Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem

 PC
User Score
5.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 478 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 201 out of 478
  2. Mixed: 94 out of 478
  3. Negative: 183 out of 478

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  1. Syrona7
    Feb 17, 2020
    7
    Game: FUN
    Bugs: MANY
    Online servers: TRASH. NOT PLAYABLE IN THE EVENING.
    Ready for release: NO
  2. benjaminpascu
    Feb 16, 2020
    1
    Had a lot of potential, but right now its a disaster.

    Too many bugs (duping, MF abuse ruining the economy etc.) and not to mention the DISASTROUS MULTIPLAYER. I have been trying to come online for 3-4 hours in total before coming in, and due to this, steam has been unable to refund this game, because too much play time.

    G **** G, well played, now you steal my money on this failed game.
  3. Daggerknight
    Feb 14, 2020
    9
    It's pretty much what I was looking for; an action RPG that takes its story a bit more seriously, while being more coherent than others. Game play wise, it's very much a "best of" blend of Path of Exile and Diablo 3. I mean that in the best way; if you liked elements of both, you -will- enjoy this.

    What sets it apart is the focus on movement in combat. This is not like other ARPG's, in    It's pretty much what I was looking for; an action RPG that takes its story a bit more seriously, while being more coherent than others. Game play wise, it's very much a "best of" blend of Path of Exile and Diablo 3. I mean that in the best way; if you liked elements of both, you -will- enjoy this.

    What sets it apart is the focus on movement in combat. This is not like other ARPG's, in which you just choose your one or two favorite spells/ abilities, and spam them all day. You have to space out your actions, and you absolutely have to dodge, charge, and generally do more than just stand in one place.

    There are some niggling issues, mostly to do with rough edges. A couple of enemy hitboxes are hard to highlight, and some UI elements are not as responsive as one would like. These are, however, things that can easily be addressed in patches, and nowhere near the disastrous issues that plague many AAA titles on release.

    All in all, I highly recommend this game to anyone whose looking for a plot focused ARPG!    … Expand
  4. Farbrorhumla
    Feb 14, 2020
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Ok game but If you compared Diablo 2 this game is trash what’s wrong with People today wake up.… Expand
  5. astrL
    Feb 18, 2020
    8
    This indy game would be a master piece into the Hn'slash landscape.

    Some polish is still needed but wow for this price... donno other game with this quality.
  6. redporper
    Feb 13, 2020
    0
    Purchased in October of 2016 - Early Release. 3+ years later is it finally released. - Unable to logon. Four years not long enough, apparently, to deliver a playable game. Give this one a miss until the developer can create a game you can actually log in to play. You can bet that anyone who reviews this game positively on day 1 (Feb 13th) while it still can't be launched and has onlyPurchased in October of 2016 - Early Release. 3+ years later is it finally released. - Unable to logon. Four years not long enough, apparently, to deliver a playable game. Give this one a miss until the developer can create a game you can actually log in to play. You can bet that anyone who reviews this game positively on day 1 (Feb 13th) while it still can't be launched and has only ever reviewed this game is a developer/friend of a developer looking to polish a turd.… Expand
  7. Dutch83
    Feb 13, 2020
    9
    People a so dumb... rating a game 0 because they can't log in... The quality of the game have nothing to do with that. Anyway... Love the game, love the gameplay, love the story!!! So far so good!!! It's nothing really new but at the same time really refreashing.
  8. AshmakerTV
    Feb 15, 2020
    0
    I really cant even comprehend how people can say this game is a good ARPG.

    ARPG's are my favorite genre and I have played almost every single one. I've put thousands of hours into Diablo 2 and 3, over 10000 hours into PoE, I've played Grim Dawn, Titan Quest, Torchlight 1/2 and Sacred. I have a ton of experience playing these games. Wolcen is by far the worst. Its disguised in great    I really cant even comprehend how people can say this game is a good ARPG.

    ARPG's are my favorite genre and I have played almost every single one. I've put thousands of hours into Diablo 2 and 3, over 10000 hours into PoE, I've played Grim Dawn, Titan Quest, Torchlight 1/2 and Sacred. I have a ton of experience playing these games.

