Tears of Metal is an indie hack-and-slash action title where players lead a Scottish battalion to reclaim their stolen home. Read our review of its early-access build to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.
Everything We Know About Tears of Metal
Tears of Metal Plot
Tears of Metal follows the story of one of the many skilled Scottish warriors leading a battalion of vengeful Scots seeking to reclaim their lost island, now overrun by invaders entranced by the Mother Dragon Stone, a stone of immense power. Players can play solo or with up to three other friends to carve through the enemy forces and take back what is rightfully theirs.
Tears of Metal Gameplay
Tears of Metal is a stylish hack-and-slash roguelike where you will control a Scottish warrior and take into skillful 3rd-person action-musou combat. Strike, defend, parry, and utilize all your skills to turn the tides over the hordes of enemies, while also commanding an army of powerful warriors.
With a roster of three unique heroes (out of the planned five), over a hundred equippable items and 18 Emblems to mix and match, build a strong arsenal of skills and buffs to take down the invaders in engaging battles.
Tears of Metal Release Date
Released on July 22, 2026, Tears of Metal is now available to be purchased in Early Access on Steam for $24.99.
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 Steam |
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| $24.99 |
Tears of Metal Review [Early Access]
A Roguelike European Musou
I’ve had my fair share of playing musou (warriors) games back then, though I leaned towards Capcom’s Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes more than Dynasty Warriors. Whether it be in ancient China or ancient Japan, musou games have this appeal that can be simply put as "big numbers go boom" (at least, for me) and you find yourself chasing that high of attaining high hit combos and dishing out endless damage, eventually leading to victory.
Now, I find myself not in Asia, but in a completely different continent—all the way in Europe, supposedly in the isle of the United Kingdom, as a Scot. Tears of Metal takes the familiar musou formula and places it against a new European backdrop and with added roguelike elements.
Taking Back The Scottish Homeland
In this fictional alternate universe Scotland, you play as one of the five heroes (although only three are currently available in Early Access) that lead the Scottish battalion to reclaim their island that has been overtaken by greedy invaders wanting the powers of the Mother Dragon Stone for themselves. You pummel through hordes upon hordes of foes through several randomly generated areas, eventually aiming to take back what was lost.
And…that’s the entire premise in a nutshell. It’s a musou hack-and-slash game—you wouldn’t really expect much in way of narrative, and it doesn’t take away from the experience at all. You’re here for the slaughter and revenge, and that’s all you need. You do meet characters along the way belonging to different factions, both recruitable allies and foes, which add to the worldbuilding, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s not that important. Makes everything more immersive though, in a way—Heroes, Companions (recruitable NPCs that fight alongside you, separate from your battalion Commanders) have names and little blurbs that tell you a little more about themselves if you’re into lore.
Scottish Warriors Lite
The game’s hack-and-slash mechanics are familiar territory to Dynasty Warriors, Sengoku Basara, musou fans. It’s an action roguelike where you defeat waves upon waves of enemy invaders on a map while also fulfilling objectives or rare quests that lead to the recruitment of more ally Companions, army commanders, and allies. Completing a node until the end nets you equippable Emblems (skill upgrades similar to Hades’ Boons), as well as whatever bonus was on that particular area, such as Statues (army upgrades), Coins (currency to buy useful items from the Travelling Merchant), and more. You move across the map, eradicating foes in different nodes through combo-centered combat and special attacks, upping the Threat Level with each claimed area, before facing the big bad boss at the end before moving on to the next major location.
Simple enough to understand, and a pretty straightforward gameplay loop—take down enemies, perish, upgrade, rinse and repeat. Don’t let its comic-style cartoony-ish aesthetic fool you—the game does get challenging the farther you go, and you will definitely need to constantly upgrade before getting anywhere substantial (unless, of course, you’re an absolute pro.) Although, even the beginning is quite difficult already.
Grindy, But Expected—It’s A Roguelike
As a roguelike, it’s obviously going to get grindy. Better upgrades are unlocked through constant runs, such as more equippable Charms (temporary stat raising items found on the battlefield), better Commander Monikers (permanent upgrades equipped on your Commanders, who fight off the fodder enemies for you), and even better Equipment for your main hero, so the gratification is a little delayed. However, when you finally get to move past the nodes and bosses that screwed you over before…the sweet taste of victory is well-worth the effort.
