Gods, Death And Reapers Is Diablo Mixed With Escape From Tarkov

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One of my favorite Switch games to play years ago, apart from Nintendo's releases, was actually Diablo 3. The classic Diablo gameplay mixed with grinding and looting was so much fun to play on the go. That feeling continued with Diablo 4 and other similar games on the Steam Deck, and that’s what initially drew me to Wolcen Studio. Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem was a blast to play, so when I heard about their newest game, Project Pantheon, I was intrigued. I went into the preview session for the game blind, not sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw.

Project Pantheon, which goes by Gods, Death and Reapers, puts an interesting spin on the top-down hack-and-slash looter. It takes the proven gameplay and adds in Escape From Tarkov’s extraction elements. So, we will be going in with our created character to fight in PvPvE levels, getting as much loot as we can, completing side quests, and getting out of there in one piece. And if we die, we lose out on the equipment we picked up, so we have to be extra careful not to die.

The extraction mechanics in a game like this are pretty cool to see and feel like something I don’t see often in this genre. The extraction portals you may find also have different requirements to activate. One may make you face waves of enemies, while another you can get out just by paying currency. However, the setting and story are what will really convince me to play. The gods have mysteriously died, so we will be traveling around a world that has to survive without any gods to protect it.

The game will start off with Norse gods, which we can find and see across the map, but the team plans on expanding to other mythologies, like Egyptian and Greek. Hearing about it initially made me think of God of War, but I’m excited to see that they aren’t limiting themselves to just sticking with Norse. Each mythology will have its own map, filled with its respective fallen gods. As much as I would have loved to see one giant map with all the fallen gods existing, I can still understand the smaller maps with targeted themes.

The game is largely focused as a single-player experience, and that solo extraction PvPvE will be the main mode. There will be party modes released at some point, so you can go in with one or two friends, but it sounds like the focus will be on the solo experience. There will also be a story mode that is playable offline, which will be a great option for those who may be playing on the Steam Deck or another portable device.

Your hub in between runs is also quite interesting. There will be a bunch of different buildings to utilize, like a forge, but they need to be powered by the main building to utilize them. You’ll have to get a constant supply of fuel to keep them going, encouraging multiple playthroughs. This did set me back a little, but I’ll keep an open mind to see how it gets implemented.

I also want to take a moment to compliment Wolcen Studio’s development process. They have gone with a community-focused development, going through multiple closed alpha waves to test different parts of the game and get feedback. They also committed to a four-month update cycle post-release and eventual console releases with cross-play compatibility.

Throughout the preview, I found myself at a loss for words a few times. I wanted to ask more questions, but I was enchanted by the gameplay. It has that same Diablo-like vibe, but with added intensity to get in and extract to make sure to keep loot. It was chaotic in all the right ways, and it made me hope I get selected for the next playtest so I can try it for myself.

I mentioned the Steam Deck earlier, and I did ask about compatibility. Surprisingly, Wolcen said that the game already runs and has been tested on the Steam Deck. There isn’t gamepad support implemented yet, but with their expected console releases, it’s only a matter of time before that changes. They are aiming for 60 FPS at 1080p resolution on a GTX 1650, so they feel pretty confident it will be completely playable and enjoyable on the go.

Gods, Death and Reapers looks like an awesome, unique take on this formula, injecting extraction mechanics into Diablo-like gameplay. I can’t wait to see how it evolves and what the team will do to expand the game further, and how they will incorporate other mythologies. Time will tell, but it’s shaping up to be a game to watch for sure.

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