Absolum, from the publisher of Eurogamer Essential Streets of Rage 4, is a brawler that lets you cash-out a combo - and it's brilliant
Having a brawl.
Having spent night after night throwing myself into Absolum, I remain hopelessly charmed by it. A spirited fantasy that dons the bande dessinée mantle, it's a fantastic case study in how to make combo-centric fist fights feel good and look grand all at once. It's a beautiful brawler – and one that'll need to make good use of its mitts, given the number of killer releases fighting over every crumb of attention this month.
Dotemu has brought the same heat that it used to forge Streets of Rage 4 back in 2020, this time through an open sandbox of a combat system. It's not just your typical blend of basic punches and kicks; instead, your basic move list acts as a base on which new abilities can be sprinkled. Four characters, each representing a distinct archetype, transform Absolum into an outright feast for those who love a bit of side scrolling action.
And like all good feasts, there's a mix – notably an edible mix – of classics and new twists. The 40-something who has fond memories of breaking open crates for street chicken will be satisfied here; their back pain will vanish when a stray pear or loaf of bread bursts forth from Absolum's food stalls and barrels in just the right way. And they'll notice gaps in the environment, inside which secret chests and power ups can be found. The spirit of Hayao Nakayama holding a Sega Megadrive will uplift them, as they throw ten goblins down the same hole in the floor and giggle maniacly.
As for the new ideas, a substantial chunk of those are linked to the blending of roguelite progression mechanics that mix up your journey throughout the world, and the challenges you'll face within it. Your first run through Absolum will be a straight line from home to the first major boss. Maybe you'll go across the forest and fend off some goblins, or perhaps you'll head north along the coast and kick some crabs about. Standard stuff.
But on your journey you'll spot that a bridge has been destroyed, or there's a locked gate you can't access. Or you'll spot there's some mist seeping out from a chasm and wonder if that's something you can get past, eventually. In my experience with Absolum it almost always is. Playing through the game offers not only rewards for mastery of combat, but also for mastery of the world itself.
It's through these travels that you unlock more upgrades, more shortcuts, and more resources which in turn can be exchanged for new arcane arts. These arts may look at first like mere expressions of a player's preferences in a fight but reveal themselves to be crucial keys that unlock new and exciting combo routes.
Speaking of which, there's this fantastic mechanic in Absolum that acts as a sort of cash-out for players who manage to keep a combo going long enough. Mashing one button will only get you so far, but by weaving together all the attacks you have at your disposal – say by leaping up into the air to catch bouncing foes before they fly out of your range – you get a crackling blow that deals a big blast of damage and caps off your combo. It's electric – not only does it reward you for figuring out what your character can do, it energises you to experiment and figure out fresh ways to go about beating people up. If that's not what a new beat 'em up should be doing, I don't know what the genre is really about.
So with all that praise established, I'm a little worried that Absolum will fly under the radar this month.Its release date arrives right between far larger releases, and those with a taste for prestige indies are likely still tackling recent big-hitters like Hades 2 and Hollow Knight: Silksong. It would utterly depress me if Absolum was swallowed up in this chaos - it's got the look and feel of an overlooked darling. So: don't overlook it.