Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn introduces a ton of combat and gameplay mechanics. The footage focuses on Nor and Enki’s powers.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn Showcases New Gameplay in Gamescom Footage

No other game has featured Flintlock Pistols so heavily since the emergence of 2021’s New World. That will change come early 2023 as A44 Games and publisher Kepler Interactive release their upcoming soulslike Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn.

The title hasn’t seen much attention ever since its original announcement in late March of this year. We did get a teaser on the world and environments a couple of months later, but the gameplay has been rather lacking until their new Gamescom trailer.

Flintlocked and Loaded

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is a soulslike action RPG at its heart. It melds the thrilling methodical combat that soulslikes are known for with a steampunk and flintlock aesthetic. That isn’t to say that it doesn’t try anything new.

The 5-minute gameplay was quite an action-packed experience and left little moments of downtime. We got to see our main character, Nor, and companion creature Enki do battle with a large menagerie of foes, ranging from humans to beasts, to more ethereal beings.

Fight Fire with Firepower

Nor is what the world calls a Powder Mage who makes use of the best magic: gunpowder and bullets. Combat is quite cinematic with many “glory kill” cinematic slow-motion moments whenever Nor executes a foe in a stylish way.

Unlike Elden Ring, and more like the upcoming Soulstice and Forspoken, the game will have a combo meter that tracks the player’s combat score. This metric determines how much XP Nor will gain after each successful encounter. Her performance will be measured whenever she mixes up her moves, rewarding player experimentation and creativity in fights.

Speaking of mixing things up, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn’s combat system also seamlessly plays into itself. Guns, for example, require ammunition. Bullets are naturally restored whenever Nor performs melee attacks with her trusty hatchet (how she does this, we do not ask. It’s the power of a Powder Mage!). Successful ranged attacks restore armor, encouraging Nor to get up close and personal with her enemies.

This wonderful gameplay cycle should create a beautiful, violent flow of furious ranged and melee attacks. It looks like this system, much like the upcoming Steelrising, encourages players to be more aggressive rather than defensive and reactive.

It also looks like Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn will have a sort of stagger system, but it’s focused on removing enemy armor. Certain moves will fill up an enemy’s stagger bar, opening them up for massive critical hits. While not all moves will be perfect executions, some stagger attacks will disable some of the enemy’s combat capabilities, such as removing an enemy’s weapon or shield, for example.

Companion Enki

Enki is… definitely a creature. Of what origin, we do not know as of yet. We know that he is a mix between some kind of small dog and mongoose, and he probably came from a different plane of existence entirely. Flintlock: the Siege of Dawn will focus heavily on the dynamics between Enki and Nor, as they will complement each other in both combat and exploration.

Similar to God of War’s Atreus, Enki will largely act independently in combat, automatically performing teleport and support attacks. He can be commanded to attempt more specialized moves when the time requires it. Flintlock’s furry friend can disable enemies entirely, holding them in place for Nor to shoot them out of the sky, or to remove one enemy from combat temporarily.

Of Guns and Magic

Flintlock: the Siege of Dawn will be attempting to create a cinematic soulslike that creates fun with three equal parts: fighting, firearms, and fantasy. In terms of its execution, however, we have yet to see how effective this mashup works together.

During exploration, Enki can also provide a bit of a push so that Nor can reach great heights. There will be some preset locations that will allow Enki to bring his friend along. This results in a short burst of teleportation, propelling them dozens of feet into the air. Combat can also be initiated this way, creating a dramatic “superhero” landing, creating an explosive entry into fights.

Hopefully, Nor and Enki’s friendship also takes center stage in terms of its story, as the opportunity to have such a unique companion would be a waste if he was just regulated to delivering one-liners.

Sand-Based RPG

While not entirely sand-based, the title does somewhat remind us of the upcoming Forspoken and Atlas Fallen. These are two other big-name games that take place primarily in desert locations. Flintlock: the Siege of Dawn will be released in Early 2023. It will be available on PC and most major consoles, minus the Nintendo Switch.

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