IRON DANGER Review for Steam

Publisher Daedalic Entertainment and developer Action Squad Studios present Iron Danger, a strategic combat RPG with time manipulation. This unique combination, taking place in a fantasy medieval environment, singles Iron Danger out from other tactical combat games.

Sound

            Pros:

• Sound is super excellent and fitting for the purpose of the game. Background music and general soundtrack are of good quality and allow the player to feel quite immersed into the game, especially when wearing headphones.

            Cons

• Like a lot of RPG games, some sounds sound very alike. For example, the sounds characters make during battle are often repetitive grunting noises. More phrases/unique voice-overs is preferred.
• When there is music, it is initially alarming, since it starts to blare at a triumphant volume after a while of the player not hearing much during the tutorial.

Graphics

            Pros:

• Amazing graphics — incredibly detailed and flows smoothly. Fight scenes are actually quite cool to watch, especially when they are reversed.
• Cut scenes are not overly animated, as in characters in scene are so anime-looking that it distracts from what happening. Each character has a good amount of sophisticated design and simplicity.

             Cons

• The game is quite monochromatic and low contrast, with exception of player controls and fantastical effects. I believe more contrast in lighting and color would make graphics a tad bit better, and would allow players to see where they are more clearly. Of course, there’s a certain degree of contrast emphasis necessary to distinguish unimportant areas with important ones, so the change I would suggest would probably be very, very subtle and minor.
• Maybe my poor eyesight is related, but it would be nice if text could be made bigger. It is actually not as fine as it seems to be almost kissing the screen when characters talk.

Plot

            Pros:

• Gradual progression in the story is at a good pace and is interesting enough to get into. One can never go wrong with classic fantasy, medieval thematic gameplay.

            Cons:

• Perhaps I’ve just played too many games, but I’ve grown tired of the whole “use your magic to save the world from destruction-hungry enemies” plot premise; so the weight that is intended to be on the player’s shoulders is not really quite there, due to just general overuse. It would be nice if there was a more unique twist added to the plot to further distinguish Iron Danger from other games.

Gameplay

            Pros:

• There is no need to explain further as to why Iron Danger has such cool gameplay — time manipulation is amazing and makes big battles especially epic.
• The capacity for strategic creativity during battles is impressive and is most satisfying. There is a good degree of planning and trial-and-error that goes into playing, but it adds a challenging element that a lot of tactical combat games lack, especially when considering that the player must play two characters the entire time.
• Navigation in terms of being able to adjust gameplay/graphics/audio is straightforward and easy to use.
• It’s actually very nice that there is no significant farming involved in order to move forward.

            Cons:

• Fighting gameplay controls take a bit to get used to. I had some confusion as to which characters I was controlling, and understanding the mechanics of it all + its relationship with the time-manipulation does take quite a bit of time to get down and learn. But I’d say it is worth it, considering it felt extra rewarding when I finally was able to land an effective attack and dodge.
• Like other RPGs, the game progresses in levels and requires the player to get to a certain location/battle in order to proceed. The only regrettable thing is the way this is set up becomes easily predictable and less interesting (after a while). I believe the entire exciting gameplay almost sets the player up for disappointment when they see that battles become monotonous and not as exciting as they initially seem.

Reviewer’s Opinion

Iron Danger is a beautiful game with such unique tactical gameplay that it stands to be in its own genre of RPG gaming. One can tell the hard work and endless planning that went into making it when one considers the sophistication in combat, graphics, and interactive ways that players can destroy enemies. There are some small improvements that could be made, but they are not enough to significantly hurt its appeal. I am sure that Iron Danger will do very well in mesmerizing gamers into playing it for hours (like me).

Score: 7.5/10

Check Out the Iron Danger Steam Feature Trailer:

Iron Danger releases for PC via Steam on March 25, 2020. You can wishlist the game right now.