Games based on the Robin Hood universe haven’t had much luck lately. In 2021, the PvPvE action game Hood: Outlaws & Legends was released, which turned out to be uninteresting and monotonous. Now Appeal Studios, known for… the game based on the show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” 2020 release has prepared a new project about the famous archer called Gangs of Sherwood. Find out what came of it in this short review.
Gangs of Sherwood is a third-person co-op action game based on the legend of Robin Hood. Although no one forbids you to play alone or even offline. However, it is not recommended to do this, since an already boring game in this case turns into torture.
There are four characters in total to choose from. Of these, the only one that seemed more or less interesting to me was the assassin girl Marian, who fights in close combat. She is able to perform various spectacular combos and evade enemies, which makes battles dynamic. The rest look quite faded against her background. One could highlight Robin Hood himself, but the gameplay for him is spoiled by inconvenient keyboard and mouse controls. Just think about it: his aimed attack with a bow is assigned to Alt, and the right mouse button is responsible for melee combat. You will rightly object, “So change the controls in the settings. I found the problem too.” However, the fact is that you cannot change the controls. Therefore, you have to play as the developers said. However, it is possible that this will be fixed in future updates.
The gameplay for Robin Hood is quite simple – regular attacks are homing, but have a small radius. A targeted shot must be charged, and it deals more damage. Little John is a fighter who fights at close range with his fists. When playing with it, you need to hold down the attack button and release it at the right moment to inflict maximum damage. It sounds interesting, but in reality it’s not that much fun. Finally, Brother Took delivers powerful sweeping attacks at a relatively low speed. I wasn’t interested in playing for him either.
I can’t describe the levels themselves in any other words than “ordinary.” They don’t stand out in any way, but they can’t be called bad either. We are asked to go from point “A” to point “B”, periodically fighting with enemies and sometimes completing certain tasks (destroy several generators, save several prisoners, and so on). There are even loot spots that can only be unlocked by certain characters. The problem is that going through them is more or less interesting only the first time. The game offers absolutely nothing to achieve any replay value. In addition, skipping cutscenes is prohibited here (except for the briefing), so you will have to watch them over and over again.
Gangs of Sherwood is not, let’s say, an It Takes Two type of game that you play through once with friends, enjoy it, and move on. It is designed specifically for grinding, but even with this task it copes only so well. Leveling up here is boring, entirely dependent on earning gold. You just go through the same levels, earn gold and unlock new skills that don’t so much make your character stronger, but open up alternative options in the combat system to customize your build.
One of the most controversial decisions is that each character has individual gold. In other words, you cannot earn money into a common treasury to use it as you please. It’s understandable when the level of all characters increases separately, but so that the gold isn’t shared? Apparently Robin Hood’s team is too greedy to share with each other.
The plot in Gangs of Sherwood is clearly done for show. It’s not interesting to follow, and it’s mostly presented as a puppet show before the mission begins. Although, in principle, this would not be a problem if the gameplay was done at the proper level – after all, most people don’t go to grind games for the sake of the story. The game itself also looks dull and unremarkable, and the musical accompaniment is not at all pleasing. Surprisingly, despite not the most modern graphics, the game was not released on the last generation of consoles.
Don’t forget that Gangs of Sherwood sells for $40 or 2,100 rubles on Steam. If you are going to play with friends, then multiply this number by 4. The game is clearly not worth that amount, and I would not recommend buying it at a big discount either. Otherwise, you risk becoming one of those rich people from whom Robin Hood steals money.
As a result, Gangs of Sherwood has only one thing to praise – the idea. A cooperative action game based on the Robin Hood universe really sounds great, but the implementation leaves much to be desired. Going through the levels here is boring even the first time, not to mention clearing it again for the sake of farming. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this game to anyone, especially for the price they are asking for it.