    Wolcen is by far the worst. Its disguised in great looking graphics courtesy of CryEngine (every cryengine game looks great). But the combat is the worst I have ever played. The resource system interrupts the flow of combat, no animation canceling locks you into attacks/casts which is extremely bad for these fast paced games. Melee namelock skills are trash often causing you to whiff monsters entirely because they have moved by the time you swing.

    Its mind boggling how people think this game is anything but trash.    … Expand
  9. David775456
    Feb 15, 2020
    0
    Solid 0 for an unskilled team. The price is too high (35€) for a bugged game, probably never tested.
  10. mettriol150
    Feb 16, 2020
    0
    Full of visual bugs, unbalanced spells, bad hardware management and servers offline alltime...
  11. Mordgier
    Feb 28, 2020
    0
    Update: It's even worse than I thought it could be. The most recent patch nerfed Bleeding Edge - which was indeed broken, also nerfed Winters Grasp which wasn't really. They 'fixed' the exploited gold by simply wiping the gold of anyone who had more gold than some wonky formula they used based on player level, so if you had 'too much' money based on level, it got cut to like 5k*levelUpdate: It's even worse than I thought it could be. The most recent patch nerfed Bleeding Edge - which was indeed broken, also nerfed Winters Grasp which wasn't really. They 'fixed' the exploited gold by simply wiping the gold of anyone who had more gold than some wonky formula they used based on player level, so if you had 'too much' money based on level, it got cut to like 5k*level meaning even legitimate players lost gold.

    Fine whatever - but it gets worse - the latest patch broke willpower/rage transfer times bricking plenty of legitimate builds and further broke mob spawns in expeditions creating situations where by stage 3 you may get a map that just does not have enough mobs to spawn the boss.

    But wait - there is more! Gold gains from expeditions sometimes just don't work - sometimes you just don't get paid and online mode is laggier than ever. It can take several seconds just to sell an item...

    Balance is even worse than before as is build diversity. Right now if you want to run the end game maps, you pretty much need a rare unique item which is absurdly OP - the BIS for every build I referred to in the original review - The Trial belt is basically used to prop up the otherwise unplayable builds.

    So the three ways to play the end game right now is The Trial and whatever, BE Crit build, ailment stacking build. That's it. The wolcels are busy defending this by saying you CAN use other builds - and that's true if you're willing to spend 20-30 minutes a map, thus a full hour on a single expedition - but that's not my idea of fun.

    The devs are too busy nerfing to test, the nerfs are massive and no effort is being made to improve other abilities sufficiently. Don't even bring up the buff to summons, they are still trash tier worthless and their AI is roomba grade stupid.

    ----------------------

    I believe that this game is doomed to complete failure.

    The bugs that exist can be fixed. I believe that they will be.

    What I am afraid of is that this will never be a balanced game.

    I have no reason to believe that the devs understand how to fix it.

    Without new experienced talent, they are screwed. The same people who put this disaster of scaling, passives and skills together can't fix it.

    The game is pretty, it plays well, the skill effects are satisfying the spinning tree is a neat design....but the numbers behind all of it are a disaster.

    I just don't expect the people who put this together in the first place to see where they went wrong.

    There are just too many broken passives and they are not being fixed but essentially disabled.

    Damage for block %? Pointless now.

    Secure Parry (the 10% health regen per counter skill) turned into 1% - made totally useless.

    These guys released a game where you could have 100% block and 100% block efficiency and they did this without alarm bells going off in their head when they designed this?

    There are too many skills to name that are god tier surrounded by absolute mediocrity. No brainers like getting resists from helmets and chests from Salvatory Anchor as opposed to the other nodes, absurdities like infinite rage from The Heat of Battle interacting with Fatal Pact. Merciless Lethality being a logical choice even for non crit builds...

    I just can't wrap my mind around any these things - any experienced ARPG player looking at this tree should see the broken things. This isn't a "They didn't QA this..." issue - this is a "This should have been obvious!" issue. The same that is true for passives is true for skills, there are far too many obvious choices - nodes for skills that everyone will run because of the massive DPS boost - extra havoc orb projectile? Duh. Bleeding Edge that stays around for 4s? Duh.

    I would love it if somehow this game became balanced, with real build diversity and skill viability, but I cannot imagine this happening under the control of a dev team who has show that they are absolutely unable to understand the math behind the skills.

