Gangs of Sherwood blends steampunk, Vermintide and DMC for a fun new Robin Hood game

thesixthaxis.com:

There’s a rich a vibrant history of retelling the Robin Hood story in new and inventive ways. Whether it’s turning him into a cartoon fox, focussing in on one of his most common traits – that he wears tights – setting his tale in modern times, or adding in anachronistic technology, there’s almost always a fresh spin being put on the classic tale. Gangs of Sherwood is the latest example of this, blending Robin Hood’s adventure with steampunk and co-op action.

The best way to describe Gangs of Sherwood is as a blend of Warhammer: Vermintide like level design with the combat sensibilities of a Devil May Cry. And you know what? It’s a blend that absolutely works!

There’s a mixture of science fantasy and fiction here, lending the game a bit of a steampunk aesthetic. The Sheriff of Nottingham has control over the Philosopher’s Stones, using them to power all manner of mechanical wonders and turn them to evil uses – there’s some parallels to MachineGames’ Wolfenstein here – stamping down on the local populace and sending out his tax collectors to drain every ounce of money out of people’s pockets as possible. As we all know, Robin stands up against this, seeking to steal from the rich and give back to the poor, but he’ll have to dismantle the Sheriff’s war machine in the process.

Making this a co-op game makes perfect sense when you have such a strong set of defined core characters at the head of the Merry men, and Gangs of Sherwood can be played with up to four players taking on the roles of Robin, Marian, Friar Tuck and Little John. Each one slots into different roles, so Robin is naturally better as a ranged support, while Little John gets stuck right in as the tank, Little John is a tanky healer, and Marian is like a stealthy