The end of the world has come, Paris has been overrun by demons, and apparently the best response is to send an immortal warrior into the ruins armed with a gun, a scythe and a healthy collection of supernatural powers. That is the suitably over-the-top premise behind Armatus, a third-person roguelite shooter from Counterplay Games and publisher Fictions. Having now spent some hands-on time with the PC version, there is a solid action foundation here, although the eventual success of the game will depend heavily on how much variety and depth Counterplay can build around that foundation.
What we know
Armatus is a third-person roguelite shooter set in a post-apocalyptic version of Paris, where reality itself has been torn apart and demons have taken over the remains of the city. Players take on the role of the Warrior, an immortal supernatural being belonging to an ancient order, who has been summoned to protect the last remaining humans and search for the mysterious Sunless Gate, a supposed gateway to heaven. The survivors are hidden behind holy wards, while the Warrior must venture into the increasingly nightmarish Scoured Path in the hope of finding a way to save them.
The Scoured Path is procedurally structured, with rooms, enemy encounters and rewards changing between runs. Combat combines third-person shooting with melee attacks from a powerful scythe, while celestial abilities, Blessings, perks and other upgrades allow players to develop different builds as a run progresses. Weapons include familiar firearms such as SMGs and shotguns, while supernatural abilities can introduce effects such as powerful area attacks or the ability to manipulate time. Death is an expected part of the experience, with certain currencies and progression elements carrying over between attempts so that repeated runs gradually make the Warrior stronger.
The game also has a distinctly gothic presentation, with the recognisable streets and architecture of Paris transformed into demonic battlegrounds. The narrative is delivered in part through the Warrior’s communications with characters such as Zamina, while the repeated runs are intended to reveal more about the world and the events that brought it to its apocalyptic state. Armatus is currently scheduled to release on January 7, 2027 for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch 2.
What we saw
Our preview is based on a hands-on session with a demo build of Armatus during Gamescom, where we were able to play the PC version after meeting with the development team. The demo provided a representative look at the game’s combat and roguelite structure, allowing us to take the Warrior into the Scoured Path, fight through its demonic inhabitants and experiment with the weapons, melee attacks and upgrades available during a run.
What we thought
Armatus wastes little time getting to the point, and that is one of its strengths. The combination of third-person shooting, melee combat and constant movement gives the game an immediate sense of momentum. Standing still for too long is generally a bad idea as demons close in from different directions, meaning that players need to keep moving, manage the space around them and decide when to rely on firearms and when to get up close with the scythe. The controls feel responsive during combat, with movement and attacks working together naturally rather than making the game feel like a conventional cover shooter. The dash is useful for avoiding incoming attacks, although its relatively limited reach can make evasive manoeuvres feel less effective than they perhaps should in some of the more hectic encounters.
The scythe is particularly important because it gives the combat more personality than simply pointing a gun at everything that moves. It can initially feel like a secondary option when enemies get too close, but upgrades can turn melee into a much more significant part of a build. That feeds nicely into the roguelite structure, where the appeal comes from seeing how the tools available during a run can be combined. Weapon improvements, Blessings and celestial abilities gradually allow the Warrior to become considerably more dangerous, and there is a satisfying feeling when several upgrades begin working together. The demo does not reveal the full extent of that system, however, and some of the available choices feel fairly familiar rather than radically changing how the game is played.
That is also where the biggest question mark currently hangs over Armatus. The basic combat is enjoyable, but the long-term appeal of a roguelite depends on providing enough variation to make repeated runs feel meaningfully different. The demo shows different enemy types, objectives and upgrade choices, but some encounters can begin to feel like variations on the same basic exercise of clearing another arena full of demons. Some enemies can also absorb a considerable amount of punishment, which occasionally takes some of the snap out of the otherwise fast-paced shooting. With the full game still some distance away, there is plenty of time for Counterplay to expand the enemy roster, introduce more substantial encounter variations and make the buildcraft system feel as deep as its premise suggests.
Visually, Armatus establishes a suitably grim atmosphere, with the ruined Paris setting providing an interesting contrast between recognisable locations and demonic corruption. The darker aesthetic works well for the setting, although the environments seen in the demo do not always have the visual variety that could make a long run feel like a journey through a constantly escalating apocalypse. The audio similarly supports the action without yet being a defining element of the experience. The narrative premise, meanwhile, is intriguing enough to encourage questions about the Warrior, the survivors and the true purpose of the Sunless Gate, but the demo naturally provides only a limited glimpse of that side of the game. Armatus therefore leaves a positive first impression primarily because its combat already feels good to play; whether that is enough to sustain dozens of runs will depend on how much Counterplay Games can build around that promising core before launch.