Soulslinger: Envoy of Death

Soulslinger: Envoy of Death is a fast paced roguelite shooter set in a dark western version of the afterlife where you battle through arena style encounters and grow stronger with each run. Its moody atmosphere helps carry an experience built around tight combat loops and steady progression in a central hub. While it delivers solid action and a clear sense of style, limited variety and repetition in more ways than one keep it from feeling truly exceptional.

68%Game Brain Score

gameplay, story

optimization, grinding

69% User Score Based on 383 reviews

Critic Score 60%Based on 1 reviews

Platforms

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About

Soulslinger: Envoy of Death is a single player shooter game with fantasy and dark fantasy themes. It was developed by Elder Games and was released on April 17, 2025. It received neutral reviews from critics and mostly positive reviews from players.

You are a gunslinger in limbo, involved in a gritty war against "The Cartel", a ruthless organization harvesting souls to break free of the shackles of the afterlife. Grow stronger with each new run, gather the essence of lost souls to take on the biggest threats in this rogue-lite FPS!

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69%

Audience ScoreBased on 383 reviews

gameplay41 positive mentions

optimization18 negative mentions

Strong and stylish visual and audio presentation with a compelling dark western/supernatural atmosphere.
Fun, fast-paced and snappy gunplay combined with roguelite progression that rewards skill and experimentation.
Well-written story, good voice acting and interesting characters that add depth to the experience.
Developer responsiveness with frequent updates and a clear roadmap for future content.
Accessible performance on mid-range systems and solid technical foundation for an indie game.
Replayability due to incremental progression, upgrades, and challenging runs, especially for fans of roguelite FPS games.

Frequent crashes, bugs, and performance issues including stuttering and freezing that disrupt gameplay and frustrate players.
Limited weapon variety and uninspiring upgrades that do not meaningfully change gameplay or encourage build diversity.
Repetitive level design and enemy encounters that cause runs to feel similar and grindy after initial hours.
Unbalanced difficulty spikes and poorly designed bosses causing frustrating gameplay experiences.
Movement clunkiness, occasional clipping, and awkward controls especially on controllers.
Game lacks polish in animations, UI issues, and some design decisions such as forced hit accuracy and slow reload mechanics.
Progression and healing systems are often criticized for being insufficient or frustrating, making runs overly punishing.
Some players feel the game is unfinished or early access-like with missing content and poor optimization, limiting recommendation at full price.

