Thank you Fatbot Games for sending us the preview code!

Gravelord is a fast-paced retro-style first-person shooter that brings a nostalgic genre to a modern environment. Set in a gloomy fantasy world where people can cheat death using elixirs, you take the role of a gravedigger named Queedo whose job is to put people back in their graves. Fighting off waves of zombies and other gruesome ghouls, you must use a variety of weapons and the curious power of tarot cards to fight through all eight levels that are currently in the early access release.

I often find myself comparing the gameplay of Gravelord to that of some retro shooters like Unreal or Quake. The movement is generally quicker than one might be used to, and requires very snappy reaction times and skilled wrist flicks. Gunfights against hordes of the undead will never give you any time to stop and catch your breath, and require diligent use of the movement mechanics to survive in any situation.

There is a decently varied arsenal within Gravelord. You start off being forced to defend yourself with one very durable spade, but soon after find more versatile options. Using a flintlock, and then a shotgun briefly following, you can make quick work of any contentious cadavers that try to get in your way. There are many more other than that, but I honestly didn’t really find myself using anything other than the shotgun, minigun, and bomb launcher. The others saw a lot less action either because of scarceness of ammo, or that they had no use outside of what I was already doing perfectly fine with the three I just mentioned.

The enemies vary a lot in design, function, and danger level. Naturally, the first few that you encounter are very easy to kill and predict, but as you continue your onslaught, you start seeing demons, armored enemies, flying enemies, and hellish amalgamations of fleshy matter, armed with various different weapons and brutal attacks. It doesn’t really make sense in the lore of the game right now for such creatures to even exist, but they add a lot to intense encounters. Some use projectiles, some charge you, and others make things interesting by requiring you to use your environment or prioritize certain kills.

A system within this game that I briefly mentioned is the tarot cards. Scattered around levels, you will find tiers of cards labeled I-III. They provide benefits and changes to your playstyle that are quite helpful throughout your troubles, but only one card of each tier can be equipped at a time. Some things these cards may do consist of granting you health, armor, or damage bonuses, tweaking attacks, and other useful bonuses. A critique I have with these, though, is that I somewhat feel like certain cards are just the objectively wrong option when presented with a choice out of three. A lot of the time, a specific setup is what will get you the greatest success, and changing things up may be more of a great setback rather than a simple refreshment. For example, one card greatly improves the strength of your melee attack, and another one allows you to heal a percentage of melee damage. Combining these two, healing is made very easy assuming you have good enough gunslinging prowess. That aside, it is worth noting that the artwork on each card is very well done, and provides a very nice touch on the game’s already very cool aesthetic.

Gravelord has a very pleasing visual style. All of the enemies and levels are very gloomy, but the lighting and shaders add an impactful allure to the game. Alongside this, there is a lot of drawn artwork used for storytelling, alongside the tarot cards from earlier. The worldbuilding is done through comics that you find and unlock; they are all filled with enticing art and unique dialogue. The musical direction, however, is not as intriguing. I’m pretty sure through my whole playthrough, I heard a total of two unique songs, one of which is only played in the credits. The other, however, only plays in specific encounters in each level, assuming they’re deemed intense enough to be worthy of battle music. The song is fitting where it plays, but it’s a shame that there aren’t more similar ones to take its place now and then. Whenever it isn’t playing, you are left to jam to the riveting ambient tracks that give all of the levels a grave vibe that I feel could have been achieved by some low-key melancholy tunes. Outside of the music, the sound in general is pretty well done. Monsters have fitting cries, and the guns are not annoying with their firing noise. On another note, the character you play as is fully voice acted and chimes in to say something corny at set points in levels. Most of his lines appertain to what he’s doing, but a whole lot of them are also cheeky references to other media and pop culture. Some things seem out of place, especially if you know what he’s alluding to, but I would say the voice actor fits the role pretty well. Switching gears, the game may crash due to it being early access, but it is pretty easy to get into considering the controls and interface.

There are a few moral issues present, as expected for a game like this. It features intense violence and moderate gore. Some enemies have organs as part of their design, and they all burst into bits when killed in certain ways. Blood can be disabled, but enemies still gib. Language is used as well, through Queedo’s comments as well as the comics. Strong language is used significantly more than “weaker” words, having "f*ck" be a fairly consistent member of the vocabulary. Out of the enemies fought, a couple of them are demons, and imagery featuring pentagrams is also present. In the comics, one character has a very sexually explicit design, but only shows up for a couple of frames.

Gravelord is definitely a fun play, and it would be a decent start if you’re interested in trying this genre. It has a good balance of difficulty, but is also by no means perfect. The main campaign features 8 levels for approximately 5 hours of gameplay, but for an early access game, hopefully it’ll eventually become more worth the 20 dollars.