Hyperstrange and Crunching Koalas recently launched Elderborn into Early Access on the Steam store. The game is currently available for $19.99 but given that it just recently launched, during the first week of release you can get a copy for 20% off the normal price for only $15.99.

The single-player, hack-and-slash dungeon crawler sees players using their sword and shield skills to cut, bash, slash, pierce, impale, and slice your way through a number of undead enemies.

The game is described as “heavy metal melee combat” given its focus on skill-based melee encounters and having to use timing and proper swinging attacks to parry and strike down your foes. You can get a glimpse of what the gameplay is like with the gameplay video below courtesy of Nokzen.

At first glance you might be inclined to think that this is yet another game much like City of Brass, especially given the abundance of traps that must be avoided and the light parkour elements that are sold as a backdrop to the game’s hardy sword-swinging action.

However, Elderborn has a much steeper difficulty curve to it, especially as more heavily armored foes come into the picture. We see that enemies with swords and shields will block many of your attacks, forcing you to have to adapt and find ways to get around to their back, not unlike Techland’s Hellraid or Bitsquid’s War of Roses.

Hyperstrange has plans on finishing the game up and moving it out of Early Access between the first and second quarter of 2019. So it’s likely going to be in Early Access for around six months or so.

The team still has to add in more gameplay content, more enemies, more weapons, and more stages, along with collectibles, power-ups, and additional language support and optimizations.

You can learn more about Elderborn by visiting the Steam store page or checking out some of the user reviews to get an idea of how actual gamers feel about the first-person hack-and-slash title.

(Thanks for the news tip Hawk Hopper)