Tears of Metal key art
Image: Paper Cult

Could William Wallace take Lu Bu in a fight? Sadly, that's a question that Tears of Metal isn't interested in answering... At least, not yet. But at least you can put the famous Scottish knight and an assortment of other highland heroes through their paces today, as Paper Cult's historical roguelike co-op hack n' slasher makes its early access debut.

Set in a parallel, slightly fantastical timeline where a vast metal-rich meteor has attracted foreign (read 'English') invaders to the Scottish highlands, it's up to Clan McLeod and pals to gear up and stab thousands of dudes. While framed very differently due to its roguelike structure, Tears of Metal's core will be familiar to anyone who has ever played a Musou game - the genre defined by Dynasty Warriors - with support for up to four players in co-op and (as is also genre tradition) a chugging guitar-heavy soundtrack.

Each battle has you wading into the enemy ranks in simple, combo-driven hack n' slash combat. While rank-and-file grunts can be cut down like grass, the enemy commanders are your main target, and the biggest threat to your customizable swarm of NPC allies. So far, so Musou, but the battles tend to be short, sharp encounters capped off with you picking one of several upgrades to claim to improve your character build for that run.

Between runs, you can recruit troops and assign them to your formations, giving your allies some more advantages, then pick your next battle from a branching encounter map. Some areas are just enemy strongholds, others will have perks like merchants or bonus resources to claim. So far, so standard for the genre. There is a bigger focus on protecting your troops than your average Dynasty Warriors, especially as they can be canned on to perform big special attacks, like calling in an arrow barrage clearing a path through enemies ahead of you.

Paper Cult isn't making any bets on how long the game will be in early access. They estimate between 4 and 12 months until the final release, with their final goals to be decided by sales and player feedback. The current version contains the full core loop of the game, including roguelite-ish metaprogression. There are three acts (each capped off with a boss fight), three of five planned playable heroes, plus four-player co-op. This, of course, means that at least one of your Scottish heroes is going to have to be cloned, but I guess they've got the technology.

Tears of Metal is out now for £20/$25, with a small 10% launch discount until August 5th and plans for the base price to increase as the game nears its final release. The demo is sadly no longer available, and Paper Cult hopes to have an updated roadmap for the game soon, detailing what else to expect from now until the game's final launch.