Crimson Moon is Doom meets Dark Souls in a metalhead's dream Soulslike

There were so many games revealed during last month’s supersized PlayStation State of Play that I’m sure I’ve forgotten half of what was shown by now. But I still remember Crimson Moon. The action RPG got a particularly memorable moment to shine, thanks to its high-octane attitude and its metal soundtrack. It mixed the grim fantasy of Dark Souls and the relentless energy of Doom into a co-op game that left an impression, even if I didn’t leave the showcase knowing too much about it.

After this year’s Game Developers Conference, I now have a much clearer idea of what to expect. ProbablyMonsters gave me a hands-off look at Crimson Moon during the show. The live demo shed light on how all the debut trailer’s blood and fury actually plays. Don’t expect too many surprises as far as genre goes; just be prepared for a metalhead’s high-school dream come to life.

Crimson Moon is an action RPG that can be played solo or in two-player co-op. You play as a Nephilim, a being that is half-angel and half-human, who sets out on a journey to slay undead creatures that are terraforming the world. You'll eventually make your way to a massive tower in the center of the world that’s home to a big bad. During the demo, ProbablyMonsters chief product officer Mark Subotnick told me that there’s deep lore that’s both clearly told and waiting to be discovered throughout the game.

The game is split into missions that can be played and replayed in a roguelike-esque structure. You always start in a gilded central hub, where you can manage your loadout, and then head out on a run and start slaying your way towards a boss. You can choose a basic character archetype there too, though the final roster of options has yet to be locked. From there, you’ll be slashing, dodging, and parrying your way through an undead-infested world that’s poisoned by an evil, red substance.

There’s some very clear FromSoftware influence here, as you can imagine. That was most apparent when the demoist dueled a difficult final boss that unleashed tons of aggressive attacks. Some familiar on-screen text popped up when the battle ended to confirm that the menace was felled. While the inspiration is clear, Subotnick is careful not to actually label it as a Soulslike.

“We don’t use that word, and intentionally,” Subotnick said. “When my friend was making a Star Wars game that got labeled that, they didn’t come out and say, ‘Hey, this Star Wars game is a Souls game.’ They were making a really good action RPG in that world, and we’re doing the same thing. Were we inspired by Dark Souls and Elden Ring? Yes, it’s obvious. Where we’re slightly different is… it’s hard, because you don’t want to say, ‘We’re an accessible game!’ because then you turn off all the Souls players. But we are more [approachable] than that, traditionally.”

It’s a fair distinction, considering that Crimson Moon doesn’t have the usual genre staples. You don’t drop your loot when you die and then need to go retrieve it from your corpse. The game is more focused on straightforward action with a splash of spectacle. In addition to hell-raising special attacks, like making the ground quake under enemies, you can also charge up a gauge to activate Angel Mode. That’s your “oh shit moment” as Subotnick called it, similar to God of War’s Spartan Rage superpower.

“The thing that’s unique about this ARPG is that you’re not a farmer who doesn’t have any power to start with who must go on a typical hero’s journey,” Subotnick said. “We’re going to start you as a badass and then your journey is to be more of a badass.”

What really sets it apart from its genre peers, though, is its look and sound. Crimson Moon isn’t so much an homage to FromSoftware as it is to metal music. The soundtrack is full of sludgy metal rather than ominous orchestral music. The big boss fight I saw happened amid the sound of pounding drums and a blaring cathedral organ. (The team considered adding in licensed music, but that didn’t quite match the fantasy world.) All of this would make perfect sense if you knew the developers, Subotnick said.

“The team is actually called Team Metal. If you see any of them, most of them have tattoos and they’re wearing Iron Maiden or Black Sabbath shirts at all times. They are all legit, true metalheads that in high school looked at metal album covers and started drawing pictures of this world, and said, ‘Someday, I’m going to make this game.’”

That detail unlocks exactly what Crimson Moon is going for. Its visuals, filled with angels and gothic architecture, look like the cover of Judas Priest’s Sad Wings of Destiny adapted to a video game. Subotnick describes the project, which began development a few years ago as a casual side project before ProbablyMonsters got involved, as Team Metal’s childhood dream come to life. Team Metal wants to take you inside its high-school notebooks and let you paint them in blood. So long as the combat is ferocious enough to match, I say rock on.