Based on my early (and extremely limited) exposure to Hammerwatch II by virtue of its PC demo, I can confidently say that things are shaping up rather well indeed for Crackshell’s top-down dungeon crawler sequel. A somewhat different beast to Heroes of Hammerwatch, which focused on procedural generated content and roguelite design, Hammerwatch II instead takes a much more handcrafted approach to the whole affair, conjuring up a roundly more ambitious genre offering that arguably has more in common with the likes of Diablo than perhaps anything else.
Hammerwatch II Demo Preview
Crackshell’s Dungeon Crawling Sequel Comes Out Swinging
As it is, the Hammerwatch II demo only allows players to choose from a couple of classes – a ranger and a wizard – with just the smallest chunk of the game world available. That said, there’s still enough to be gleaned from the Hammerwatch II demo to provide a decent impression about what to expect from Crackshell’s next effort a good few months ahead of its late 2023 release window.
Right off the bat, it’s obvious that significant work has been done on the visual side of things. Though Hammerwatch II still resolutely boasts the same PSOne era pixel-art style visuals that so charmingly characterised Heroes of Hammerwatch and Hammerwatch before it, in Hammerwatch II takes things up a notch with the implementation of some neat bloom, light and fog techniques that serve to impressively layer the world in ways that are quite unexpected.
Speaking of the world, Hammerwatch II looks set to expand greatly upon the realms glimpsed in its predecessors with a much broader, almost open-world environment where players can roam, speak to NPCs, take on quests, engage with merchants and enter into various caves, dungeons and more that are all appended to it.
In short, exploring the much more open world of Hammerwatch II is something that, even at this early stage, is something you’ll want to do. Whether you’re stumbling across a pirate den filled with bloodthirsty scallywags, or uncovering a cave with hidden treasure that lay within, there’s always something to keep you busy in Hammerwatch II beyond hammering enemies into a thick red paste.
One problem that would seem rear its somewhat ugly head at this stage is in how quests are handled. While the presence of quests is welcome – as is the ability to take on a great many of them at the same time – tracking them can be somewhat problematic in that when a quest is active, you’re not really given any UI pointers at this stage about even the general direction where your goal might lie. Now while this might be to the taste of some who are looking for a more decidedly hardcore experience with less hand-holding, for others it makes Hammerwatch II seem less accessible than it might otherwise appear.
Beyond such things, Hammerwatch II also manages to nail genre fundamentals reassuringly well. Combat is satisfyingly agile, with players able to execute and mix up melee and ranged attacks easily, while handy evasion moves allow you to put some distance between you and your foes if things are headed south. Elsewhere, collecting new gear and crafting new items is also a pleasingly straightforward venture, while teaming up with friends certainly (as is the case with other offerings in the genre) make the whole experience that much more enjoyable and compelling to boot.
Though Diablo IV stands tall in the dungeon crawler genre, Hammerwatch II already feels like that it brings enough to the table to make it a worthwhile alternative. If Crackshell can deliver on its promise of an epic world filled with compelling quests and progression, not to mention secrets, nooks and crannies that beg to be explored, then Hammerwatch II could be quite the treat when it storms onto PS4 and PS5 later this year.
Hammerwatch II releases for PS4 and PS5 sometime later in 2023.
Hammerwatch II PC demo kindly provided by PR.