Climb giant bosses in Praey for the Gods, coming to Steam Early Access tomorrow

Praey for the Gods, a chilly action adventure with more than a hint of Shadow of the Colossus, launches on Steam Early Access tomorrow, following a successful Kickstarter in 2016. Take a gander at the striking launch trailer above.

It’s an open world romp populated by massive bosses that you can clamber up on your journey to discover why the heck the world is so cold. Perpetual winter might be all right if you’re a giant and covered in fur, but it’s less of a hoot if you’re a scrawny human kid.

Like its inspiration, it's got an air of mystery, with only cryptic paintings hinting at what's going on, though I confess I'm far more interested in finding something to climb. Shadow of the Colossus’ quiet, melancholy story gets a lot of love, but honestly you could strip all that out and just leave the big beasties and it would still be great. The excellent Dragon’s Dogma proved that you don’t need good writing to make a game about climbing monsters wonderful.

While Praey for the Gods looks promising, the name is like a knife to my eyes. It’s a shame, really. It was originally called Prey for the Gods, but Bethesda decided to throw its weight around and get litigious. The publisher claimed that the name infringed on the Prey trademark, and while it seems like a big stretch, developer No Matter Studios wasn’t in a position to challenge it. The game was funded by Kickstarter backers, and the team didn’t want to spend that money on a legal battle.

No Matter Studios says that the core game is “solid” after two years of closed alpha and beta testing, and the list of features promised to backers has been implemented. The developer wants to do more, however, adding “additional content” as well as polish and optimisation. It’s expected to remain in Early Access between six months and a year.

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.