Dolmen recently came into my hands, a title available on both PC and console that takes its cue from many giants in the gaming world. I immediately launched into trying it and after assiduous gaming sessions, I finally feel ready to share my opinion on the title with you.
Will I have liked it? Or will it have flaws that completely ruin the gaming experience? I don’t want to anticipate anythingso stay here with me and I promise you as complete a review of Dolmen as possible!
Dolmen, the full review!
Before starting, as always, I want to carve out a small space to introduce you Dolmen. In short, it is an indie game that ranges from the Action genre to the adventure, even recovering some RPG mechanics.
It was developed entirely by Massive Work Studio and I can tell you right away that it will give you the idea of playing a version of Dead Space that has been damaged with Dark Souls. In short, in a nutshell we are in space and dying will be an integral part of our adventure. Will the mix be successful? Without getting lost in further chat, let’s proceed immediately to find out.
Plot? Which plot?
Let’s start immediately with one of the many sore points that Dolmen unfortunately brings with it and that is the plot. As soon as the game is started, we will be immediately greeted by a video that will briefly illustrate us the one that in the first hours of the game could give you the idea of being a great opening for a good plot.
Too bad, however, that continuing with the game, which is difficult to quantify in terms of hours because it all depends on your ability and how many times you die, the plot will dissolve into thin air. That’s right, you will have to interface with terminals, which through long and sometimes too boring texts, will flood you with information.
It goes without saying that the absence of actual videos for most of the story made me a bit desperate, having to stop and read something every two by three breaks the rhythm and from a production idea that didn’t believe it enough. The strong point of Dolmen in a nutshell is certainly not the plot that lacks a lot as far as I’m concerned!
A gameplay that could have given more!
Let’s now move on to Dolmen’s highlight and that is the gameplay system. Let’s start immediately with a vital factor and that is the possibility to choose a class and customize your character. Don’t think who knows what though, the editor is pretty basic and will just let you choose the color of your suit. As for the classes, however, a good job has been done that will allow you to give free rein to the style of play that you prefer.
During the adventure, evolving your character is essential and if you are not convinced which type of class suits you best, you can always opt for a hybrid solution.
Going more specifically on the gameplay, we are certainly faced with a title that has made Dark Souls its main inspiration. There are certain terminals throughout the map that you can use to unlock checkpoints and upgrade your character.
Whenever you die, you will find yourself in front of the terminals and all the enemies in the area in question will come back to life. It will then be possible to recover your previous corpse in order to restore the time loop. In short, let’s say that the inspiration in this case is clear.
I also mentioned Dead Space in the introduction, you may be wondering why. The answer is very simple: the space setting and some horror features reminded me a lot. Let’s be clear, I’m not saying Dolmen is plagiarism. The title travels quietly on its own feet!
Either way, the combat system is fairly simple to learn. You will have light and heavy attacks at your disposal and even a firearm to suit every situation. Learning is a moment, perfecting is another story altogether.
A headache aiming system
If I promote the combat system, I can’t do the same with the aim and sight system. While traveling for most of the adventure at a fixed 60FPS, I notice a certain jerkiness in the view that makes the experience a bit woody. Beyond this, targeting an enemy is not always the best and most of the time you risk hitting the void.
Frustration from this point of view is at the peak of the gaming experience, a corrective patch on the visual system in my opinion is almost mandatory.
A challenging game!
Dolmen is undoubtedly not a title for lovers of simplicity. Dying is an integral part of the gameplay and you will have to get used to it unless you are a champion in this type of game. As in Dark Souls in fact, it will happen to retrace an area over and over again without ever having respite.
Improving your character and equipping yourself with rare weapons and items is the key to success. So I advise you to buy the game only if you like the genre, because if you think you have an easy life playing it you are very wrong and you could be very hurt in doing the same level over and over again without ever succeeding!
Technical sector, synonymous with a wasted opportunity!
During my adventure in Dolmen, I had the opportunity to carefully observe the settings designed by the developers and unfortunately I must assert with extreme certainty that it is of a wasted opportunity from every point of view. I did not find anything memorable, but only cold and bare locations of any personality.
No doubt you could have some more regard. It is not even a question of graphic quality, but of settings. As for the graphics sector, even in this case we are not there. The game is not optimized very well and we are faced with poorly detailed textures and models left a bit to chance.
Yet another negative note then goes to the audio sector which is almost absent during the adventure beyond the basic game sounds. In short, the gist of this paragraph can be summed up in a damned wasted opportunity as far as the whole is concerned. Giving greater depth to the settings and music would undoubtedly have given a lot to this Dolmen!