Listen. I’m late to the party on this one, I know. There are already countless articles online from PAX West 2024, talking about how UNYIELDER is a boss-rush, roguelike version of DOOM Eternal. And, really, there is only so much one can say about it. Aside from, that is: PLAY IT. When it comes out, that is.
UNYIELDER is game that is all about feel. To describe it here would be like describing what it is like to look out over the Swiss Alps, or to try to communicate with words what it feels like to be loved. I can — and will — do my best, but ultimately, it must be played to be believed. The closest I can come is comparison; comparison with Ultrakill, Superhot, or — yes — DOOM Eternal (something quite a few people have noted already).
The next closest I can come is to just describe my experience with the game.
Publisher Shueisha’s booth at PAX West was more open than most, with most of it leaving space for observers and those waiting to play to simply watch. That, it turns out, was a good move because UNYIELDER is almost as satisfying to watch as it is to play. Here, don’t take my word for it. Normally, I’d put a trailer here, but instead I’ll just put UNYIELDER’s gameplay reel. This will help you get a sense of how I felt, waiting to play UNYIELDER and watching on the big screens over each player’s head.
Keep in mind that this is from way back in October; the build I played was even more hectic and advanced
Just watching, I was sold on the game. The fluid movements, the devastating combos, the sheer amount of controlled chaos on display. It was electric. Like a dance with the boss — and yes, the game is a 1-on-1 boss-rush, keeping it confined and tight. A dance to the death, using rocket launchers.
When I got my hands on the title, a few minutes later, I could tell my earlier assumptions were right. Before I even entered the first boss’s arena, I was given a selection of weaponry and upgrades to choose from. Each with a complex range of stats, modifiers, and stacking effects.
In the title of this article, I’ve compared this to Borderlands, especially Borderlands 2 (the best in the series), but I think it is a bit further than that. I am sure there are technically fewer guns in UNYIELDER than that series, but the effects and use cases for each seemed more prominent. In my testing — and I played UNYIELDER several times, waiting in line for each, just because of how much fun it was — every single gun was usable, every upgrade palpable, and every strategy viable.
With weapon modifiers like this, I have a feeling I’ll be fishing for the perfect weapon all the time
The comparison to Borderlands comes from the variety of guns and effects, but in reality the weapon selections here are universally more useful than in that series, and in just my brief time with the game I was already envisioning god-builds and lucky runs that would allow me to just dominate. You can see the gameplay above, you know what the game looks like — but now imagine, too, that you get just the right combination of guns to disable the enemy with each barrage, flying through the boss rush in record time. The game doesn’t describe itself as an “exploitable Rogue-Looter” or encourage players to “Break the Game” for nothing.
But that’s the Looter part. And, with the Rogue part pretty obvious (If you die, you restart at the beginning of the gauntlet, with some consistent upgrades but mostly from scratch), that does beg the question… Where does the DOOM Eternal part come in?
Well, that part is easy: you feel like Doomguy, in the newest DOOM games. You move fast, jump high, fire devastating shots, cripple enemies with showy melees blows (that are something like finishers), and use your advantages to press for additional health and damage in all-out brawls with seemingly unstoppable enemies. There is a bit of a different flair, thanks to the 1-on-1 nature of the fights, but otherwise, the comparison is apt.
Playing UNYIELDER is kind of like tapping into the Matrix, in that you can understand what is happening here
But I think most people who are making the comparison have forgotten just how DOOM Eternal plays: because your character in UNYIELDER is faster, is deadlier, and is even more in control than even Doomguy. And that is saying something. Not to even mention your expanded arsenal of weapons that feel far more customized and insane than most of Doomguy’s loadout. Even compared to Ultrakill — another game that should absolutely be in your Steam library if you’ve read this far — UNYIELDER gives you variety and flair.
The only difference is, again, the focus on bosses that UNYIELDER has, but that doesn’t really destract from the power, speed, and aggression you possess. It simply puts you on a level playing field, pitting you against another machine that is just as powerful, just as fast, and just as devastating as you are. It radiates fairness, in a manner of speaking — it is simply you versus the mechanical monster you find yourself up against, and the better overpowered fighter will reign supreme, making your victories that much more delicious.
And I haven’t even got into some of the promised features that are coming when the game fully releases. There is a gardening minigame, where you nurse plants back to health, because no insane-intensity shooter is complete without a way to take a breather. The aesthetics and story are far more promising and unique than a game like this has any right to be. And, most excitingly, there is some method by which you can customize the final boss to alter what loot you get from it which, honestly, reminds me of the best parts of my Hades runs.
The artwork present in the game’s marketing materials is insanely cool, and makes me curious about what else is going on with UNYIELDER, beyond the killer gameplay.
At the end of the day, UNYIELDER is a potent, addictive mixture of high-octane action, incredible skill, insane visuals, and dopamine-fueling loot. I played it several weeks ago now, and I am still thinking about just how badly I want back in. Just how much I want to test my luck against boss after boss. Hell, I even want to try my hand at the leaderboards for the high score (because, of course, this game keeps score), and I never care about leaderboards. Especially after I came so close to the 200,000 score necessary for an exclusive t-shirt.
I played a lot of games that I really, really want to play more of at PAX. But UNYIELDER has some kind of addictive quality — something to do with the adrenaline, the heart racing, the sheer size of it all — that has me practically twitching for more. I can’t really, truly do justice to how insanely good it feels to play UNYIELDER, but I can tell you that you should get your hands on it as soon as you can. Wishlist UNYIELDER and join me in keeping an eye out for a demo on Steam here. Because, if you like action-packed, first-person looter-shooters (or even one of the hyphenated terms I just used), then you’ll like UNYIELDER.
See you in Antarctica. I’ll be going for 300,000.
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Graves
Graves is an avid writer, web designer, and gamer, with more ideas than he could hope to achieve in a lifetime. But, armed with a mug of coffee and an overactive imagination, he'll try. When he isn't working on a creative project, he is painting miniatures, reading cheesy sci-fi novels, or making music.
