Gangs of Sherwood Review (Steam)

by Jim Smale · November 27, 2023

For this Gangs of Sherwood Review, we fight the armies of the Sheriff of Nottingham and lead the rebellion, solo or in co-op with up to 4 players. Play as one of the Merry Men, combine your attacks, and free the people in this futuristic dystopia inspired by the legend of Robin Hood.

Gangs of Sherwood Review Pros:

Decent graphics.
13.97GB Download size.
Steam achievements.
Full controller support.
Online and offline mode.
Graphics settings – display, screen mode, resolution, v-sync, max fps, DLSS, motion blur, brightness slider, graphics preset, anti-aliasing, view distance, shadows, post-processing, texture quality, effects, and field density.
Controller settings – Invert axis and sensitivity sliders, two controller presets, aim mode, and aim mode sensitivity.
Two keyboard layouts – qwerty and azerty.
Four playable characters – Maid Marian, Friar Tuck, Little John, and Robin of Locksley.
Each character has unique weapons and abilities.
In-game cutscenes and puppet-style sequences.
A full 3D world with 360-degree camera control.
The game moves at a really fast pace.
Tutorial pop-ups as you play.
Excellent voice work.
Good cast of characters.
Beautiful locations.
World map level selection allows you to replay levels.
3 difficulties – Easy, normal, and heroic.
The castle (Major Oaks Call) is your hub and here you can explore, use shops, and do training along with mission selection.
Encounters turn into a self-contained arena and you earn style and combo points with a rank given on your performance.
Each character has a special sort of ability.
A grapple hook helps you get up high or pull things down.
It has a strong Dungeons and Dragons feel to it from the fonts, colors, and general atmosphere.
Earn gold and exp from enemies.
Fantastic action sequences.
You get an end-of-level rank, score breakdown, and any awards and rewards for players.
Earn favor by doing missions and rescuing villagers.
Buy new techniques for your character in the castle and you get told the button combo to perform them.
The combat is reminiscent of a Devil May Cry or Bayonetta due to its methods, combo with attacks shown, and general speed.
Many breakables in the environment can hide secrets and collectibles, or contain gold and health.
Find and rescue villagers in levels for the favor, find and destroy wanted posters, and acquire Artifacts.
Any found Artifacts are generally items belonging to the gang and you get a brief bit of lore about it and then the Artifacts are displayed in the castle.
You level up and get new abilities etc after a level and not during.
During a level you can find power Artifacts that allow you to add a buff or modifier to your attacks, you can only carry X amount so you swap them in and out at the point of pickup.
Cool slo-mo final kill camera sequence.
Really good story and the character between the gang and enemies is really good.
Points in a level will be only for certain gang members so you have to replay the level of solo.
A lot of replay value.
Loot chests can be found and opened.
Clear checkpoints within a level, at a checkpoint you also give gold back to the people.
Excellent character and enemy design.
Big boss encounters.
Good soundtrack.
At times you will get a choice of direction.
Iconic locations.
They add in a lot of environmental hazards like triggering traps or dropping beehives on enemies, they make it really easy to trigger and it’s just a great bit of fun.
Set pieces like kill enemies quickly or wave-based survival.
Shards are powerful abilities you can buy and equip, you can only ever have one equipped at one time but you can swap them at will in a level.
In the training arena, you can select any encountered enemy to be the dummy (16 to find) and practice new abilities and moves.
Three acts to unlock and as you go through you can unlock Assault on the Ram, tyrants pit, and the Last Stand events.
Some great set pieces and mission variations.
When swapping characters you keep all your mission progress, shop unlocks, etc but abilities and Artifacts are character-specific.
It’s a ton of fun to play.
When you die you pay X amount of gold to come back with X amount of health and you get up where you fell.
The game’s version of a treasure goblin in Diablo is the taxman and he has a chest icon and runs away, kills him, and get more coin.
Full emote wheel.
You can ping locations with warnings.

