Tears of Metal is a Scottish Dynasty Warriors in co-op, and we waited for it eagerly without being let down

Some games you follow from their demo with knots in your stomach, the fear of seeing the final version betray what you loved so much. Tears of Metal was one of them: its demo floored us, and we dreaded the classic disappointment of the move to the full version. Good news, and real relief: the axe doesn't fall. The game keeps exactly what it promised, namely a joyful medieval slaughterfest where you carve through entire hordes Scottish-style. We waited, we're not let down.

The context

Tears of Metal is a co-op hack-and-slash roguelike developed and published by Paper Cult, the Montreal studio behind the excellent Bloodroots, available in early access since 22 July 2026 on PC via Steam and the Microsoft Store, with Game Pass from day one. The pitch is as clear as it is exciting: you reclaim your island at the head of a formidable Scottish battalion, carving through waves of enemies musou-style, in the great tradition of Dynasty Warriors. It all plays solo or in co-op up to four, and its demo had already won everyone over, with 96% positive reviews across nearly a thousand responses and more than 250,000 won-over players.

The gameplay: the slaughterfest meets the roguelike

The heart of Tears of Metal is that exhilarating sense of power the best musous offer. You barrel into the melee, you chain attacks and specials, and you watch dozens of enemies shatter under your blows, in a perfectly legible and incredibly satisfying chaos. That fantasy of the warrior who single-handedly mows down a whole army is immediate, physical, and the game restores it with a snap and an impact that land from the first seconds. It's the kind of raw pleasure you understand without a manual and never put down.

Where the game stands out is in grafting a real roguelike structure onto that musou base. After each battle won, you choose an upgrade to strengthen your character, and that progressive ramp-up, run after run, brings the depth and replayability the genre often lacks. You build your build, you look for synergies, you relaunch to go a bit further, and that addictive loop turns the simple slaughterfest into an adventure you want to restart. It's that marriage of the hack-and-slash's immediate satisfaction with the roguelike's progression that makes all of Tears of Metal's value.

The co-op, and the Scottish salt

The real party starts with more players. Playable up to four in co-op, Tears of Metal multiplies its pleasure when you coordinate your assaults with friends, each mowing down their portion of the horde before converging on the tough enemies. The shared chaos, the complementary builds, the collective satisfaction of clearing a battlefield, everything works to make co-op the game's king mode. It's a convivial slaughterfest, cut for controller-in-hand evenings, and its immediate availability on Game Pass makes it an easy invitation to launch with friends.

The Scottish dressing isn't a mere cosmetic detail, it gives the game a tasty and welcome identity. Between its Highlands battalion, its medieval-trenches atmosphere and the mystery you uncover as you sink deeper, Tears of Metal cultivates a personality that sets it apart from the mass of generic musous. You feel the touch of a studio that knows how to give its games character, exactly as Paper Cult did with Bloodroots. It's not just one more hack-and-slash, it's a hack-and-slash with a soul, an accent and a kilt.

What sticks

You should stay lucid about its status, because Tears of Metal launches in early access. That implies content set to grow, balancing to refine and probably a few rough edges to fix over the updates. The base is excellent, but the question of long-term variety remains open: a roguelike lives on the richness of its builds, its enemies and its situations, and we'll have to see whether the game feeds its loop enough to last dozens of hours without tiring. The potential is immense, but it's a work still in progress.

It's also a game that fully owns its slaughterfest nature, with the repetitiveness inherent to the musou genre that implies. Whoever seeks fine tactical depth or a cerebral challenge should walk away: here, you come for the sensation, the chaos and the immediate pleasure, not for the chessboard. It's not a flaw, it's a stance, but you should know what you're getting into. Tears of Metal is an excellent sensation game, not a thinking game, and you have to love it for what it is.

What we take away

Tears of Metal pulls off what few highly anticipated games manage: it doesn't disappoint. By marrying the musou's raw satisfaction with the roguelike's addictive structure, with a joyful co-op and a Scottish identity full of character, Paper Cult signs a slaughterfest as immediate as it is replayable. Its demo's 96% positive reviews weren't stolen, and the early-access version confirms all the good we thought of it. For anyone who loves carving through hordes with friends, with or without a kilt, it's a no-brainer, all the more so as it's available on Game Pass from launch.

You just have to approach it for what it is, with its early-access limits and its owned slaughterfest nature. Its depth over the very long term remains to be confirmed, and whoever seeks tactical subtlety will look elsewhere. But for sensation, pleasure and conviviality, Tears of Metal is already a success, and an even finer promise for what's next. We waited, it keeps its word, and we go back to mowing down hordes with a smile.

Verdict

A Scottish Dynasty Warriors in co-op, as cathartic as it is addictive, that keeps every promise of its excellent demo: the anticipated game that doesn't disappoint.

Strengths:

• The exhilarating musou sensation, carving through whole hordes with impact
• A roguelike structure that brings depth and replayability
• A joyful up-to-four-player co-op
• A Scottish identity full of character, available on Game Pass

Weaknesses:

• An early access with content and balancing still in progress
• The repetitiveness inherent to the musou genre
• A depth over the very long term still to be confirmed

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Tested on PC, in early access.