Warden’s Will

22 February, 2025 - 5:04 pm by Tom Fathers
About 10 mins to read
Reviewed on: PC

As I sit at my desk, writing the title of the game, it has just dawned on me how clever the title actually is. Warden’s Will – is it referring to the will of the wardens you take control of as you fight to survive, or is it the will they leave for their comrades in the inevitable deaths that follow? After many runs spanning many hours, I can confidently say that it is both. Developed and published by ELYZIO, this roguelite third-person movement shooter takes inspiration from titles such as Risk of Rain and Warframe, and simplifies them down to the core of what makes them a good, fun challenge. Playable solo or with up to three other players co-op, each stage delivers a very satisfying flurry of on-screen mayhem, testing your mechanical skill and quick decision making, as you battle your way to the final boss. Runs will be multiple, deaths will be plenty, but where there’s a will, there’s a way.

This is an abridged version of our GAME NAME video review, which can be seen here:

The intro to the game caught my attention, with its AC/DC-like track behind a great art style, not shying away from the knowledge that death is a part of progression. You start the game as your first of four total unlockable wardens, you have the freedom to roam the training hub, where you can swap and test out a couple of guns and abilities before jumping into your first run.

The concept of the game is akin to Risk of Rain, with its own flavour. There are five stages, and you progress to the next stage by finding and up-linking three transmitters within the level that then open the breach. The breach transports you to a boss arena, where you must defeat the big bad robot to then progress to the next stage. In order to up-link a transmitter, you have to gather green gems acquired from defeating enemies and then stay within a certain perimeter of it. Green beams are emitted from a completed transmitter that then give the direction of the other two; once all three are complete, they point toward the breach.

You still with me? Good.

At A Glance

Positives	Negatives
+ Challenging yet rewarding gameplay + Fluid movement with fun combat + Up to 4-player online co-op is great + Promising roadmap and engaged developers	– Currently not much replayability – Little in variation for now, but soon to change! – Some may feel it is too ‘simple’ in look and feel
Available on:	PC (Steam)
Find out about our scoring policy here

Within each stage, you also collect money from destroying enemies that allows you to do a few different things – some pods allow you to choose one of three randomly generated upgrades which are only kept for that specific run. Another pod will give you additional ‘bytes’ which act as the meta progression currency, these are the only thing retained after the run is over. You can also find reboot stations to grant an additional life for that run should you die. All in all, a tried and tested formula, which for me, works well.

When I mentioned simplicity before, I really meant it. There is a primary shot and an alternate fire specific to each gun; there’s a unique movement ability, and two combat abilities specific to each warden. And that’s it… well kind of… The beauty is how you combine these mechanics whilst managing your stamina bar and gun temperature. You learn quickly that you not only need to always be on the move, but also move methodically to maximise your few abilities and cooldowns. For example, I enjoy playing as the ninja/samurai warden. His movement feels so slick and smooth, especially as you gradually improve your stamina bar. He can perform a linear dash in any direction and has combat abilities that provide extra movement, as well as destructive power. Now, initially I felt like my wings were literally clipped, switching away from the flying warden, but with clever resource management and upgrades, you can essentially suspend yourself in the air for so long that Hermes himself would wonder if you nicked off with his winged sandals.

Let’s talk about progression. The meta coins – or bytes – are collected during each run and are used to unlock either a new warden, unlock a new gun, or upgrade your base health, shield, or stamina pools. Each of the four wardens have their unique movement and abilities, and the guns can be used by any one for them. Initially the bytes were very hard to save up, and the unlockables were expensive, making for slow progression. This, however, has since been balanced and has much better pacing.

Now, some weapons I felt were better than others across the board, as well as being more fun to use. The three most impactful ones, in my opinion being the railgun – where precision is rewarded with high damage output and piercing shots. The lava gun – where sustained hits lead to explosive results with grouped enemies. And the minigun – where rapid fire enhanced with the correct upgrades meant its fire rate would shred through the hoard. Each gun does encourage different play styles, and this variation is key to keep runs fresh and interesting.

The art style may divide opinion, but I feel that, again, the beauty is in the simplicity. There is a smooth colour palette with a cartoon-like, almost hand drawn, feel to it; the design tries to allow for the mess of attacks on screen to be differentiated as best possible so that you can avoid them, or at least try to. As the mayhem builds and as the enemies themselves ramp up in difficulty, so too does the accompanying music. Early on seeming quite distant and unassuming, it becomes more dynamic, scaling with the intensity of the gameplay making it more immersive. Even when sat through the end credits, the cyberpunk like beat had me head bopping as I punched the air in celebration.

The first time I saw the credits roll was more a sigh of relief more than anything else, as each run would take me about 60-70 minutes, so naturally falling to the final boss had me rage quitting each time. At this point in time, there isn’t much else to the game once you complete a run. The stages are all the same, although with the latest update, you can now play them in any order. The enemies are also the same each time, including the bosses and types of waves that come at you. The variation comes from your different wardens and the different guns. At least so far, the developers are very active and constantly working on updates and balances. They have a thriving discord community which allows them to listen to player feedback and provide further updates, and their roadmap is very encouraging, as it looks like there are lots of new features and improvements on the horizon.

I was very thankful for receiving a free Steam code from PressEngine in order to review Warden’s Will. I was able to get a couple of mates to join in on the action, as currently on Steam you can grab it for just shy of £13. It’s always chaotic fun when you get the band together, each being able to utilize the strengths of the different guns and wardens. Each person has their own pool of coins and gems, meaning the transmitter up link is faster. Upgrading is individualised, so you will have to find your own pod to augment yourself. If one of you dies, you become a sparkling orb, where you are at the mercy for one of your pals to collect you and take you to a revive station, which they need to stay close to as you get reconstructed. Jumping in and out of a session is straightforward, and performance only occasionally dipped when the bullets started to envelop the screen.

All in all, I had a good time with Warden’s Will, the difficulty felt like a good balance of tough yet satisfying, rewarding fast movement and quick thinking. In its current state it can feel limited in its replayability once you unlock everything and complete a run or two. But with a promising road map of what’s to come, I would say it is definitely worth picking up and testing your mettle.