'Scottish dark fantasy Dynasty Warriors' sounds like a game pitch from a fever dream, but this roguelike demo proves it's got juice

The 1995 Mel Gibson film Braveheart, a fictionalized retelling of the battles of Scottish knight William Wallace during the First War of Scottish Independence, was full of blatant historical inaccuracies: Its dates were wrong, its dress was anachronistic, and—worst of all—it didn't even cover the period in Wallace's life when a demonic meteor fell into the heart of Scotland, turning the occupying English forces into an army of corrupted mutants clad in molten, accursed iron.

While I'll admit that last bit isn't often acknowledged by historical consensus, it is the basis for Tears of Metal, an upcoming hack-and-slash roguelike with a playable demo on Steam. It's a dark fantasy Dynasty Warriors following a legion of displaced Scots—a combination I didn't know I was missing, but one I'm happy to report is sick.

Tears of Metal's look is its biggest strength. It's decked out in thick, sketchy comic book style, with scribbled highlights and streaks of effect accents punctuating the by-the-dozens dismemberment of hapless English footmen.

And the Hades-esque run progression doesn't hurt, either. As you advance from battle to battle as one of Tears of Metal's commander characters—limited to our man Willaim in the demo—you'll gain upgrades that add new effects to your attacks, dodges, and blocks. Like how a God's boons are built around specific mechanic synergies in Hades, the upgrades in Tears of Metal are tied to themed clans.

Clan Caithness, for example, is "a clan of artisan and glass workers who believe that the bonds of a thousand is stronger than the will of one." Their upgrades let attacks fire damaging light beams that chain between enemies, and others apply a "Refracted" debuff causing foes to take additional chain damage.

In one run, I'd cobbled together enough Caithness perks to turn William Wallace into a one-man armada of energy weaponry, able to afflict swaths of enemies with Refracted with light attack sweeps while heavy attack combo finishers sent lasers lancing through whole regiments.

Other clans offer radial Smite damage, or orbs that seek out and damage enemies when collected, or stackable delayed damage debuffs that chunk heavy amounts of health when they expire. Collectible charms, unlockable allies, and between-run upgrades to your character's equipment and the troops under their command feel like they'll provide plenty of potential synergies to tinker with in the full version.

If there's anything I'd want to see more of from Tears of Metal, it's a bit more visual weight to the combat. Even with the grit and grime of the graphic novel graphics, landing hits could use a bit more punch. Some chunky hitstop could go a long way here, but I'll confess I'm a little biased.

Either way, Tears of Metal has already caught my interest, and I'll be eager for more highlander hack-and-slash at launch. Tears of Metal is scheduled to launch sometime before the end of 2025, and you can wishlist it on Steam now.