Gangs of Sherwood Review

Robin Hood and Little John walkin’ through the forest,
laughin’ back and forth at what the other has to say.

Prepped to do some parryin’ and some bad team carryin’
Oo-de-lally, oo-de-lally, golly what a game…

Who woulda thunk that the world would turn so steampunk?
Well, I guess that’s just style of today.
Just stack yourself with weapons ’cos its time to teach some lessons in a cavalcade of multiplayer melee

Robin Hood and Little John slaughter through the forest,
crushing skulls and cleaving heads, time to make ‘em pay.
Gatherin’ up all the gold and praying that the frame rate holds

Oo-de-lally, oo-de-lally, golly what a game…

Oo-de lally, oo-de-lally go-lly what a game…

Y’know, there’s been a heap o’ media that tells tales about Robin Hood. All different too. Well, those folks over at Nacon have their own version. It’s an RPG-brawler tellin’ what really happened in Sherwood Forest…

Oh, incidentally, I’m Chris Moyse. A Videogame Critic. That’s an early-day Content Creator. And my job is to tell it like it is.. or was.. or whatever…

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The Outlaws of Sherwood Forest take the fight to the regime.

Produced by Appeal Studios - an incredibly quiet subsidiary of gaming giant THQ Nordic - Gangs of Sherwood represents the Belgian developer’s biggest and most ambitious release to date, having cut its teeth on smaller releases such as The Bluecoats: North & South (2020), and licensed titles such as Who Wants to be a Millionaire (2020) and Fort Boyard (2019). Interestingly, while this pedigree suggests that the production of a Gen-9 action-adventure is way out of the studio’s comfort zone, the creativity and ambition on display here frankly leaves one wishing the team had been given such an opportunity earlier.

Gangs of Sherwood is an adaptation of the real-life (read: almost entirely phony) story of outlaw Robin Hood, who stole from the rich to give to the poor, had an almost supernatural archery ability, and turned an entire generation into furries. In this particular take on the legend - which is set in an alternate timeline - medieval England has already begun to master alchemic machinery, facilitated by the discovery of a mysterious gemstone during The Crusades, dubbed “The Lionheart”. This stone has advanced Britain’s technology far beyond its years, enabling sky travel, elemental control, and hyper-destructive weaponry.

World Beating, as The Tories might say/lie.

Of course, these technological advancements have only emboldened makeshift monarch Emperor John in his efforts to oppress the British classes, draining them of all of their coin as they toil in mines and factories to build ever-more-devastating weaponry from the government. Through the ruthless figure of the Sheriff of Nottingham, the government keeps the people poor, exhausted and submissive, with those who dare oppose the regime meeting a swift and miserable end.

The only hope for the underprivileged lays with The Resistance: a rebellious underground movement that aims to topple the leadership and return ill-gotten riches to the pockets of the people. From a base hidden deep within Sherwood Forest, Resistance leader Robin of Loxley plots against Emperor John’s regime, striving for the day when justice will be served to the people of Nottingham.

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(1 of 2) The discovery of the Lionheart stone has advanced technology several eons

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The discovery of the Lionheart stone has advanced technology several eons (left), allowing for the creation of some devastating weaponry (right)

Gangs of Sherwood is a multiplayer-centric action-RPG that allows one to four players to team up to battle back against the system. Robin is aided by the disgraced hero of The Crusades, Little John, the booze-swilling man of the clergy, Friar Tuck, and former noblewoman assassin (and the sheriff’s very own wayward daughter) Maid Marian. A motley crew indeed.

Once the players have selected their favorite outlaw, it’s time to leave Sherwood and head into battle, pushing out from the hub-world hideout of The Great Oak and waging war in the forests, cities, marshlands, mines, and castles of Nottingham City. Each mission consists of a lengthy running battle, with the party rescuing prisoners, stealing treasures, murdering tax collectors, and generally engaging with increasingly adept squads of the sheriff’s soldiers - ultimately working toward the mission’s objective, which is typically an act of sabotage, reconnaissance, assassination, or rescue.

Combat and movement in GoS take their cue from the Soulslike genre, with a similarly recognizable control system and familiar mechanics including light and heavy attacks, guarding, parries, and dodging. But GoS sports a distinctly “arcade” feel, with a strong emphasis on speed, momentum and more than a fair share of total, unabashed chaos. Each of the outlaws has a unique fighting style, from the ranged sharpshooting of Robin and the skilled swordswomanship of Marian, to the thunderous, ground-shaking mace blows of Friar Tuck, and the good, old-fashioned fisticuffs of Little John.