    This is without doubt the most unbalanced broken ARPG that I have played in over damn near 30 years of gaming..

    Worst of all - none of this is rocket science and none of it uncharted territory. There are free to play ARPGs for mobile made by amateurs with better skill balance...

    I haven't even touched item balance because that's a whole different can of worms with the loot painfully bland, uninteresting and serving as a poor carrot to chase. Just look at the uniques - they range from utterly useless to absolutely Best In Slot for EVERY build broken.

    I don't think these devs can fix the game because at this point I don't believe they have the basic grasp of what a balanced ARPG would even look like.    … Expand
  12. modiel
    Mar 4, 2020
    10
    Wolcen still has a lot of bugs three weeks after his releases, and had server issues on the launch day explaining why people wrote a lot of bad reviews, but it's not reflecting the game itself. Bugs are fixed at each hotfixes and the servers are now working. The core of the game is really good, with a nice gameplay feeling.

    As the previous review by Seba1812 "I set a 10 to bring a    Wolcen still has a lot of bugs three weeks after his releases, and had server issues on the launch day explaining why people wrote a lot of bad reviews, but it's not reflecting the game itself. Bugs are fixed at each hotfixes and the servers are now working. The core of the game is really good, with a nice gameplay feeling.

    As the previous review by Seba1812 "I set a 10 to bring a little bit of balance here..."    … Expand
  13. EustaceCS
    May 3, 2020
    0
    Used to own it at GOG - back when they sold their game on GOG.
    Then - 'hello GOG players! we're scrapping GOG version! Enjoy playing eternal alpha version!'
    Of course, it isn't LITERALLY the text of that announcement but: 1. The announcement's theme was essentially this. No recommendations on how to refund, no advice on how to keep playing the helluva mess the game was back these    Used to own it at GOG - back when they sold their game on GOG.
    Then - 'hello GOG players! we're scrapping GOG version! Enjoy playing eternal alpha version!'
    Of course, it isn't LITERALLY the text of that announcement but:

    1. The announcement's theme was essentially this. No recommendations on how to refund, no advice on how to keep playing the helluva mess the game was back these days. No nothing except 'GOG version won't be updated anymore. Thank you for understanding.'
    Let it sink in for awhile.
    They canned the whole segment of their playerbase and got away with it like it was absolutely okay.

    2. The announcement was NOT posted at GOG.
    Let it sink in for a while.
    They started selling undeveloped game at GOG - and, after deciding to halt the development, they refused to inform their players.

    3. As per what I got from my correspondence with GOG Customer Service, GOG staff was not aware of this... decision either.
    Let it sink in for a while.
    The developer didn't informed the publisher that the game won't be developed for publisher's platform.

    Not mentioning that, as per reviews from my Steam-based brethern, even after actual Release the game is, essentially, incomplete and bugged.

    Absolutely horrid game from bunch of scammers.

    The only place where this game and these developers may get a positive score is a 'Scam Of The Century' award show.    … Expand
  14. LogicalSceptic
    Feb 18, 2020
    5
    The longer you play this game the worse it gets,bugs just keep piling up .
    I understand that it's a small team and I want to empathize but for a game that's been in development for like 7 years (?) Holy Crap!
    It looks good,sure! but it feels so clunky to play. Seems like most of the time/budget was spent making it look nice and not making it work and feel good. Even in offline mode    The longer you play this game the worse it gets,bugs just keep piling up .
    I understand that it's a small team and I want to empathize but for a game that's been in development for like 7 years (?) Holy Crap!

    It looks good,sure! but it feels so clunky to play.

    Seems like most of the time/budget was spent making it look nice and not making it work and feel good. Even in offline mode It feels like you're on 1000ms! You cant animation cancel in this game btw,so you press a button and are stuck doing that thing and cant do anything until that action finishes and everything has this weird casting/charge up time that just adds to the clunk!

    Can't bind " move only " to a mouse button in 2020? HUH!
    Have to hold alt to see loot and click 50 times to pickup items in 2020!!?? HUH??

    All the apologists keep comparing it to other games on release and making excuses -my GOD! as soon as you get past act 1 you start noticing all the bugs.

