Guard Crush, the developer behind Streets of Rage 4, announced its next game. Rather than returning to a familiar franchise, the studio is creating an original title called Absolum alongside Dotemu and Supamonk. It’s a co-op, fantasy beat-em-up that infuses an old genre with roguelike progression hooks.
Ahead of its reveal, I got my feet wet in a few Absolum runs across a 90 minute session. It took me a few tries to fully grasp the scope of what Guard Crush is looking to accomplish, but I’m already starting to see the full picture. Absolum feels like a happy middle ground between a classic beat-em-up and a more modern action game, finding crossovers between the two that compliment one another. It’s the exact kind of original follow-up I want to see from a studio after proving itself with a familiar IP.
A new kind of beat-em-up
Like a lot of 2D brawlers (including Dotemu hits like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge), Absolum looks fairly straightforward at a surface glance. When it begins, I’m walking from left to right and stopping to pummel monsters with my fists and sword. It’s immediately recognizable as a game created by the studio behind Streets of Rage 4 thanks to its illustrative art style that makes it look like a playable comic book and its weighty attacks. I’m chaining together combos in a matter of no time — at least until I’m met with an unexpectedly quick death.
That’s where Absolum actually starts to play its hand. The true game is a sort of fusion between a typical beat-em-up and a roguelike, though it took me a few tries to understand where those two ideas intersect. After milling around a hub, I set out on my first proper run. My move set is fairly basic, with two regular attacks and a special that consumes mana. There’s more nuance than that, as I learn throughout my 90 minutes. Being relentless enough with my punches lets me break an enemy’s guard and follow up with punish damage. It’s almost a bit like a 2D fighting game in that sense.
I brawl my way through screens just as before, this time avoiding monsters who have mounted giant boars and are trying to charge me (I can steal their mount and do the same to them, though). When I clear a fight, I’m given some kind of run-specific upgrade. My first one adds fire damage to my attacks. Other screens reward me with upgrade materials.
Once I die again, the progression loop kicks in. My character levels up and I receive a golden insect of some kind. I take that to a nearby NPC, where I can spend that resource to unlock a different special attack for my hero. That’s not all. I’ve also accumulated a bunch of stones during my run, which I can spend for permanent upgrades like health boosts. I only have six options at first, but a fresh skill tree unlocks once I’ve bought enough. After some more spending later on, I eventually get a revival ability that’ll bring me back from death once. As you might expect, each subsequent run allows me to get a little further as a result.
There are progression layers further threaded into the run itself. Sometimes I get far enough that I unlock a new power, adding it to my pool of options. When I meet a shopkeeper and buy a passive relic that boosts my defense, he puts a stamp on a loyalty card. There’s clearly some sort of reward I’ll get once I fill that card out, giving me a good reason to spend with him on each run. There are even some quests sprinkled in, too. In one attempt, I guide a ghostly fellow to a study hidden in the background of one level. I even expand my moveset once I defeat my first boss, giving one of my characters a throw attack. There are plenty of ways for me to grow even in a failed run, just like the genre’s best.
Where Absolum differs from true roguelikes, though, is that the run itself isn’t random. There’s no procedural generation or much randomness beyond what enemies might attack. I’m always moving through the same set of screens, guiding me from a path through a river into a castle. It feels a little too static at first, as if Guard Crush is just trying to extend the length of your average two hour beat-em-up. But then comes a breakthrough. On one screen, I realize that there’s actually another path I can walk on subtly nestled in the background. I walk up there, and I’m suddenly walking an alternate path. One run might have me charging through the castle’s front gates and fighting through its dining room. Another sends me in through its underside where I’m fighting mushrooms between mine carts. Each time I find a new route, it’s added to my map.
By the end of my session, I have a much better grasp on the full gameplay loop. Go on a run, die, buy upgrades, and experiment with a new path next time. It’s still a traditional beat-em-up at its heart, but it’s one that makes starting from scratch feel worthwhile each time. You’re not just dropping another quarter in the arcade machine and praying that something different happens this time.
I’m curious to see how much depth that idea has long-term. I enjoyed my first 90 minutes, but I’m unsure if there are enough paths to sustain a full run that I’ll need to replay several more times to fully beat. There’s still some work to do to make its fighting feel a bit more natural too, as it has the classic beat-em-up problem where I’m sometimes unable to line myself up with an enemy properly. There’s still some space for tweaking, but the core idea feels like a smart evolution of what Guard Crush accomplished with Streets of Rage 4. It feels like it’ll especially sing in co-op, too.
The best compliment I can give Absolum is that I wished I could do one more run when my session ended. I was one power boost away from taking down the boss of its first world, and I knew I’d get it next time. That’s exactly the kind of reaction you want from a game like this.
Absolum launches later this year for PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
