Here are three universal truths:Dark Soulsis the best series in video games.DOOMis the coolest FPS. Great games made by solo developers are incredible experiences. If you disagree, that’s fine. But this is my preview, and I have control of the keyboard.
Despite having come out in early access back in December of 2024, VOIN was not a game that I had on my radar at all, and yet it checks all three boxes mentioned above. This is a game dripping in DOOM’s frantic, first-person combat while opting for a Soulslike setting with RPG depth and tons of loot. Somehow, it’s also been created by one solo dev, Nikita Sozidar.
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I’ve talked with solo devs before (insert plug formy interview with Bionic Bay’s solo creator), and I’ve heard enough to know that this process is grueling, and often times leads to moments of doubt where you can’t even tell if what you’re making is any good anymore.
I’m here to tell you,VOIN isgood. At least, how it currently exists in its early access form. After spending some time previewing this title, I’m excited to get into why this game has me so interested. Let’s begin.
Immaculate Vibes
From the very beginning,VOIN gripped me with its presentationin every regard. It has a dark, brooding, fantasy setting with a twinge of sci-fi just to make it feel fresh. The music is awesome and brings in moody and melancholy piano arrangements with string accompaniment.
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While you start out in a moderately non-descript-looking crystal cave with a few waterfalls, that all quickly ramps up once you reach the game’s hub world and can teleport elsewhere. I saw towering cathedrals, creepy crypts, snowy mountaintops, and forges in the belly of a volcano. Pair all this with the game’s pseudo-retro, intentionally somewhat pixelated butgorgeousart style, andyou’re in for a visual feast.
All of the blades I picked up throughout my session looked awesome and had striking visual effects, which made me all the more motivated to seek out and grab some cool new gear every step of the way. Top to bottom,VOIN simply looks and soundsrad.
You’re also able to swap between the game’s already kind of retro vibe with an evenmoreold-school visual option if you prefer. This is a cool feature, but also doesn’t feel wildly drastic, since the game is already aiming for a more throwback presentation anyway. Still, I like having visual choices, and both art styles work incredibly well no matter what you choose.
I truly enjoyed exploring the world of VOIN simply to see what cool location the game would take me to next. I’m kind of a sucker for games with a fusion of modern meets retro, and this is one of the coolest examples in recent memory, since I’m such a fan of Souls titles as well.
VOIN really feels like first-person Dark Souls in terms of setting, style, tone, and design. If you’re like me, this may pique your interest enough to give it a look. Thankfully, there’s even more to be excited about here with the game’s combat and mechanics as well.
Frantic Hack-And-Slash Gameplay With Lots Of RPG Depth
At its heart,VOIN is a fast-paced, movement-focused, hack-and-slash melee joyridefrom a first-person perspective. All of this results in a pace and overall feel that is clearly reminiscent of DOOM, though opting for more melee and magic instead of guns, grenades, and more guns.
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Your chosen blade has a light and heavy swing, with a fully charged heavy having averysatisfying weight as it carves through a zombie-like, necromorph monstrosity of a creature. Even more entertainingly, your last kill of a group of enemies triggers a slow-motion camera, allowing you toreallysee your final foe fly through the air in a gory, violent flight pattern.
What’s even niftier is that the game also introduces special powers on cooldowns, like being able to project a vortex from your sword for some nice ranged damage. Weapons also have abilities triggered by runes you’ll find in the world, which you can switch out for a customized loadout of superpowers however you please.
While a lot of the levels have the same combat loop of entering a room filled with enemies and clearing it out like you would when you enter a new room in a DOOM title, it’s never dull. Having moments where you cleave through four enemies at once in one fully charged sword sweepfeels really,reallygood.
…gameplay and skillset synergy that pairs beautifully with the player’s movement, encouraging flow-state gaming.
There are alsochallenging boss fightsalong the way, complete with movesets to learn and dodge as you leverage everything in your arsenal against them in order to keep progressing forwards. It becomes a dance of sword swinging, sprint dodging, waiting on cooldowns, and special ability deployment in order to come out victorious. The flow is genuinely super entertaining.
Some other cool gameplay choices are things like the omission of fall damage, allowing you to get to the drop of enemies and plummet on top of them from above, unleashing an AOE lightning strike upon landing to take everything in the area out of commission. There’s just a lot ofgameplay and skillset synergy that pairs beautifully with the player’s movement, encouraging flow-state gaming.
All of that would be enough, but there’s also a great loot and gear system, with things like rings, artifacts, necklaces, and new hearts, along with weapons and runic abilities to make finding every new item super exciting as you compare it to your current loadout and see if you can improve your build in any way.
There are a lot of stats, buffs, and affinities to consider as you choose which gear to equip. I’m someone that loves that level of RPG and loadout customization. If it sounds like a lot, it’s all still pretty seamless and makes sense as you pick new equipment. I never felt overwhelmed by the fairly large volume of choice here.
I was consistently impressed with the level of thoughtful, creative, user-friendly design.
There’s just a ton of nice quality of life and creative design throughout, including looking to the sky to summon a teleport back to your Firelink Shrine-esque hub, difficulty settings thatreallyallow you to fine-tune the experience exactly how you want, and fun and creative ideas for the process of leveling gear and selecting where to travel on the map.
As each new mechanic and idea was unveiled to me in the early stages of the preview, I was consistently impressed with the level of thoughtful, creative, user-friendly design. This is all, again, even more impressive knowing everything came from the mind of one solo developer.
Why I’m Excited For More
I left my play session with VOIN simply wanting to play more. Luckily, despite being in early access, I still feel like I have more to explore in what’s already in the game, and I’m excited to jump back in already.
This early access build features two pretty extensive levels to check out, and I personally already think it’s worth the price of the $19.99 USD admission if you’re intrigued by anything I’ve mentioned above.
I take physical notes on any game I cover, and I’m not joking when I say that the final line I wrote in my notebook for VOIN was in all capital letters, and read, “WILL BE PLAYING MORE.”
I love the world, the vibe, the combat, the flow, the creature design, the loot grind, and the overall design choices. What’s here already has so much potential, and the promise of even more cool experiences in the impending, eventual full-release has me truly excited.I can’t wait to see what this solo dev is able to do with the final product.
If you want to check out VOIN for yourself and get in on the action, you’re able to visitthe game’s Steam pageand jump into the early access version of the game too. If you’re someone that prefers to wait for the full release, I definitely plan on bringing you a final review of VOIN whenever that day comes.
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