SKA Studios’ Salt and Sanctuary recently launched on Steam. The game has been a highly anticipated project from the developers that brought you Charlie Murder. For anyone who has taken a liking to Wolf Brew Games’ Slain!, you’ll probably instantly fall in love with Salt and Sanctuary.

Players take on the role of a customizable sailor shipwrecked on a forgotten isle that contains the proverbial unspeakable horrors and hidden evils. It’s up to players to battle through the forces of the undead and attempt to leave the island in one piece.

The gameplay is centered around hack-and-slash combat with a huge variety of different weapon types, ranging from spears and axes to swords and hammers and just about everything else in between.

The character customization is rather steep, with the ability to modify hair, skin color, the character’s name, their origin, eye color, class and effects.

You can get an idea of what the early parts of the gameplay is like with a Let’s Play video from YouTuber Keith Ballard. Check it out below.

I know people hate when broad sweeping comparisons are made for a game, but Salt and Sanctuary is pretty much like a combination of Dark Souls and Don’t Starve.

Players will be able collect and forge over 600 different weapons, items and armor pieces, as well as explore cities, dungeons, caves and castles. It’s not an easy game going by the user reviews available at the moment, but it does appear to be a very fun game judging by the very positive review rating.

The art-style seems somewhat reminiscent of Darkest Dungeon and Silence of the Sleep. There’s a very stark and ominous overtone to the depiction of the game world and the characters within. The mixture of horror-fiends and classical monsters also adds to the game’s foreboding atmosphere.

If you’re in the mood for a really grim-dark side-scroller with collectible items, level scaling, hard-as-nails bosses and unforgiving challenges, you can check out Salt and Sanctuary right now by picking up a digital copy over on the Steam store for $17.99. For further information on the game feel free to visit the official website.

(Main image courtesy of OctavioX5)