Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem Reviews
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SolarFall Games’ hack ‘n’ slash action-RPG Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem left early access a few weeks back. The initial release version was plagued with various server issues, so it took people a while to play through the game and put together their reviews. Still, right now we can check out a few of those. Have a look:
PC Gamer 58/100:
Wolcen's free-form character progression and enthusiasm for experimentation could be great additions to the genre, but most of the good is undone by the sense that, as we're slicing through throngs of enemies, we're really just beta testers. And where it's not buggy and in need or rebalancing, it's incredibly beige. Also, and I really can't stress this enough, Wolcen is a really terrible name. There's no way to say it without it sounding like 'Wilson,' which might be the worst possible name for an APRG.
GameSpot 4/10:
Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem is frustrating to play for the majority of its campaign, leaving you with little motivation to dedicate more time to endgame events. There are many technical issues that can be fixed to alleviate some of this frustration, but it's the deeper ingrained problems with difficulty balance and character build viability that keep Wolcen from fulfilling its enticing promise of a free-form ARPG. It has all the elements in place to become another engrossing time sink, but it doesn't execute well enough on any of them to make it worthwhile.
PC Invasion 6/10:
Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem has all the tools thanks to ARPGs that came before it. Sadly, its online mode has had a litany of issues, the controls could use some tweaks, the loot pool isn't as deep as you could imagine, character skills need some rebalancing, and a slew of shortcomings lead to a questionable launch after four years of development. Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem can surely reach the cream of the crop among ARPGs with more improvements, but it's going to take time.
GodisaGeek 7.5/10:
Considering it languished in early access for five years, I’d have expected the final release build of Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem to be less bug-ridden, but none of the bugs really hampered my enjoyment. It’s still a great ARPG with an astonishing level of build diversity that will only improve with expansions and patches. For fans of the genre it’s an absolute must, but I’d advise waiting for a few patches before you purchase it. The genre is a crowded one, but when something as fun and entertaining as Wolcen wants in, I’d say we can afford to make room.
DarkStation 3.5/5:
Despite its many minor flaws and even significant issues, Wolcen nails that action-combat-loot dopamine drip that fuels the longest-lived games in the genre. Even after four years of pre-release tinkering, Wolcen is pretty messy, but enough fun at the core that the problems are worth dealing with, at least in the short term.
Attack of the Fanboy 3/5:
Wolcen could have been a contender in the ARPG arena, but it can't get out of it's own way for more than two seconds. Perhaps in time WOLCEN Studio will patch everything up and allow the game to shine as it deserves, but right now the game fights you at every turn. Wolcen is game that is as fun as it is frustrating. I like Wolcen; I simply wish I could love it.
You may also be interested in the patch notes for a couple of recent updates.
