It goes without saying that the soulslike genre is slightly overcrowded at the moment. Spiders is the latest developer to try its hand at replicating this magic formula with action-RPG SteelRising, which draws heavy inspiration from FromSoftware's catalog of games. The very nature of the soulslike genre is to copy the formula that works so well, and this means it can inevitably be very difficult for one game to differentiate itself from the others, with fundamentals such as combat and skill trees all feeling very similar between titles. SteelRising makes no attempt to be different in this regard. It does, however, put players in the middle of a war-torn 17th Century Paris, and this is what really makes it stand out.
SteelRising's alternate version of history sees a crazed King Louis XVI commanding an army of automatons in order to rule the city with an iron fist. These automatons roam the streets of Paris, keeping terrified citizens locked in their houses, afraid to leave. Playing as Aegis, a sentient automaton who is tasked with ending the king's rule by defeating these machines, players get to explore Paris and traverse some of the contrasting environments it offers.
SteelRising's Paris Setting is Where it Shines
On the face of it, SteelRising seems like a fairly run-of-the-mill soulslike. Light and heavy attacks, a stamina bar, various weapons to collect and upgrade, a refillable health container, and checkpoints where the player will respawn upon death, regenerating all enemies in the area, and more are all standard fare. Anyone with even a passing interest in the Dark Souls series or any of its clones will know exactly what to expect here. While that isn't necessarily a bad thing, it does mean that the game has to work extra hard to carve out its own identity. Thankfully, SteelRising's alternate historical setting does a great job of showcasing something different.
War-torn Paris is a joy to behold, and developer Spiders has clearly gone to great lengths to ensure the world it created is as close to the source material as possible. The French architecture is recreated beautifully, from the museum halls of the Louvre to the desolate streets of Luxembourg. Players will find themselves in beautiful gardens with marble statues and traditional hedge-maze-style pathways. Then within minutes, they'll be fighting their way through an abandoned coal factory, with broken machinery strewn all over the floors next to fiery forge mills. Following Elden Ring's open world, this facet of any game has received more scrutiny than ever before, and SteelRising refuses to be found wanting in that category.
Not only does Paris look fantastic, but the game manages to weave its intricate-level designs naturally around the environment. Winding pathways twist and turn before looping back on themselves, allowing players to open previously locked gates and doors creating shortcuts. None of this is new to the genre, quite the opposite in fact, but so many soulslike games try, yet fail, to recreate the innovative level design that FromSoftware made famous.
SteelRising doesn't do anything particularly new in its gameplay, combat, or progression systems. What it does offer, though, is a unique look at 17th- Century Paris, and this itself is proof that how interesting a soulslike's setting is can really make the difference when comparing it to others in the genre.
SteelRising is out now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.