I was lucky enough to try a lot of upcoming PC games at Gamescom 2024, and one I found particularly hard to stop playing was Sworn. An action roguelike set in a fallen Camelot, it offers you a multitude of builds to reclaim the kingdom from the grasp of a corrupted King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. So if you’re looking to scratch the itch while you wait for the next Hades 2 update, you can join an ongoing Sworn playtest right now – and developer Windwalk Games says it will be the last chance before early access arrives.
While other roguelikes have adapted the format popularized by Supergiant Games with Hades in several ways, Sworn sticks much more closely to that initial structure. Instead, the trick it has up its sleeve is the sheer amount of variety and build diversity on offer, along with the ability to play in up to four-player co-op. You can read my full Sworn preview for a more in-depth description of the various features, but know that there’s an impressive amount of potential character, weapon, and spell combinations to choose from even before a run starts.
Once you’re out and about, you’ll clear room after room in each zone, working your way forward until you clash with a minor or major boss fight. Combat is snappy and satisfying, and major enemies will adapt their attacks if you tackle them in co-op to ensure they’re always a challenge. In typical roguelike fashion, you’ll frequently have the choice of which route to take – one might offer a blessing from the Fae Lords to amplify your attacks and powers, while another provides a bounty of currency to upgrade your characters, weapons, and hub features.
These improvements are made through a number of distinctly-designed skill trees. The main upgrade tree offers boosts to your core stats and bonuses such as an increased chance to find rare boons in a run. The weapon trees, meanwhile, are all thematically shaped and typically offer you a choice to flip between two differing playstyle-defining options at certain milestones. The result is a game that promises a vast amount of customization and replayability, and combined with the excellent choice of setting I’m very eager for the full game to arrive.
For now, a new playtest gives you access to the first two biomes, along with the hub area. You’ll be able to bring NPCs such as Guinevere back to start helping out with upgrades, and even get a feel for the overall skill tree that makes you stronger between runs. Windwalk warns that the Currency Exchange table you can unlock currently doesn’t work, and will cause the game to softlock if you try to use it, but otherwise, you should be good to go.
The Sworn playtest is live now and will be available until Monday January 20 at 9:30am PT / 12:30pm ET / 5:30pm GMT / 6:30pm CET. If you want to take part, simply head to the game’s hub, where you can register your email address for a Steam key – note that if you already took part in a previous test, you should already have access.
Once registered, just look for the ‘Sworn Final Playtest’ in your Steam library. The developer says an announcement for Sworn’s early access release date is coming “very soon,” so keep watch.
Alternatively, there are lots more of the best action games to keep you busy, and of course, the best co-op games if you prefer to bring a few friends along for the ride.
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