GODFALL

Can the first game ever revealed for PS5 answer all our prayers?

FORMAT PS5 / ETA 2020 PUB GEARBOX SOFTWARE / DEV COUNTERPLAY GAMES

Godfall was one of the first games ever revealed for PlayStation 5, and as such it’s got a lot to prove. The looter-slasher has shown itself to be worthy of a new generation with fancy graphics and impressive particle effects, but as more and more information about it comes out, can it possibly meet the rising expectations people have for PlayStation 5 and its initial offering of games?

Godfall’s key conceit is simple: you choose a set of armour (medieval European by way of Boris Vallejo), pick a weapon, and dive into the fantasy world of Aperion to slay enemies and relieve them of their loot. As developer Counterplay Games likes to say, you “build your own identity around these legendary figures and become God-like”. It’s a simple proposition and one that seems – so far – to lead to a pretty compelling experience.

You choose one of 12 Valorplates (armour sets) before heading into the world. Valorplates are broken down into classes: Balanced; Specialised; and Exotic. Some fit with your standard RPG setup and are geared to speed, or tanking, or crowd control, while others are designed to take advantage of cooldown abilities (and accelerate how quickly those cooldowns work), and some are focussed on debuffs, which make them more viable in co-op.