    Playing online ? Blink twice and your stash might vanish and sometimes it might not come back :/ or complete a certain part of the endgame and your game just outright breaks.

    Its insane!

    If at bare minimum you could load up the game and just make some builds and kill some monsters it would be maybe okay...but 90% of the passive tree doesn't work (like passives do nothing at all-no effect) so whats the point?

    It has potential to be a game you can enjoy on the side when bored of other games. A bit better itemization and potential build diversity (due to the mini PoE-like passive tree ) than d3 and a hybrid endgame(sort of) from d3/poe. Enough to keep you engaged longer than d3.
    It still needs quite a bit of work before it can be recommended....

    There is a semblance of a game here but it's greatly overshadowed by the issues surrounding it.    … Expand
  15. roman_king
    Feb 26, 2020
    7
    WOLCEN is a diamond in the rough. I haven't played a game so much in a few years. I can't stop playing it. Even in its buggy and unbalanced state, it is a ton of fun. If you like Diablo, POE and Grim Dawn then you have to get this! While I haven't lost any characters or armor sets, I have experienced the audio issues and act 3 boss froze a few times. The game has a decent story, amazingWOLCEN is a diamond in the rough. I haven't played a game so much in a few years. I can't stop playing it. Even in its buggy and unbalanced state, it is a ton of fun. If you like Diablo, POE and Grim Dawn then you have to get this! While I haven't lost any characters or armor sets, I have experienced the audio issues and act 3 boss froze a few times. The game has a decent story, amazing graphics and tons of loot. If imitation is a form of flattery, Wolcen wins Game of The Year!… Expand
  16. Blackwaltz
    Feb 27, 2020
    5
    Those plebs rating it 0 because they cant understand day 1 server load..
    Played on offline till they fix the servers, amazing game.

    EDIT: Game is still having issues it shouldnt.
    Updating rating to reflect disappointment.
  17. SimonZZ
    Feb 29, 2020
    10
    Game is receiving bad reviews because of issues with servers on the launch day (due to the massive users concurrence). This happened even to Diablo 3 and not represent the quality of the game.
    I could appreciate Act 1 in the early access and the game looks really promising.
    I set a 10 because is game rly awesome
  18. doxer5
    Feb 14, 2020
    10
    it's the kind of game I love, better and deeper than the Diablo but you don't have to study a career like in the POE. I know it's gonna give me a lot of hours to play.
  19. OsbornYu
    Feb 18, 2020
    10
    I really like this game. I think it has great potential and I look forward to its development. Next, please optimize and fix the errors. Good games are worth our wait, I hope players can give more tolerance and patience.
  20. SunnywhiteX
    Feb 14, 2020
    8
    Sehr gutes Spiel , mit sehr guter Grafik .

    Allerdings ist kein vernünftiger Guide vorhanden damit man im Spiel nicht so verloren geht
  21. Nazollo
    Feb 13, 2020
    10
    In my opinion this is the best H&S game ever! Gameplay, graphics - everything is great!
  22. DucDaoMinh
    Feb 14, 2020
    10
    Don't let whiners fool you. The game might face some network issues because of suddenly rising of players at the start, but the game-play is good and the interface is shiny. Never regret buying this diamond.
  23. ItemME
    Feb 16, 2020
    10
    For everyone putting a 0 because servers are offline, and are comparing this to Blizzard's launch, you have literally no idea how things are working. Go play offline if you're that impatient, this isn't a mmorpg. You desperately want to play with your friends? Give them time, we're not talking about a few hundreds of players, we're talking about literally around 100k players trying toFor everyone putting a 0 because servers are offline, and are comparing this to Blizzard's launch, you have literally no idea how things are working. Go play offline if you're that impatient, this isn't a mmorpg. You desperately want to play with your friends? Give them time, we're not talking about a few hundreds of players, we're talking about literally around 100k players trying to login. This is a small studio, they don't have unlimited funds, they don't have tons of engineers, you really need to chill out and see things the way they are; this is an indie game, not a AAA from a insane company, so just gotta be patient and support the devs. Game is stunning, it has insane content for a day one. You guys are short on memory, it tooks years to PoE to reach that much people at the same time online, D3 launch was a pure mess as well.… Expand
  24. Drahamus
    Feb 16, 2020
    10
    I think it´s amazin and motivating. The Serverdowntimes on weekend sucked but it runs much better after that.
  25. Norvel
    Feb 20, 2020
    10
    the game is very fun, but little buggy.
    He's beautifull
    The story is good
  26. Kreepit
    Mar 6, 2020
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. People keep comparing the game to Diablo 3 and Path of Exile. Games that have been out for many years and have had many years with patches, fixes and optimization passes.

