The Astronauts are a Warsaw, Poland based developer that rose from the ashes of People Can Fly who brought awesome hits such as Painkiller and Bulletstorm who eventually reformed into The Astronauts that brought 2014’s The Vanishing of Ethan Carter. Phew, now here we are all these later with a surprising beautiful but brutal Witchfire that has completely taken me by surprise.

When I first dove into this gorgeous game, I immediately went rushing out to face my supernatural enemies and hunt down “The Witch” but little did I know I was diving head first into my first of many deaths. I had no idea Witchfire was more soulslike than FPS. You WILL die. You WILL be frustrated unless you are prepared for what lies ahead. I had to carefully dispatch and run away single enemies to level up which starts to open health potion brewing, etc. This is not an easy, walk through the park type FPS. It’s brutally difficult but also extremely rewarding with a level of polish rarely seen in Early Access games.

Even though I am early on in the game, I can’t wait to inch my way through expeditions (levels) and find more treasure, secrets, and hopefully weapons in this amazingly unique game. If you are looking for a challenge and want something outside the cookie cutter formula of soulslike or FPS, Witchfire is your jam. It’s available in Early Access now on PC via the Epic Games Store.