The Iron Oath - Early Access Impressions

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The Iron Oath Early Access Impressions

Artwork of character silhouettes from The Iron Oath.

If you've ever fancied being the leader of your very own mercenary group, then perhaps The Iron Oath is already on your radar. Having recently entered Early Access on Steam, developer Curious Panda Games' second release is already off to a great start; while some of our readers may have been burned in the past by Early Access games that never reached full release, The Iron Oath's team are proactive with both updates and communication. If you have ambitions of dungeon-delving alongside your personal band of merry mercs, read on for our impressions of the game in its current state.

Conceptually, The Iron Oath obviously draws inspiration from other games but very much has its own identity through its visuals and world-building. For example, you'll feel right at home with its mercenary management and dungeon exploration if you've played Darkest Dungeon, yet the execution of its influences is original. The Iron Oath utilises many different systems that operate in tandem, and all of them need to be closely monitored by the player to maximise the chance of success.

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Overall, my experience with The Iron Oath was very enjoyable. I'm glad I initially replayed the tutorial level. While I'm familiar with similar games in the genre, The Iron Oath wants to stand apart from them and establish its own gameplay flow. It's a very polished Early Access game, and that extends to every facet of its development. There's even an in-game feedback function, allowing players to report any issues on the fly. The developers have already pushed out four updates at time of writing: two smaller updates and two "regular" updates. The patch notes reflect the enthusiasm driving the game to its completion, with changes including bugfixes, balance adjustments, client optimisations, and more.