Why you should be excited about the gorgeous, free-to-play “swordpunk” brawler, Warhaven

There are a few surefire ways to tell if a game is going to be big. First, you look at the Steam wishlists for it. If it has 352,000 people eager to snatch it up and put it in their libraries, you know you’re onto a winner. If you see that over 3.5 million people have watched the reveal trailer, you know there’s some quite intense curiosity popping off around the world. When the beta alone attracts nearly 200,000 people, the game becomes hard to ignore.

Enter Warhaven, then. The game sells itself as “a free-to-play, PvP sword action game that offers a novel melee combat experience in a medieval fantasy warfare.” Think of it as a hero shooter, with swords. A PvP experience that trades the sci-fi guns and blasters of the genre for something more rooted; a gritty, boots-on-the-ground fantasy that’s more into iron than it is plasma.

Often, melee combat games that revolve around massive sword fights and jostling to get your zweihander under an enemy’s breastplate are quite complicated. ‘Medieval action’ and ‘simulation’ often go hand-in-hand. Warhaven is more interested in letting you live the fantasy of a ‘swordpunk’ knight than it is in being overly complicated. Basic attack and jump controls, complemented by simple active skills and a cooldown system, make this game easy to pick up and understand.

With accessibility in mind, Warhaven lets you switch between play styles on the fly – if the Blade character (read: warrior) isn’t working out for you, then perhaps Guardian (the tank) or Smoke (the healer) will be more your speed instead. New characters are planned every three months, too, to keep the meta fresh and keep your enemies guessing.

But what do you get for dominating your enemy? Well, if you score enough kills (or assists, or objective points – which is refreshing in this sort of combat scenario), you will be able to transform your selected hero into an ‘Immortal’. These god-like beings have immense magical powers and supernatural abilities; kill-streaks on legs, to put it simply. When transformed into one of these four immortals, you can wreak unique havoc on the battlefield for a limited time and, ultimately, change the tide of each match.

From what we’ve seen so far, Warhaven looks like it wants to position itself as an alternative to other hero-based PvP games – you know, the kind where you get left behind if you don’t get very, very good, in a very, very quick manner. Warhaven sells itself as a game that allows more casual players to penetrate the genre; want to squad up with players that have been playing for months? Go ahead! Want to find a squire that’ll take you in as their ward? It’s all part of that swordpunk fantasy.

During Gamescom 2023, Warhaven revealed several new videos including the origin story of one of its major characters, Blade. You can catch a quick blurb about the character below:

From a noble lineage, Blade's world shattered at 14 when false treason accusations led to his parents' execution. Though Blade’s youth saved him from the same fate, he transformed into a mercenary seeking vengeance. He is determined to continue his revenge on the battlefield until everyone who betrayed his parents would remain unburied, their spirits never knowing rest.

The idea of grizzled, battle-hardened veterans charging into battle with newly-recruited greenhorns at their side – it’s a fantasy Iike not many others I’ve seen in games. And it’s exciting, especially since the intent from the developer end is that the simple controls and intense teamwork pair up in a fluid, engaging way. Knowing that collaboration breeds strategy and creativity… it’s an exciting premise that promises to refresh that ‘hero shooter’ formula for a whole new genre.

Warhaven comes to early access on Steam on September 21. You can learn more about the game and register your interest to play at the link.