Replaying on multiple difficulties is more feasible and rewarding. Each higher difficulty level ramps the challenge by adding randomized modifiers to every room. The heroes will have to fight with blessings disabled, dodge constant meteor showers, and much more. The challenge of these higher difficulties is mostly welcome, but players will max out their long-term upgrades well before reaching the final difficulty levels. It would be more fair (and fun) to offer additional late-game upgrades. As for the Boss Rush, the portal to access the challenge appears in the fourth realm, Camelot. Requiring players to basically complete a run every time they want to access the Boss Rush is a bit much.
SWORN is quite fun to play solo (despite the minimal narrative), but it’s especially fun in multiplayer. The game supports 4-player online co-op on everything but Switch, where it only supports 2-player co-op. There is no cross-play, sadly. The “Join Game” option lets players browse open games, whereas choosing to host will send the host to wait for others in their home base. Players can’t join mid-run, annoyingly, which makes for a boring wait when hosting and limits the number of open games at any time. Finding games would be easier if Windwalk Games adopted TMNT: Splintered Fate’s approach of letting players join midgame or even the Earth Defense Force series’ approach of letting people join but wait until the next level before they can actually participate.
Everyone’s individual upgrades carry over from single-player (including Moonstone shop unlocks), so an experienced player can help newer players get farther than they would on their own. Items and stage rewards are shared amongst the group. The gold shop, however, will only sell one of each item it contains, so two players can’t buy the same upgrade. A rudimentary communication system allows players to select from four simple text messages (Greetings, Goodbye, No, and …..) to display on screen. The messages can eventually be customized by purchasing an upgrade from the Moonstone shop. Any communication system is better than none, but the voice bubbles here are awfully tiny.
When a player dies during a co-op game, he or she becomes a floating orb. Disembodied players can attack enemies to deal small amounts of damage, but they are tethered to living players, so their range of movement is rather limiting. Reviving a dead player incurs one of three costs: gold, a single player’s health, or a max health reduction curse for the whole team. Those health penalties mean that the run gets harder and harder for everyone if someone keeps dying, much like in Heroes of Hammerwatch II.
One persistent multiplayer issue that has so far gone unaddressed is the lack of host migration. If the host disconnects or quits the game, everyone gets kicked out to the main menu. There are two clear solutions: either assign a new host or allow the non-host players to continue the run in single-player (as with Heroes of Hammerwatch II). When playing with friends, this usually won’t be an issue, but I’ve found that hosts quit from public games all the time. The only reason this problem doesn’t make me furious is that players don’t lose the Crystal Shards and Moonstones (upgrade currencies) they’ve collected if the host leaves. Thank goodness for that!
Although SWORN fails to take advantage of the narrative possibilities of its dark Arthurian premise, the gameplay is strong enough to hold its own. Whether playing alone or in co-op, I always find myself craving one more run. Fighting gruesome foes in oppressive medieval realms is highly engaging, even though the dated visuals don’t impress. SWORN has received a steady stream of updates since it launched in September, so hopefully the developers will continue to polish and balance the gameplay. The potential is there for this game to take the crown as the best co-op Hades clone… May it accomplish that goal without falling like poor King Arthur!
SWORN costs $29.99 on Xbox Series and PlayStation 5, and $24.99 on Switch and Steam. Physical editions can be preordered at Amazon for $34.99 for PlayStation 5 and Switch. The Steam version is fully Steam Deck-compatible. The Xbox version is currently available on Game Pass Premium and Ultimate.
Xbox download codes were provided by the publisher for this review.
Verdict
Co-Op Score
Overall
The Co-Op Experience: Unite with friends to stand off against the Knights of the Round Table. Combine the strengths of your characters in surprising ways and master abilities to become knights worthy of standing off against Arthur himself.
Co-Optimus game reviews focus on the cooperative experience of a game, our final score graphic represents this experience along with an average score for the game overall. For an explanation of our scores please check our Review Score Explanation Guide.