    While there are issues with the game, admittedly, not everyone experience them. I personally haven't experienced it, albeit i play solo and not online.

    Ability nodes do have issues with balance, but this is something that Diablo 3 and Path of Exile still have issues with. Abilities that are too OP or some that does less than intended.

    The game itself has a deep and well written lore and a story, albeit only 3 chapters, that is longer than even Diablo 3's story.

    The loot system is quite good and isn't as harsh (in my opinion) as Diablo 3 and Path of Exile, though it could definitely do with some improvement.

    After the main story is finished, that's when the real game (and fun!) begins, because Wolcen have unique features that neither Path of Exile nor Diablo 3 have.

    You get to build up your city and do lots of activities. Far more interesting than the mindless Greater Rift system in Diablo 3 at the very least.

    Then there's the soundtrack. It is the first time i have actually bothered listening to the in-game music while playing a game of this genre. It is hands down the best soundtrack i have listened to in years.

    Graphic-wise, it is beautiful.

    Animations are very good and spot on.

    Controls are responsive and spot on.

    Voice acting is spot on and the dialogues are well written throughout the entirety of the main story.

    I'm not giving it a full 10/10 however, because as i said, there are issues they do need to solve, however, i won't slaughter it like other angry reviewers have done due to encountering a few bugs in-game in multiplayer.

    They need to get the bosses fine tuned and balanced along with their abilities.

    They need to sort out the apocalyptic forms, because they are simply too weak and act more like an invulnerability shield than anything else.

    I'll leave it at a solid 8/10.    … Expand
  27. sweredrim
    Feb 13, 2020
    10
    The game is far more enjoyable than Diablo 3. It is somewhere between Path of Exile and Diablo 3 which is a perfect mix. Also, graphics is just miles ahead of other aRPGs.
  28. cheguevara2
    Feb 13, 2020
    10
    I think its a really good game and i don't get the hate for the login problems.
    Just few hours into the release and also first game for a small studio. Yes, its kinda like Diablo 3 (mostly because its hack n slay) but its a total different game. The early access was good and the final game looks even better.
  29. Romney
    Feb 14, 2020
    10
    For me it's been the best arpg so far. Engaging and focused story. Interesting build system. Beautiful and with good animations.
  30. Archemer
    Feb 14, 2020
    10
    Absolutely phenominal work and from such a small team, even. Launch issues are common in this genre and they will pass. (Diablo 3 error 37..)

    What will stay and hopefully improve is the great aesthetics, strangely good story for an aRPG, and the great build diversity. The way attributes work is just a touch of inspiration. I see myself playing this game for quite some time. (Now it just    Absolutely phenominal work and from such a small team, even. Launch issues are common in this genre and they will pass. (Diablo 3 error 37..)

    What will stay and hopefully improve is the great aesthetics, strangely good story for an aRPG, and the great build diversity. The way attributes work is just a touch of inspiration. I see myself playing this game for quite some time. (Now it just needs true nature magic and a druid toolkit!)    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

21
#21 Most Discussed PC Game of 2016

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
60

Mixed or average reviews - based on 25 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 19 out of 25
  3. Negative: 2 out of 25
  1. GameSkinny
    Apr 10, 2020
    50
    There may never have been so promising a game so completely destroyed by launch bugs as Wolcen.
    Read full review
  2. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Apr 8, 2020
    62
    Extraordinary beauty (and extraordinary bugginess) aside, Wolcen is a run-of-the-mill ARPG that takes "inspiration" from every popular game in the genre and mixes it with its own questionable know-how. [Issue#244, p.64]
  3. Multiplayer.it
    Mar 30, 2020
    60
    Some good ideas but with a price too high and with too many limits.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »