In terms of both its classic entries and the series' 2020 comeback, Sega's Streets of Rage is one of the more important and foundational games in the beat 'em up genre. Streets of Rage 4, in particular, raised the bar for what players have come to expect from a modern beat 'em up, and its developer Guard Crush Games is once again teaming up with publisher Dotemu for another swing at the genre. Except in the case of Absolum, which is the first original IP for both Dotemu and Guard Crush Games, the team chose to blend classic beat 'em up gameplay with RPG elements and a roguelike structure to create something both familiar and original.
Together with animation studio Supamonks — who helped to design and create Absolum's world, characters, and art style — Dotemu and Guard Crush Games are onto something special with their latest title. The Best War Games recently played through a hands-on preview build of Absolum as part of the game's reveal, and it's shaping up to be a title that fans of both beat 'em ups and action roguelikes won't want to miss. Even in a genre as crowded as roguelikes, Absolum stands out thanks to its visuals and animation, beat 'em up gameplay, progression, and level design.
The Best Beat 'Em Up Games of All Time, Ranked
The beat 'em up genre has been around since the days of arcades. Although it's not as prominent as it once was, games like these are still great fun.
Absolum's Beat 'em Up/RPG Hybrid Calls to Mind Some of the Genre's Forgotten Classics
Beat 'em ups are one of the oldest, time-worn genres in gaming, firmly establishing a foothold in the arcades before player demand brought coin-op hits and original titles home into players' living rooms. While the traditional beat 'em up embraced simplicity and tactile satisfaction, more modern takes on the genre have increasingly implemented elements of other game design philosophies to branch out from the basic "move left to right and fight everything" approach the genre was built on. For Absolum, it incorporates a slew of RPG elements into its character selection, enemy types, and level structure, and it does so while clearly calling upon two of the beat 'em up genre's more forward-thinking titles.
The preview build for Absolum consisted of an opening prologue and just the first two major areas and world bosses, but from that isolated slice of gameplay, it was readily apparent where the title is drawing a lot of its inspiration from — 1996's Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara and Guardian Heroes. Both of these Sega Saturn classics were atypical beat 'em ups for their time, blending RPG progression systems and character growth into the traditional side-scrolling beat 'em up. It's hard not to have both of these games immediately come to mind when playing Absolum.
Just like in Guardian Heroes and Guard Crush's previous work on Streets of Rage 4, players have more than just one plane of movement to consider as they make their way through the game's world. Enemies will approach from above, below, the rear playing field, and the foreground, forcing players to be keenly aware of the character's positioning as it relates to the environment and enemy placements. While it doesn't require a button press to switch between the planes of battle like Guardian Heroes, Absolum does still require regular shifting between the foreplane, middleplane, and backplane to effectively deal with enemy mobs.
The foundation on which Absolum's classic influences are incorporated is one of fluid and responsive combat, which like Streets of Rage 4, is easy to pick up and play but promises a high skill ceiling in terms of player mastery and optimization. Incorporating RPG elements like skill trees and a clear power curve for each character is bound to make a game less challenging the more time players put into it, but Absolum maintains a fair challenge by encouraging engagement with its combat systems.
A Dwarf armed with a crossbow and a low center of gravity, as well as a traditional sword-and-board warrior, were available in the preview build. From these two, it's clear players can expect each playable fighter to feel differently and have a unique progression path, but it's also worth noting that the combat is less dependent on fighting game style button combos and inputs than Streets of Rage 4. Instead, how characters fit into archetypal RPG classes determines a slate of abilities that players need to cycle through in between regular light and heavy attacks.
Roguelike Progression and Branching Pathways Promise Immense Replayability in Absolum
Absolum's use of branching pathways in each section of the world map is an obvious callback to how both Guardian Heroes and Shadow over Mystara encouraged multiple playthroughs and experimentation with optimal paths to the final stage. But it's also a clever way to help implement the game's meta-progression and structure as a roguelike. Death in Absolum comes often, at least at first, and incrementally progressing toward the game's end goal grants the player valuable knowledge. Progression helps determine which paths are optimal given a player's current character selection and progress toward class mastery.
Our experience with Absolum's preview build allowed us to sample both of the two playable characters across multiple runs through the game's first two biomes, and it was impressive to see just how different each run felt based on which paths were chosen for each character. While one hero might fare better by taking a pathway that leads to a beach and a boss that their moveset is more suited to challenge, another might be better off choosing the opposite route, maybe trekking through a forest or mountain path to challenge an entirely different set of enemy mobs and mini-bosses before making their way to predetermined world boss. Both roguelikes and beat 'em ups encourage repeat playthroughs, and Absolum provides plenty of ammunition to players hoping to figure out the most optimal strategies and pathways to victory.
Absolum Presents a Fantasy Comic Come to Life With its Visuals and Art Direction
What was immediately apparent about the title is its evocative visual style, art direction, and fluid animations. Absolum's world of Talahm is a classic high fantasy realm that pulls from iconic source material like Dungeons & Dragons or Lord of the Rings, but its comic book-style art direction calls to mind the work of Hellboy's Mike Mignola or Head Lopper's Andrew MacLean. This combination was made possible by animation studio Supamonks, who have partnered with Dotemu and Guard Crush Games to design and create Absolum's captivating world and its inhabitants.
To tie the game's visual and audio elements together, Dotemu and Guard Crush Games sought out renowned composer Gareth Coker to work on Absolum's score, and it's as suitably epic as one might expect from the same mind behind the original soundtracks of games like Ori and the Will of the Wisps and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. Absolum's music works overtime with its art direction and animations to immerse the player in the game's world and enhance every moment of gameplay.
Absolum's preview build showcases a strong first foot forward for Dotemu and Guard Crush Games' first original IP. It's a bold gamble to switch from working on established characters and franchises to developing a brand-new, original game from the ground up. But every element of Absolum— its gameplay, visuals, music, progression systems, and mechanics—is clearly on the right path.
Absolum is currently in development.
Absolum
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Roguelite, Beat 'Em Up
