Gangs of Sherwood review

pcgamer.com:

What is it? Third-person cooperative battler with middling comedy and combat

Expect to pay £35/$40

Release date November 30, 2023

Developer Appeal Studios

Publisher Nacon

Reviewed on AMD Ryzen 5 3600, Nvidia RTX 2080 Super, 32 GB RAM

Steam Deck Unsupported

Link Official site 

Like its babbling crew of outlaws, Gangs of Sherwood tries to compensate for its fundamental shortcomings with a brash persona and propulsive energy. It's a fast-paced, four-player shooter-slash-brawler with a vividly drawn alt-fantasy world, a knockabout comedy tone, and lively, occasionally spectacular combat. Unfortunately, these colourful distractions fade away all too quickly, revealing Robin Hood rummaging through your purse as he tries to lift 35 quid out of it.

Oddly, what I like most about Gangs of Sherwood is the thing I was least convinced by before playing: the setting. Gangs of Sherwood takes the familiar Robin Hood tale and plonks it in an alternate, sci-fi history. Here, King Richard's discovery of the magical Lionheart jewel has propelled Medieval England into the industrial revolution about 500 years early. But that hasn't stopped the villainous Sheriff of Nottingham from usurping the throne and turning the country into his own personal munitions factory.

Now, I'm not a fan of gaming's fixation with alternative takes on Robin Hood. While the traditional tale has been told countless times in other mediums, we're yet to see a decent version of it in games. I'd love a Robin Hood experience in the vein of Kingdom Come: Deliverance, one that made a concerted effort to simulate the medieval outlaw life. But nobody's made that game yet. So like Hood: Outlaws and Legends before it, Gangs of Sherwood feels like it's trying to solve a problem