Getting burned at the stake is just the start in this grimdark, witchy FPS
I'm a sucker for a nice main menu gag, especially one where you transition right into a cutscene with no loading (looking at you, Spec Ops: the Line). The demo for the upcoming retro FPS, Coven(opens in new tab), kills it here by having the main menu overlaid on a scene of a crowd of medieval peasants staring at you. Starting a new game sees a priest come forward and light your pyre aflame, condemning you to a gruesome death. The first level then begins with you digging out of your own grave to get revenge.
Coven (first spotted by Alpha Beta Gamer(opens in new tab)) definitely had me feeling a little queasy at times with its overpoweringly grim content, but the low-fi throwback graphics (strongly reminiscent of New Blood's Dusk) helped maintain some welcome psychic distance there, and its fast paced FPS combat is too fun to stay scared for long.
Coven's weapon selection is solid, with a couple standard FPS offerings getting shown up by two stars. The «axe pistols» do not live up to their bad ass name for me. There's not a lot mechanically separating them from other FPS pea shooters, but the sound effect for their retort is so wimpy, it just harshes my buzz. Ditto for the standard shotgun, though the boomer shooter de rigueur super shotgun was definitely fun enough for me to use regularly.
The default melee weapon, an axe and shield combo, is where the party's at. It works similarly to the broadsword weapon in Dusk, with a short charge up swing insta killing most enemies on normal difficulty. Coupled with the block function, you get this fun little dance of weaving in and out of crowds of enemies, insta gibbing them one at a time (and the insta gibbing never stops being extremely satisfying).
Coven's crossbow is similarly
Read more on pcgamer.com
