel very quickly turns her second arm into a cannon which will punch through enemies (and walls) with its limited charges. I did say walls, all terrain is fully destructible. Walls might slow you down so the player has the ability to punch a hole through one with Steel’s cannon, slide in and continue their spree. No health pick ups either, if you are hurt there is only one way to recover your health. KILL. MORE. ENEMIES.


DO. NOT. STOP.

The motion goes hand in hand with the combat. If anything it might be a little too fluid. Sometimes the floor can feel like it’s covered in oil as Steel tumbles awkwardly into a wall and you frantically try to slide or jump yourself into a different position. Not only does the game not want to stop the combat, it doesn't want to stop you moving in stylish ways. You can dive, slide and jump kick off walls, often a combination of all three. Sliding into an enemy will automatically deliver a kick, in most cases knocking the weapon out of their hand, and your usually limited bullet time (which is also only refilled by taking out enemies) is unlimited while you are performing any kind of stunt. Constantly encouraging you to be leaping through windows and sliding under tables. Did I mention many of the levels also have portals? Run in at ground level, emerge on the 3rd floor and immediately throw yourself off the roof in slow motion raining fire on any enemies you can see.

There is certainly a slight learning curve to all this and for the first hour you may find yourself awkwardly hiding behind pillars or feeling frustrated by quick deaths but eventually you will find yourself intensely focused on the screen planning your next movements and shots. The dark synth infused soundtrack from Floating Door also deserves a shoutout for never overshadowing the action but always keeping you on a slight edge and blending perfectly with the cold metal aesthetic of the game. Through all this combined Severed Steel ends up feeling like the video game equivalent of an energy drink, delivering short bursts of intense action where high levels of skill expression are encouraged and rewarded.


STEEL. YOUR. SELF.

Hopefully I have painted quite a picture by now of what Severed Steel does right, so let’s talk about the drawbacks. Firstly this game is absolutely a one trick pony, don’t get me wrong, it’s a fantastic trick but if you don’t like a fast paced run and gun shooter, there is nothing for you here. Nothing is unlocked that substantially changes the gameplay and every level boils down to clearing a room full of targets. Those targets also don’t vary substantially either, some enemies might have a shield or amour but they don’t feel distinct. It’s not something that especially detracts from the game but it does feel like a missed opportunity to further encourage dynamic player combat.

The campaign is also woefully short and can be cleared in around 3-4 hours. A new game+ and 5 levels of difficulty do add a little longevity but I can certainly see some people feeling like the retail price is quite an ask for that length of story. There have been continual updates and the game now has a “Firefight 2.0” mode, allowing you to take on certain levels with additional challenges to chase high scores. As well as the rogue-like “Rogue Steel” mode where you go through a series of 8 levels with different modifiers picked after each round, with both of these modes contributing towards some additional character unlocks for future rounds. They go some way to adding freshness to the formula, however just like I couldn’t sit here all day downing energy drinks, Severed Steel is the kind of experience I go back to every now and then just to get a kick rather than getting lost in it for a whole weekend.


SHOULD. YOU. BUY?

Severed Steel is the weird lovechild of Hotline Miami and Mirror’s Edge, but it’s a damn good kid. That sentence alone may convince you one way or the other. Completely unapologetic about its inspirations in an effort to nail a fast paced parkour heavy shooter. Those who are in the mood for a super charged FPS that lives by the rule of cool and not much else will come away from this game with a smile on their face and feeling like an absolute badass. Those who want a more rounded game with a story or any sort of multiplayer should find themselves a different title.

I have played very few games where I feel such a passion for the subject matter, if anything this might be the best educational game I have played, given that it provides you with a lot of terms and you are rewarded for reading through them and the lore. They help you identify the type of demon and how to fight it, but this is just for extra xp as the combat itself is always the card game. The world building is great, the story is pretty good as well and it's clear the developer is at least trying to add some flair, there are some cool visuals despite the relatively simple art style. It's all just very endearing, they add a small stealth section and rather than being annoyed with the janky movement controls it's more of a "awww, look at you trying to mix it up".

Having said that, the combat is fairly simple and too easy, didn't have to change my deck much really as soon as I got one rolling around chapter 2. I think for most people though, this is a game you should play for the lore and setting, not a difficult quest. The pacing is wayyyyy off. The early parts are too spread out, and the game has too many fetch quests. The gameplay is just go to X place and either talk/fight person/demon. I know a lot of games boil down to talking and fighting but it needed to break the monotony more or mix it up. The fact that in the final stretch of this game I am still getting fetch quests is absurd, the game was kind of on a roll for the final chapters otherwise

Music was great, loved collecting some old Russian folk songs, what a vibe, narration and main character voice acting also pretty damn good... Outside of those it was.... inconsistent, to say the least, to be honest if doing this again I would have just had the voices in Russian and read the subtitles, think it would have added to the vibe. Choices in the story feel like they matter although I don't know how much they actually change. Managing your demons is an interesting idea, If you send them away to harass people it stops them from making life harder to you but adds sins to your character, which seem to have some relevance towards the end.

5/10 gameplay with 9/10 atmosphere, 7/10 overall

Note: The 9 is contingent on using mods to fix some flaws.

As a teenager I would head to a Games Workshop each week, bust out my models and engage in battles, and as a kid gamer I dreamed of a game that would display this in the way I imagined. Adult me adores how this game truly brought to life that vision with Immortal empires. The sieges are rough, some economies are rather broken, but I put 1000 hours into this game hurling dinosaurs at ratmen. Sending egyptian undead to take out elves and having cinematic battles all over the old world of warhammer and had a hell of a lot of fun doing it.