Fortunately, a run in Tears of Metal doesn’t take that long. A node can easily be cleared within 2 to 3 minutes, maybe up to 5 if you explored a little too much and put up the Threat Level to almost max. Combat itself is also engaging, making use of different combos and some tactical awareness to properly clear anything. You can’t be totally mindless in Tears of Metal—randomly pressing buttons will send you straight back to your settlement because you missed a double hit from an enemy captain or what not.
Nevertheless, the resources, especially Healing Points and Statues, can feel rather tedious to acquire. In all of my runs so far, you don’t get more than one Statue node, and it only gives you around 20 to 23 Statues a completion, whereas an army upgrade costs at least 50, going higher in price.
Then, Healing Points are scarce and really expensive, which the tips and tricks on the bottom of the screen always reminds you of anyway—but the lack of healing options and heavy reliance on near-perfect runs to survive does make it frustrating sometimes. Healing can be purchased through altars for a steep price, bought through the Merchant, found through roasted meat on the battlefield (although they give barely anything, like 5 to 8 HP), or acquired through completion of the Healing node denoted by a heart. But for the latter, to even get healed, you’d first need to mow down at least three or four hordes of enemies. Kind of counterintuitive when you’re at your last few HP—other roguelikes usually just let you rest, not put you through hell again.
Different Heroes, Different Playstyles
With how grindy it gets, you might think it’ll get stale pretty quickly. Fortunately, each of the different heroes have their unique weapons and combos, allowing for variety in playstyle for more replayability. Scottish legend William Wallace wields a strong sword and makes use of Parries to quickly mow down enemies with a stun, while noble female warrior Brienne makes use of her fists of justice, her damage multiplying with each jab counted in her Direct Hit meter. The last hero is still a mystery to me as I’m still optimizing my build, but based on the teaser trailer and the silhouette, he is a wolf-man that relies on his trusty dual axes to deal damage, so I’m excited to get to meet him too.
Great Audiovisuals
Visuals are charming, easy on the eyes, punchy and flashy in the right places especially when skills come flying together, and has just the right amount of gore, befitting of its gameplay centered around utter carnage. Fortunately, the game also provides accessibility options to turn off the blood and all if it makes you queasy. The locations you fight in aren’t just copy-pasted, and actually look different from one other, with clear European influences like Stonehenge-like stones, and of course, the Medieval aesthetic of it all, from the character designs to the location assets.
However, one gripe I do have with the visuals is the unnecessary dimming of the screen when an elite enemy, called a Champion, comes into the fray. I understand trying to make the atmosphere tense and scary to incite fear and all that, but all its doing is making them harder to see. It doesn’t help that all these Champions have red and black color palettes due to the influence of The Dragon, so they just muddle together with the vignette and the red guide lines when they attack. Their color palette is already striking against the muted green grass and trees of the forest, so it feels like a strange choice.
Also, hilariously but also understandably so, the game still has an entire category of placeholder texts in the collection pages, specifically for the Locations across the three areas. None of them have descriptions or pictures, but it’s been only a few hours since the game’s release—it’s something easily remedied in further patches, but it’s still funny to see instances of placeholder texts in places where they shouldn’t really be.
The audio really adds to the war atmosphere of the battlefield, from the roaring sounds of the soldiers from both sides fighting for their lives, to the cling and clang of weapons, the morale-boosting cheers—it does wonders for the immersive experience.
Music-track wise, there’s not much as most of the game is just your Scottish battalion yelling into the air, but the distinct Celtic bagpipes track that plays when you’re in the settlement is catchy and memorable. Sometimes, you might just find yourself sitting idly and listening to it while in the middle of optimizing your army.
Might Just Be Your Next Hack-and-Slash Musou Game
Tears of Metal, even in its Early Access state, is shaping up to be a pretty solid action-packed musou game. It blends together musou elements with familiar roguelike mechanics, and despite a steep difficulty curve, it’s a joy to play.
I’m definitely looking forward to more of the game as it is actively being developed, with more heroes to come and hopefully more emblems, areas, and a few QoL tweaks here and there too. For now, I’m still trying to tweak my build and upgrade my army to be able to properly clear the second area, and hopefully unlock the third one as well. Indeed, this isn’t a game for the impatient—hard work and effort is rewarded at the end, which is fun in itself.
Game8 Reviews
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Tears of Metal Product Information
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| Title | Tears of Metal |
|---|---|
| Release Date | July 22, 2026 (Early Access) |
| Developer | Paper Cult |
| Publisher | Paper Cult |
| Supported Platforms | Steam |
| Genre | Action, Indie |
| Number of Players | 1-4 |
| ESRB Rating | RP |
| Official Website | Tears of Metal Official Website |