Teamwork is the order of the day, with players encouraged to synergize the party’s chosen characters, skills, and abilities to overwhelm the enemy, equalizing the sheriff’s strength in numbers with smart team strategy. To this end, the maps of GoS have been effectively designed for co-op play. There are typically multiple routes in and out of each battlefield, complete with high ground for top sniping opportunities, and open territory for those who prefer to get up close and personal. It is the game’s understanding of the multiplayer formula that makes the team-based combat both entertaining and satisfying. The action is powered by a legitimate sense that each player is bringing their own bespoke dynamism to the fight.

Each outlaw has a slew of attacks, typically activated through combinations of the Light and Heavy buttons and extremely distinct from one another. Little John’s punch combos work on a rhythmic basis, and builds towards devastating area attacks. Marian is able to stack her damage with throwing daggers, before unleashing full fury with her sword combos. Tuck is a mace-swinging maniac, able to crush his opponents, ground pound, and even pick up fallen foes for human projectile mayhem. Robin is, of course, the master of the bow, and has an array of mythical attacks with which to inflict long-range death upon his enemies.

These are merely the tip of the arrowhead, however, as further combos, as well as offensive and defensive boons, are purchasable between missions… Well, all that reclaimed tax has gotta be spent on something, right? Artifacts can be equipped in battle to apply numerous effects to your outlaw. Finishing moves are also available, which see the heroes take down weakened foes with cool action cutscenes. Additionally, consistent combos build the “Rebel Instinct” status, which temporarily boosts the outlaw’s health while supercharging their abilities. And thus, as you may well have noticed, our heroes are stacked with warfaring tools, making them a little less “Merry Men” and a bit more “Suicide Squad”.

Ultimately, though, melee and ranged combat is 90% of all gameplay in Gangs of Sherwood, so all of this variety and evolution is extremely welcome. Between the four characters and their respective skill trees and abilities, the button-bashing action is kept fresh on a mission-to-mission basis which helps to keep Brawler Fatigue at bay.

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The party is graded at the end of each encounter, with bonus gold and Favor up for grabs

It’s this engaging combat, frequent and frenzied battles, and ever-present sense of teamwork that gives Gangs of Sherwood its core sense of swashbuckling spirit. Whilst we’ve all melee’d through many a world, GoS - even with its anachronistic setting - manages to conjure up an old-school spirit of thigh-slapping adventure. While the presentation is perhaps more technological, hard-edged, and aggressively violent than in Errol Flynn’s heyday, GoS authentically blends the spirit of golden-age adventure with modern gaming aesthetics without betraying either era.

This is demonstrated through elements such as its party of happy-go-lucky (read: smug-ass) heroes - all of whom display sociopathic glee in the face of death. A variety of environmental kills: such as firing arrows to open trap doors, pulling down watchtowers, and even knocking beehives onto enemies’ heads for some My Girl terror, all recalls the technicolor action pictures of yore.

Best of all, however, each mission (which generally begins in media res) is introduced with a mechanical puppet show. Presented by mischievous minstrel (and Resistance Propagandist) Alan-a-Dale, the scene is set for the upcoming stage with these absolutely charming pieces of mini-theater. These sequences are directly representative of the studio’s creativity when it comes to world-building, and are a key component of *GoS’*s personality.

All of this olde-tyme, cinema serial, pantomime silliness is a bit tonally-jarring when presented alongside the campaign’s narrative darkness. But, even in this anachronistic environment, the overall attempt to replicate golden-age adventure still fits snugly. Crucially, Gangs of Sherwood - despite its cold and hardened world - still boasts bags of warmth and charm.

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Eschewing cutscenes, Alan-a-Dale regales the story through delightful puppet shows.

While the character models are admittedly a tad underwhelming, the locales in Gangs of Sherwood look glorious. The greeneries and waterfalls of Sherwood Forest, the devastated, burning village of Loxley, dark, magma-filled mines, the unholiest of cathedrals, and even the murky horrors of World War-esque trenches - GoS has excellently designed habitats, smartly-mapped for combat, visually stimulating for atmosphere - all bolstered with dynamic effects depicting raging infernos, overhead warfare, mortar explosions, and lightning storms; these effective visuals frequently pushing past the boundaries of the title’s AA status.

