Despite graphics and computational power reaching all new heights in today’s era of technology, we don’t get many video games that take advantage of such features. For instance, way back in the day we had some games that made use of dismemberment and advanced swordplay, such as Bushido Blade or the Jedi Knight series. These days we have nothing… with the exception of Clock Drive Games’ Warlander, which recently released for PC.

The game is a dark-fantasy title set in a violent world where players will wield a lightsaber-inspired sword and will attempt to hack, slash, slice, and split their way through a number of enemies in the budget-priced outing.

You can get a glimpse of what the gameplay is like with the launch trailer below.

Players take on the role of a resurrected hero given immense powers and a tree-hilted lightsaber to fight against and dismember his foes as he attempts to save his planet from a hostile takeover.

The story is identical to so many other stories out there, but funnily enough it shares a plot not unlike Valfaris, only Therion didn’t need any help cleansing his planet of illegal aliens; he just killed everything that got in his path, took their weapons, and killed them some more. That really is a truly badass game with an equally awesome soundtrack. Definitely check it out if you haven’t already.

Anyway, Warlander is described as being Dark Souls meets Slay The Spire. I would say it’s similar to Dark Souls meets Extinction. Instead of just being able to slice and dice enemies into mince meat, you have to target their weak areas and hack away at them until the armor cracks and said weak areas are exposed.

You’ll play through a procedurally generated map and you’ll need to slice and dice enemies into offerings in order to open up new skills and upgrade your abilities.

To make things a little difficult for the average player, there is a permadeath feature, so you can’t go flailing about wildly and without purpose, because if you die you’ll have to start from the beginning.

Unfortunately the game has some mixed reviews due to clunky combat controls and stiff animations, making the game feel less-than-responsive and poorly balanced.

Hopefully the developers take time to read through the feedback and make some adjustments to the game so it feels smoother and more fluid, because if they manage to do so then this might be a nice successor to the Jedi Knight series we’ll never receive.

You can learn more about Warlander, which is currently available for $14.99, by visiting the Steam store page.

(Thanks for the news tip Quickshooter)