Gangs of Sherwood Review Cons:

Cannot rebind controls for both the keyboard and the controller buttons.
The mouse cursor stays on the screen.
Controller prompts don’t show up in the menus.
The camera sometimes goes a bit crazy when in combat and looks the wrong way.
I find no matter the setting on the lock on is not that great and causes more issues than it solves.
Slowdown happens in places usually with a lot going on like huge enemy numbers or fire.
Invisible walls everywhere.
The game when in solo still expects you to choose a mission and then go across the castle to start.
Even when solo and offline the game doesn’t actually pause.
No one moves their mouth when talking.
Most of the in-level cutscenes cannot be skipped.
A lot of the set pieces just resort to throwing tons of enemies at you.
You cannot pick up or sell unwanted Artifacts at a level that feels like a waste.
When in online mode you can still play solo but when offline you cannot switch online on.
No way to change character in the game except by going back to the main menu.
The pinging system is not as fluid as it could be as it’s on the dpad.
If you don’t have enough coins to get back up then you have to start the whole level again.
Eventually, you realize all the enemies are the same but are either redskins or just have a palette swap. Bosses all look and act the same aside from the act final boss.

Gangs of Sherwood:

Official website.

Developer: Appeal Studios

Publisher: Nacon

Store Links –

Steam

8/10
Graphics - 8/10
7/10
Sound - 7/10
7/10
Accessibility - 7/10
8/10
Length - 8/10
9/10
Fun Factor - 9/10

7.8/10

Summary

Gangs of Sherwood is a game that offers a rich and immersive experience with its decent graphics and a full 3D world with 360-degree camera control. The game has a download size of 13.97GB and supports both online and offline modes. It provides full controller support and two keyboard layouts – qwerty and azerty. The graphics settings are comprehensive, including display, screen mode, resolution, v-sync, max fps, DLSS, motion blur, brightness slider, graphics preset, anti-aliasing, view distance, shadows, post-processing, texture quality, effects, and field density.

The game features four playable characters – Maid Marian, Friar Tuck, Little John, and Robin of Locksley, each with unique weapons and abilities. The game moves at a fast pace, with tutorial pop-ups as you play. The voice work is excellent, and the cast of characters is well-developed. The locations are beautifully designed, and the world map level selection allows you to replay levels. There are three difficulty levels – Easy, normal, and heroic.

The castle (Major Oaks Call) serves as your hub where you can explore, use shops, and do training along with mission selection. Encounters turn into a self-contained arena where you earn style and combo points with a rank given on your performance. Each character has a special ability, and a grappling hook helps you get up high or pull things down. The game has a strong Dungeons and Dragons feel to it from the fonts, colors, and general atmosphere. You can earn gold and exp from enemies and favor by doing missions and rescuing villagers.

The combat is reminiscent of a Devil May Cry or Bayonetta due to its methods, combo with attacks shown, and general speed. Many breakables in the environment can hide secrets and collectibles, or contain gold and health. You can find and rescue villagers in levels for favor, find and destroy wanted posters, and acquire Artifacts. Any found Artifacts are generally items belonging to the gang and you get a brief bit of lore about it and then the Artifacts are displayed in the castle.

However, the game does have some drawbacks. The controls for both the keyboard and the controller buttons cannot be rebound. The mouse cursor stays on the screen, and controller prompts don’t show up in the menus. The camera sometimes goes a bit crazy when in combat and looks the wrong way. The lock-on setting is not that great and causes more issues than it solves. There are slowdowns in places usually with a lot going on like huge enemy numbers or fire. Invisible walls are everywhere, and the game when in solo still expects you to choose a mission and then go across the castle to start.

Despite these issues, Gangs of Sherwood offers a lot of replay value with its fantastic action sequences, excellent character and enemy design, and big boss encounters. The story and the character interactions between the gang and enemies are really good. Points in a level will be only for certain gang members so you have to replay the level solo. Loot chests can be found and opened, and you can clear checkpoints within a level, at a checkpoint you also give gold back to the people. Overall, it’s a game worth trying as it really is solid overall and is a ton of fun with friends.