The journey is punctuated by an excellent score, marrying the drama and vigor of action cinema with the traditional “Hey Nonny Nonny” medieval cheese of a whistle-tooting, lute-strumming minstrel. It has to be noted that the sound itself is mostly just serviceable, while the voice acting, though suitable and inoffensive, is a little inconsistent; it’s particularly fond of incorrect inflections and pronunciations. At least nobody has an American accent, Kevin. “Ah’m Rahbin of Loxleh”

As of this writing, Gangs of Sherwood is victim to some mild bugginess. Over the course of our playthrough, gameplay ran smoothly and consistently, but we did experience dropped frames during a multiplayer throwdown in a visually busy sequence. Additionally, a mammoth fight against a monstrous bovine tank known as The Ram led to multiple critical errors. Fortunately, we’ve been informed that a patch for some of these problems is set to be released presently.

Another area in which Gangs of Sherwood stumbles is in its lack of options. Currently, subtitles cannot be removed. This leads to additional clutter on what is already a very busy HUD. Between the action, the visual effects, the health bars, and the objective pointers, GoS has a packed UI, and the ability to remove some of these elements would make for a much cleaner and more immersive experience.

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(1 of 2) Gangs of Sherwood boasts gorgeous environments ranging from lush forests

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Gangs of Sherwood boasts gorgeous environments ranging from lush forests (left), to miserable, war-torn battlefields (right)

On PS5 there is an option to disable Motion Blur, but it appears to be bugged, automatically resetting itself to “Enabled” when leaving the menu. Additionally, given GoS’ frenzied action, it might also be The Most “screen-shake” game we’ve experienced in years. The effect cannot be switched off, so a heads-up for any outlaws operating on the dizzier side of life.

Most disappointingly, however, Gangs of Sherwood does not currently support crossplay. While this omission is somewhat understandable, given the limited budget, crossplay would certainly help to widen the player pool, ensuring longevity for what is a multiplayer-centric adventure. And on that subject, I was able to play several multiplayer sessions for review, in the role of both guest and host to several parties of one-to-three players. In all instances, gameplay remained smooth and stable throughout, bar the aforementioned frame drop during one particular battle.

Oh, and whenever I danced, nobody else in the party joined in. What’s that about? I also tried to do a high five and everyone just left me hanging. You know who wouldn’t have left me hanging? Douglas Fairbanks.

The Gangs of Sherwood campaign is not particularly long, but is an apt length, ultimately bowing out before the non-stop melee mashing becomes too repetitive. Like many co-op titles, GoS is designed to be revisited repeatedly, with characters earning money and XP (or “Favor”) to spend on new moves, skills, abilities, and a dapper wardrobe of snazzy costumes. There are also several sidequests to complete, optional bosses to fight, and in-game targets to grind. GoS has a design inherently crafted for replayability, and hopes that players (and their friends) will embark upon long-term ventures to max out their entire parties.

Regarding value-for-money, Nacon would have done better to aim a pinch lower for the sticker price. Gangs of Sherwood does deliver for your $50 - but it’s admittedly a tough sell in a season so packed with excellent releases.

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The cruel Prioress of Kirklees is one of the lieutenants facing down our heroes

Gangs of Sherwood is launching at an unenviable time, coming at the very end of one of gaming’s most stellar release years ever, while sporting a relatively unknown developer and an untested IP. However, it would be very foolhardy to let this plucky underdog pass by unnoticed. GoS rounds out a year of fantastic, mid-budget titles with another example of what can be achieved by talented teams without breaking the bank. More notably, Appeal Studios has broken away from licensed title hell to deliver one of the year’s most satisfying surprises. I’m excited to see where the developer goes from here and, quite frankly, if it’s simply Gangs of Sherwood II, then they have my bow.

While Gangs of Sherwood is occasionally hindered by its underfeatured nature and budgetary limitations, the passion and talent of its developer’s vision shines through. With great visuals, energetic combat, and bags of olde worlde charm, Gangs of Sherwood is a solid co-op experience for any posse of would-be outlaws.

This review is based on a pre-release build of the game provided by the publisher