When you first see Graven, at least if you’re ‘old’ like some of us, you may think back to the glory of Raven’s seminal FPS, Heretic. Published by Id, Heretic took the traditional Doom FPS formula and mixed in fantasy elements to create something a bit different. While not quite as good as the Doom series, Heretic was quite fun and spawned both a direct sequel and a spiritual sequel called Hexen.
Now, Graven from developer Slipgate Ironworks and publisher 3D Realms has released into Steam Early Access and the immediate feel that oozes out of every pore of the game is that of a modern take on the magic that was Heretic. In Graven, you play a priest exiled from his order. You eventually find your way to a small village being slowly overwhelmed by the undead and with the strange iron staff you’ve been given, you set off to prove yourself to the townsfolk and save them from the monsters that are about to slaughter them all.
Unlike those old ‘90s FPS games however, Graven has a fair bit more plot and a modern design aesthetic. You’re not just tromping through dungeons blasting everything that moves. Instead you’ll need to talk to the townsfolk, buy upgrades for your weapons, and fulfill mission objectives in order to not only save the people in the town but prove yourself anew after the tragedy that has befallen you. There’s a lot of potential in Graven too. With the overall feel of a retro game, the visuals are certainly old-school but if you look closely, there are plenty of modern touches. That feel is remarkably oppressive and the environments are vast and mostly empty, a distinct departure from older games of this style. Once you get your first mission, you’ll have to head out and fight your way through a variety of areas. This is where things get a bit tedious.
Remember, Graven is an Early Access Game, which in effect means you’re playing a post-Beta unfinished game. Whether things change significantly between now and the full release remains to be seen. Once you enter a level, you’ll have to explore. Smashing every single barrel, box and breakable item in visual range is useful since many are filled with coins and ammo vital to your survival and progress. Not enough money? You won’t be able to upgrade easily. While you’re wandering about the first couple of levels, a bunch of zombie cultists come at you, usually one by one but occasionally in small groups. Unfortunately for you, you only have your staff, relegating you to beating them to death one by one. Each takes a couple of hits until you get an upgrade or two, though close-in headshots will take them out in a single shot. Running up to a bunch of enemies that leap directly at you and attack is always a bit challenging to pull off and Graven manages a decent job. It’s certainly no Condemned: Criminal Origins but there’s a certain tension of hand-to-hand FPS combat no matter what.
What’s weird though is that these are the only enemies and this is the only weapon you get at first. You’ll have to conquer the entire sewer with only the staff, a noticeable test in patience. Graven isn’t designed to be simply a kill-em-all FPS however and you’ll also have to solve basic puzzles to unlock areas, find explosives, and clear pathways. Once you’ve cut your teeth here, it’s time to go back to town for more missions, spend your gold, and head out in a new direction. The basic gameplay loop is pretty straightforward however and wandering around town talking to people isn’t particularly compelling so chances are you’ll be back out in the field fairly quickly.
Once you get further, you’ll unlock some spells and a weapon or two, but nothing really works as you’d expect. For example, there’s a fire spell that should be death to zombies but what you actually end up with is flaming zombies that attack you anyway and you’re forced to literally beat them off of you with a stick. Whee. After you finally acquire the crossbow, you’d think that things would pick up but it turns out that it’s a particularly ineffectual weapon, especially without upgrades and you’re better off with your stick…um…staff. Enemy variety, once it starts picking up, is pretty decent with giant monsters and flying sniper bird things, but even then you’ll basically have to use a beat-and-retreat strategy on the bigger monsters since they’re basically immune to the crossbow and you’re constantly backpedalling as hordes of zombies catch sight of you as well. Sure, you can shoot the birds from a distance but it’s not all that fun and they fly about really far away, nailing you if you stand still.
Eventually, you’ll unlock some other weapons like a lightning spell that roasts enemies but that really takes some time and uses blue mana which you’ll have to replenish. By that time however, most players are wondering why they’re still playing Graven because that ephemeral fun factor simply isn’t there the way it is in other similar games. It’s not that Graven is bad. The world-building is excellent here, the design work is awesome, and the level design is solid. But the weapons are weak and tedious, the enemy attack patterns could use some work, and the game feels very empty and open most of the time. Again, this is early access so things should likely change, but at the moment, Graven is just not that engaging.
Visuals are where Graven really manages to excel. The bodies piled everywhere, the satisfying splatter of destroyed corpses, the oppressive and polluted feel of the environments, they all nail the vibe. Graven is literally and figuratively dripping with style and the devs over at Slipgate should certainly be congratulated. This is a cool-looking game even with the muted and dismal color palette and the retro style has been faithfully preserved and adhered to in a way that’s simply enjoyable. While this is a ‘90s style, the visuals are certainly more advanced than you might initially realize and the smooth processing of the game’s complex design makes everything feel more solid and real than games like Heretic where the backgrounds and hallways were simply enemy hiding spots. The solidity of the town and levels is almost tangible and that’s an impressive feat. On top of that, the detail level at higher resolutions really shows that this is a modern game wearing the skin of a vintage FPS.
The same goes for the audio. Graven sounds like a creepy suffering world filled with demons and monsters invading a medieval village. The creaking, the groaning of chains and drizzle of water and the oppressive gothic organ music all add to the atmosphere of the game and showcases modern sound design. Violins play mournfully, different surfaces sound different to walk on, and even echoes have direction and power. It’s a fantastic game in terms of sound and the intro voiceover is particularly good as well, even if the rest of the game isn’t voiced. Actually having the villagers talk would have been cool as well and would have served to pull players in a bit deeper into the world but it’s not strictly necessary here and probably would have cost a lot more in terms of budget.
For an Early Access game, Graven is a pretty solid experience. It’s not a bad game per se, but it’s also not living up to its full potential yet. There’s a lot going on under the hood that casual FPS players might not notice, but that doesn’t really matter if you don’t want to jump back in the first chance you get. Hopefully, as the game continues to evolve, there will be some changes made to both weaponry and enemy distribution to make the gameplay a bit more engaging but right now, there’s a bit too much focus on puzzles and exploration that drags down the pacing and takes away from the combat that most people will be expecting (especially after seeing the trailers). This lack of balance in the game is what really drags it down because if there was a bit more action, a few more weapon options in the early game, and some slightly less tedious puzzles, Graven would be a fair bit more exciting.
As it stands, Graven is an exercise in patience, granting boons bit by bit for slow progress and restricting players that don’t have the time or patience for a slowly-building experience. It’s hard to recommend Graven outright at this point because it’s just not quite awesome yet but the bones are all there and if you have the patience to stick with it, the game eventually pays off. At $25, that’s a big ask for some players, but it’s still a game to keep your eye on, even if you’re not sold yet.
This review is based on a digital copy of Graven provided by the publisher. It was played on a gaming PC set to maximum settings. Graven is also available on GOG and Epic Games.