Dolmen achievement hunters will need “nerves, good eyes, and patience”

Dolmen launches tomorrow for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One — we reached out to developer Massive Work Studio to find out more, and producer Kiev Martins was on hand to answer all our Dolmen questions.Dolmen launches tomorrow for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One, and looks to bring a dark and dangerous challenge with it. We looked to Massive Work Studio to find out more. Producer Kiev Martins, whose experience ranges from educational gamification to biology, was kind enough to answer all our Dolmen questions. Read on to find out what we can expect from Dolmen…What is Dolmen?Dolmen is a challenging sci-fi/cosmic horror action-RPG from developer Massive Work Studio, and published by Prime Matter. The game is set on the alien planet of Revion Prime, which we need to survive in order to gather highly valuable Dolmen crystals. When does Dolmen launch?Tomorrow! Dolmen launches for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One tomorrow, May 20th. Read on to find out what you’ll be up against…What’s it about?So, we’re sent to the world of Revion Prime in search of Dolmen crystals, which are capable of interacting with different realities. “The first directive given to the player is, in fact, to recover Dolmen crystals as they are of great economic and scientific interest to Zoan Corp,” Martins begins. “However, as the player will discover, the catastrophe was greater than initially detected and a dimensional invasion is occurring. What happens after this involves the player trying to find out why all this happened and who the invaders are before the planet Revion Prime is eradicated, conquered, consumed or… worse.” No pressure, eh?What’s the gameplay like?If one thing is clear, it’s that Dolmen will be tough. The creatures of Revion Prime aren’t interested in our survival, and the combat promises to be challenging. “As a soulslike game, Dolmen deals with the management of resources such as life, stamina, energy, batteries, dodging enemies, and finding opportunities to attack,” Martins explains. “What differentiates Dolmen from other games is the balance between melee and ranged weapons that, in this case, are equally viable as game styles and provide equal levels of challenge.”Managing your energy will be of paramount importance, as it’s used both for ranged combat and Energy Mode. “The Energy Mode, a new mechanic, is an overload of the generator and imbues melee attacks with elemental damage, which can cause negative status effects on enemies,” Martins continues. “While using the Energy Mode, the player also spends energy instead of stamina. If used correctly, the player can deliver devastating attacks in a short window of time or dodge at critical moments even without stamina. This is a good reward to those who invest in the Energy attribute, normally raised by players who want to favour ranged builds, giving the game a good balance for different play styles.”We’ll be facing all sorts of monstrosities as we fight for survival on Revion Prime. “We can list spider/insect-like creatures, dead drillers moving around, infernal fiends grasping chains, gigantic monsters climbing buildings, gigantic worm-like monsters moving below earth, flying terrors, dark matter assassins, robotic sentinels, a few plant-like creatures, bat-like creatures and traps,” Martins says of the game’s many enemies. “And bosses. Never forget the bosses.”What’s the world like?According to the Dolmen Steam page, Revion Prime is a “devastated, darkly beautiful world.” Martins expands on that for us, explaining, “Revion Prime is a planet outside the colonized zone of space. That means despite the universe being a sci-fi futuristic place, ships are not coming and going easily. Settlements in the planet are concentrated near the mining station and are not comfortable or well armed. As for the environment, the planet seems to be similar to Mars, but capable of sustaining organic creatures even outside of the buildings,” Martins continues. “The player never risks removing the armour, but the Drillers seem to tolerate the planet atmosphere and if the player manages to advance in the game, he or she will be able to explore the outside, just to find out some monstrosities lurking at the surface.”Any news on the Dolmen achievements?Yep, we’ve got ‘em! You can check out the Dolmen achievements for an idea of what you’ll be up against. “We designed achievements to work as a guide on our game. We think that’s the best use of them, providing a few hints and a good challenge at the same time,” explains Martins. “For example, if you read the achievements before playing, you will see that some of them talk about hidden Drillers. That means the player can find a few survivors along the game and probably interact with them. In another example, if you are already playing and read the achievement that talks about crafting armours, you will know if you already have all types or armours in the game or not.” Martins continues, adding, “However, we decided to not include any achievements for the multiplayer, because we received feedback about players who don’t use this feature since it ‘makes the game easier’ or ‘reduces the horror provided only when someone is alone’. That way, solo players can also complete all achievements without worrying about finding a friend using the same platform.”And what sort of challenge will achievement hunters face in completing Dolmen? “Beating the game is one thing. Beating the game and completing all achievements is a higher level of challenge because you need to master the combat AND find a lot of secrets along the way,” Martins says. “We had to distribute manuals explaining to our testers how to complete all achievements, so they could properly test everything. If you are an achievement hunter and want to do it without help, I’m sure you will need some nerves, good eyes and patience to complete the list.”Dolmen promises to bring a challenge as well as a mystery. What, out of all this, are Martins and the Dolmen team most excited for players to experience? “We have different opinions on our team. Some think that the challenge, of course, is the most important part of a soulslike game and it is responsible for the fun. Others would like to know what the audience will think about the universe, about the art concept or the lore,” Martins says. “Will the players realize that the drillers are actually modified humans sent to Revion Prime or are they so different that we don’t recognize (or care) about them? Are the Nikidermas truly the villains or is there any motivations that must be known before we judge? Time will tell…”What do you think? Will you be setting off to Revion Prime? Let us know in the comments!



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