Dolmen test | GamersGlobal.de

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A number of game creators emulate From Software’s action RPGs. The Brazilian indie developer Massive Work Studio also wants to get involved with his most ambitious work to date.

All screenshots and video scenes are from GamersGlobal

If a game deserves to be called Soulslike, then I was (almost) always automatically on board. Not every one of these titles could match the class of one Dark Souls record, but last but not least Deck13 took care of it Lords of the Fallen (in the test: grade 7.5) or the science fiction role-playing game The Surge (in the test: grade 8.0) and the successor The Surge 2 (in the test: grade 8.5) for a pleasantly fresh wind in the genre. But there were also works like Hellpoint (in the test: grade 6.0), which I would only recommend to fans of the tough design to a limited extent. A few months after the launch of Elden ring (in the test: grade 8.5), with which From Software has outdone itself again in the opinion of many players, now also wants the science fiction action RPG dolmens vie for the favor of customers.

I preplayed the title from Brazilian indie developer Massive Work Studio for you. In this text and in the 4K60 test video embedded above, based on the PS5 version, you can find out why the game is only partially convincing despite some cool ideas.

In dolmens you are always on the move with melee and ranged weapons – and both are roughly equivalent. The elemental damage, which is only effective against some of the enemy types, also plays an important role in this.

More than a blunt clone

The developer, based in northeastern Brazil, undoubtedly borrows some gameplay elements from the From Software games in Dolmen. Again, all normal enemies respawn when you die or use fast travel between the beacons. And you only have one chance to save lost loot if you died the pixel death. The lock function is also an important tool to be able to fight the opponents effectively.

The ship is your fire ribbon shrine, where you craft, level up and color.

However, the developers have also incorporated a few of their own ideas into their SF-RPG. There is no magic in the conventional sense, and it wouldn’t fit the setting either. Next you use both melee and firearms, which have about the same value and are constantly equipped. Stamina also plays a role in your actions (i.e. attacks, blocks or evasive maneuvers). However, the energy bar is more important. On the one hand, you need them for ranged attacks, whereby only the stronger special attacks reduce them permanently. On the other hand, it is also important to invest the energy in the recovery of lost hit points. Provided there is sufficient energy, the healing works immediately and can also be activated several times in quick succession. However, charging the energy through the number of cells largely dictated by story progress takes a long time.

But there are even more special features: You don’t find or buy weapons, you craft them yourself without exception. For this you need blueprints and materials, which you can only “farm” to a limited extent. You can also socket every weapon and every piece of armor with materials of different quality classes, so to speak, and thus upgrade them. This then primarily increases protection or attack values. Each piece of equipment also provides technology points for human or alien properties. If the sum of these technology points fits, you unlock perks that, for example, ensure that normal shots only consume energy temporarily at low levels (i.e. the bar refills over time) or more hit points when healing in higher spheres bring you or even let you rise again immediately after a KO with half a life. It’s actually really cool, but only really helpful later on. Because of course you don’t get the good blueprints at the beginning of the game, particularly high-quality “ingredients” cannot be collected in a targeted manner, not even grinded. But even with that, a typical Soulslike effect takes effect: Do I build a new piece of equipment now and also combine relatively weak materials with each other, or do I prefer to wait until I have better stuff?

The boss fights aren’t particularly creative, but okay. The third boss is annoying because of the excessive damage in phase 1, but also because you are generally much more concerned with dodging than with offensive actions.

Good in combat, bad in menus

Menus like the one for crafting are clearly designed for point-and-click instead of being optimized for the gamepad.

In Dolmen, the combat system via gamepad works pretty well, although later on I forgot that I also carry a shield to block or reflect enemy projectiles due to the rather elementary use of firearms. In the menus, however, I wonder why the developers themselves didn’t notice that the controller operation is mostly cumbersome. Especially with crafting, everything seems to be geared towards a mouse and keyboard, which is why I keep jumping to the wrong place with the gamepad.

It’s not dramatic in the end, since I have all the time in the world on the ship. It still annoys me that it probably takes twice or three times as much time for a simple action. I also miss useful comparison options for weapons that have already been built, the direct visibility of my technique points bar instead of having to switch to another submenu first. You get used to it, but I can’t get used to it. I doubt that the day-one patch, which was not yet integrated at the time of testing, will change anything about this weak point. For this, practically everything would have to be completely redone. Among other things, the not always optimal, but okay balancing should do something for the launch. But I see little potential for a significant upgrade.

Alice Schwarzer would also do well to reflect more, in dolmens it is helpful in a different sense: you can throw back projectiles of this type of enemy with your shield.

Compact and technically correct

Dolmen relies on the Unreal Engine 4 as the technical substructure. You can also see that in a few typical properties of the technology from Epic Games, especially in the area of ​​effects Dolmen achieves a solid level. A little more would certainly have been possible with the level of detail of the surroundings. Especially when you consider that the game world does not consist of one piece, but is made up of relatively small loading zones that take several seconds to load despite the SSD.

However, I didn’t notice any serious technical flaws, apart from the sometimes fickle AI. My alter ego doesn’t notice them from a few meters away. But the next time, an enemy who clearly couldn’t see me will attack me from behind. Or when I enter a room, the whole pack jumps on me, most of whom otherwise don’t notice me unless I’m standing directly in front of them.

While the graphics are just okay for me, I find the compactness of the program a nice change. Because similar to The Surge 2, Dolmen is relatively small despite its decent size and doesn’t wash up 50 GB on your hard drive. The installation size on the PS5 weighs just around eight GB – which is actually a good one GB less than on the PS4.

Author: Benjamin Braun, Editor: Dennis Hilla (GamersGlobal)

Opinion: Benjamin Brown

Dolmen is neither fish nor meat, neither really good nor amazingly bad. The not very attractive graphics don’t bother me that much, but the weaknesses in the gameplay do. Because some nice basic ideas are definitely in the combat or crafting system, but the quality of the implementation leaves a lot to be desired.

As a Soulslike friend, I had my fun at least at times and didn’t overly regret the time I invested. But in the end, Dolmen isn’t good for anything more than a stopgap for those who’ve already played through Elden Ring. If the SF setting is particularly appealing to you and you haven’t played The Surge 1 and 2 yet, then you’re definitely better served with it.

dolmens PS5