SteamDolls - Order of Chaos - Early Access Impressions
SteamDolls - Order of Chaos is a stealth action game with a stellar voice cast.
SteamDolls - Order of Chaos. Credit: The Shady Gentlemen / Top Hat Studios
David Hayter, Solid Snake himself, voices The Whisper, the main character of SteamDolls - Order of Chaos, now available on Steam in Early Access. His voice will be immediately familiar to a lot of gamers. Though his participation isn’t going to sway a large swath of the audience to check out the game, it was enough to pique my interest. The cast is rounded out with other AAA voice talent, such as Jennifer Hale and Christopher Randolph.
From the game’s Steam page:
Enter the world of Steamdolls in this narrative-driven stealth-meets-action adventure. Step into the blood-drenched shoes of The Whisper, played by David Hayter, and entrench yourself in the shadows of a labyrinthine city gone mad. You will know 4 words: ACTION, EXPLORATION, STEALTH, AND BLOOD.
Steam Dolls - Order of Chaos is a stealth-action platformer that takes place in a steampunk industrial nightmare. The story has legs; the setting is interesting, and there’s a lot of color added thanks to the game’s voicework, little stories you see in the form of memories you experience by hacking, and other detailed touches.
I found both stealth and combat to be a bit frustrating; it was too easy to get spotted and something felt a bit off about attack timing and the hitboxes. You can spend energy to turn off the alarm state after you get spotted, but if you don’t do that, enemies just stay on alert, which I found to be a bit too punishing, considering how easily I seemed to get noticed.
SteamDolls - Order of Chaos. Credit: The Shady Gentlemen / Top Hat Studios
I liked the game’s gritty visual design and steampunk aesthetic. In gameplay, however, the 2D graphics look a bit flat and sometimes lack contrast. Perhaps better lighting effects would make the art pop a little more.
The press materials I received for the game cite several notable inspirations for SteamDolls’ gameplay and world. Castlevania, Hollow Knight, Dead Cells, and Bloodborne. I could see the DNA of those games in SteamDolls, but in its current Early Access state, the game fails to live up to any of them. I think the game may achieve its lofty aspirations, since the developers state it will be in Early Access for up to a year and a half, which is plenty of time to achieve the level of polish it would need, but as of this moment it’s not there yet.
SteamDolls - Order of Chaos is available now on Steam in Early Access.
Played on: Steam Deck
