Gangs of Sherwood Game Review – A Multiplayer Adventure Through Sherwood Forest

Gangs of Sherwood is a cooperative action game for up to four players that is set in a reimagined world and tells the story of Robin Hood and his merry thieves. This is the most fun multiplayer experience I have ever had in this game. This is the most insane game of the year. I enjoyed every second of this game, and the multiplayer works very smoothly. I just loved it. But for single players, the experience is not so good. It was developed by Appeal Studios, published by Nacon, and released on November 30th. The game launches on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S and X, and PC.

Distinctive Characters and Gameplay in Gangs of Sherwood

Now, when you first load up the game, you are greeted with a screen allowing you to play in two different modes. The first is online, which allows you to join and host multiplayer games, and the second is offline mode. This feels a little bit redundant, as they give you the option to make it friends-only and private while selecting a mission. There are four main characters in this game: Robin, Marian, Little John, and Friar Tuck. You can choose any of the characters to play as in Gangs of Sherwood.

Each one comes with their own playstyle, such as Robin being ranged DPS, Marian being a melee assassin, Little John being a melee DPS tank, and Friar Tuck doing the same but with a bit of healing. You can swap characters in the main hub of the game whenever you like. You will be greeted with a quick introductory mission, which will allow you to get familiar with the basic controls. You will be amazed by the beautiful scene in Sherwood Forest. The game looks very pretty. Once you finish the tutorial mission, you will be in the hub, where you will progress through the story, purchase new combo attacks and skills, and even shards, which change how your skills work.

Essentially, it gives you a variety of builds and playstyles for each character, which is pretty cool. As you progress and unlock new skills and combos, the gameplay really starts to open up and shine. The game has combat that I am familiar with in games such as Devil May Cry and Final Fantasy XVI. But it just felt similar and satisfying to play, especially when you unlock some of the more powerful skills. The game’s pacing feels quite responsive too, with sections except for an annoying slow-motion scene at the end of each battle. It was cool at the start, but not so much by the time I finished the game. The game has some horrible and repeatable level-breaking bugs that we managed to circumvent. This game is so cool, even though it has some bugs.

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Another cool thing I noticed with the combat and gameplay was how you can actually use the environment against your enemies. which was really awesome to see. For example, while in Sherwood Forest, you can pull down bee nests and place them on the enemy’s heads. Open up trap doors to instantly kill enemies and other ways. Visually, the game is stunning. It isn’t as beautiful as your normal AAA game. But when you’re playing through each level, you are just stunned. The game looks and feels great; you can’t take that away from the developers at all.

Shored forest, water in caves, buildings, and environments look pretty good. There are some noticeable issues, like general clipping of characters and clothes and climbing ladders in multiplayer. Nothing too major, but it just feels a bit odd. Nowadays, the graphics style is familiar in games, feeling quite simple but still fun. The actual story is a decent part of the game. It isn’t anything gripping, heartbreaking, or one that makes you laugh a lot. It has its moments with how the characters interact with each other and how Marian interacts with her family. The Nottinghams are the villains of the game, and when they appear, Marian is threatening them and having banter, and the same goes for the rest of the team.

However, when the characters talk between themselves, it can be heard what they have to say. It’s one of the highlights of the game. The characters are written pretty well with backstories. You can find hidden items within the levels to hear how the characters feel about events in their lives. Which was a really nice thing to see in the game. Another thing I absolutely love is the puppet show that adds classic humor to storytelling before you jump into each mission. It gives you a bit of a story for what is happening at each level. At the time, the story did try to pull your heartstrings and also immerse you in the world. You always know how it’s going to end, which isn’t the fault of the developers, but there was definitely space to change and take a chance with the story. I also feel like in multiplayer, it could be quite easy to miss most of the important plot lines.

A Symphony at the Sherwood Gates, but a Whistle in the Woods

The music in Gangs of Sherwood is probably the weakest part of the game. I love it when games have music that grips me to the point of listening. Most games have iconic songs that play at key moments or just in the hub. Gangs of Sherwood only has one of those types of iconic pieces of music, and that is the main menu theme before I even click on play. I absolutely love how heroic music feels. As for the rest of the game, I couldn’t tell you how the music even sounded, as it wasn’t memorable at all for me. So whoever made the main theme song for the game should be very proud.

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The sounds for combat and skills are pretty good. Cutscene music is also awesome. I felt no issues with the music of the game. It sounds crisp and doesn’t come out crackly. The team behind Gangs of Sherwood did a really good job with the audio. Gangs of Sherwood has a total of nine story missions. It took around 20–25 minutes to complete each mission, so the game isn’t that long. But as you explore each mission, you’ll find NPCs. These non-player characters will give you various different quests to complete. You can find these quests at the main hub of the game. Here you can start their side quests, which will be like finding flowers, killing certain enemies in a certain way, finding a painting, and many more.

These side quests are not so great. These are mainly added in just to add more playtime to the game. These side quests do not give you any special reward after completing them; it doesn’t seem like anything in the hub actually changes. I feel these quests are not worth the time. There are also a number of hidden story items. These items give backstory to the characters, such as a lucky coin, a wooden toy sword, and even Elena Dale’s puppets for each character to find. You can also find wanted posters and save civilians, but this just ends up giving you more fame to level up at the end of missions, and they’re always present for you to collect even if you replay the missions.

After completing Act 1, you have to fight against a giant lamb machine. It feels awesome to fight against this machine. After completing Act 3, there are another two mission types: the gauntlet of all three major story bosses, which took about 4 minutes, and the 30-round wave survival, which took about 30 minutes to complete. Out of these special missions, the rewards aren’t that great, except that you get more gold and fame. You can purchase more skins, skills, and shards, depending on what you still need to unlock. You can also replay the game as different characters, since during levels there are certain paths that require either a thin character or a bulky character to access.

Therefore, you’ll need either Robin or Marian as the thin ones and John and Tuck as the bulky ones. If you’re playing in multiplayer, then you should be alright. This game has a weird design decision. For example, your rank is tied to your accounts, but the gold you earn is tied to the character you are playing. This means that when you finish the game as one character and swap to another, you can’t even buy the first basic abilities because you have zero gold on those other characters. It feels like they tried to artificially inflate replayability. It might work for some players, but it doesn’t work for me personally.

Conclusion

I still had a lot of fun with the Gangs of Sherwood. I’d give the game a solid 7 out of 10 rating for what it is. It’s not going to take your breath away, but it will give you and maybe even some of your friends a solid experience, especially with multiplayer. It’s a game that is certainly great to play with friends and even with kids. Multiplayer is a good time, the puppet storytelling is fun, and the combat is excellent, even with the other flaws that the game might have. In the end, I can say Gangs of Sherwood is worth your time to play.

FAQs for Gangs of Sherwood