gameplay
116 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35%
61%
4%
The gameplay of Soulslinger offers an engaging roguelite shooter experience with satisfying core mechanics, smooth movement, and a compelling narrative that complements the action. However, many users note that it becomes repetitive due to limited weapon variety, shallow progression, and minimal evolving mechanics, which reduce long-term excitement. While atmospheric and fun initially, technical issues and underdeveloped gameplay elements hold it back from fully realizing its potential.
- “Soulslinger: envoy of death offers a compelling and stylish roguelite shooter experience with strong core gameplay and narrative elements, though it still requires refinement in boss design, performance stability, and balancing to fully realize its potential.”
- “The gameplay loop is good; it rewards being accurate and not being hit.”
- “Gameplay is solid, the story is intriguing, controls are tight and the random abilities make each run enjoyable.”
- “Weapon variety is extremely thin, and most runs feel mechanically similar.”
- “The gameplay feels shallow and quickly becomes monotonous.”
- “The roguelike elements feel tacked on for the sake of having them — variety mostly comes from swapping effect colors (e.g., fire ↔ poison) rather than introducing meaningful mechanical differences.”
story
102 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
41%
53%
6%
The story of the game is generally considered interesting and well-crafted, featuring a supernatural western theme with engaging voice acting and atmospheric presentation. While it serves more as a backdrop to the fast-paced gameplay, many players appreciate its narrative drip-feed, occasional depth, and thematic elements like identity and redemption. However, some find the story minimal, repetitive, or lacking in full development, making it a secondary aspect compared to the action.
- “It is evident that the developers have poured their hearts into this game, mainly by crafting a compelling story that urges you to play more to find out what happens next, as well as by perfectly emulating that frantic Doom Eternal pace of fights on higher difficulty and later levels along the trail of ghosts.”
- “The story, voice acting, and gritty supernatural western vibe are all surprisingly well done.”
- “Despite encountering the permadeath associated with roguelikes, every run feels purposeful and you’ll find yourself continually pushing to uncover more of the compellingly enigmatic story.”
- “I understand there are four "lands" to cross during one long attempt in the end, but as I'm unable to keep playing for more than a dozen areas without a crash, it seems I will never finish the story.”
- “The narrative framework is intriguing: a cursed gunslinger trapped in a limbo-like purgatory, but storytelling is minimal and mostly environmental.”
- “Lore fragments and dialogue hint at something deeper, yet the story never meaningfully develops.”
graphics
72 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
63%
33%
4%
The game features impressive, stylized graphics with a dark, supernatural western aesthetic, strong lighting, and atmospheric visuals that greatly enhance the experience. While many praise its polished art direction, smooth performance, and high-quality visuals, some users report stability and optimization issues, including crashes and high GPU usage. Overall, the graphics are a standout aspect, receiving consistent acclaim despite early access-related technical hiccups.
- “The art direction leans heavily into a dark, otherworldly western aesthetic with strong lighting, striking silhouettes, and moody environments.”
- “Beautiful graphics, great artstyle and atmosphere, nice selection of weapons, skills, with just the right amount of randomization.”
- “First of all, the game has beautiful visuals: environments, models, particle effects, and lighting in general.”
- “Due to graphical issues, the gunplay is sometimes painful and any of the good things in the mix (the basic premise, the variety of weapons) are lost in the chaos.”
- “The art style in this game is honestly not that good; it feels like it hard leaned into that period of gaming where every AAA company made their games 50 shades of brown, so a lot of it just kind of blends together, with the only exception being the per-run lobby area is surprisingly vibrant.”
- “I tried going to DX11—same issue; lowering graphics—also same issue, so I guess the game is just badly optimized for now.”
optimization
66 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
62%
27%
Optimization for "Soulslinger: Envoy of Death" is highly inconsistent; while some users report stable and smooth performance on mid-to-high-end systems, many experience frequent frame drops, stuttering, and lag spikes, especially during intense combat or crowded scenes. The game struggles with poor optimization overall, with unresolved performance issues and bugs detracting significantly from gameplay, though recent patches have offered some improvements. Players with lower-end hardware or expecting polished performance may find it frustrating until further optimization updates arrive.
- “It's well optimized, has a mildly interesting story, cool visuals, and fun, snappy gunplay.”
- “Performance is stable across mid-range systems.”
- “Consistent performance and solid technical presentation.”
- “Horribly optimized trash game; for example, you get a message when trying to change window mode: 'Warning borderless windowed mode is the best, most stable option for this game!'”
- “Sudden FPS drops, stuttering, and random lag spikes hit mid-mission, completely killing the momentum.”
- “The game's optimization is terrible; even on medium settings, the FPS can drop to 0 and freeze the console!”
music
29 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
45%
48%
7%
The game's music is widely praised for its atmospheric, mood-enhancing qualities that effectively complement the setting and gameplay, often described as haunting, guitar-centered, and immersive. While some find the soundtrack repetitive or lacking variety and the sound design inconsistent, the overall consensus highlights the music as a strong and elevating element that significantly contributes to the game's tone and experience.
- “Atmospheric, haunting, and well-timed, the music reinforces the bleak tone perfectly.”
- “Sound design reinforces the pace—guns roar with punchy feedback, hostile creatures emit unsettling cries, and the soundtrack mixes twangy western influences with dramatic orchestral flourishes.”
- “Music is amazing and adds a ton to the overall atmosphere of the game.”
atmosphere
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
78%
18%
4%
The game features a highly praised atmosphere characterized by a unique blend of dark fantasy and western motifs, supported by haunting music, immersive visuals, and strong voice acting. This compelling ambiance enhances immersion and is a highlight for fans of roguelike shooters, though some note that gameplay repetition can diminish long-term engagement. Overall, the rich atmosphere and presentation make it a standout experience.
- “Atmospheric, haunting, and well-timed, the music reinforces the bleak tone perfectly.”
- “The environments are atmospheric, blending western motifs with ethereal effects, glowing ruins, and surreal imagery that remind players they are not wandering an ordinary desert.”
- “The world, atmosphere, characters, especially death, are really well done, definitely would like to know more about them!”
grinding
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviews highlight that the game features a grind-heavy progression system that can feel repetitive and tedious, especially when upgrades are slow to acquire and enemies become bullet sponges. While some players appreciate the sense of improvement through grinding, others find boss fights unbalanced and the grind detracts from enjoyment. Recent updates have improved the impact of grinding, but balancing issues remain a concern for many.
- “The unreal paragon character asset flips, along with only two biomes and somewhat too grindy nature really sour the overall experience.”
- “The boss fights are either a pure joke or completely unfair; grindy for no reason and it feels pretty bad after such a long run to lose to the same repetitive and infuriatingly hard to dodge attacks.”
- “I continued playing the horde mode and higher difficulty, but enemies become bullet sponges and upgrades go super slowly because the blueprints are hard to come by, so you are endlessly grinding to kill enemies just a tiny bit faster.”
stability
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
7%
93%
The game suffers from persistent stability issues, including frequent freezes, frame rate drops, and numerous glitches such as getting stuck in the environment or encountering invisible walls. While some bugs have been addressed in updates, significant problems remain, notably on platforms like the Steam Deck, causing crashes and unresponsive controls. Despite developer responsiveness, the current state is buggy enough to hinder smooth play for many users.
- “The game still freezes every so often with weird frame dips.”
- “I'll have to wait for a patch/update to play again, as now I'm in a loop bug situation where I can't go back to the hub and if I continue and go through a portal the game freezes and crashes.”
- “Important update: as of 1.0 performance has severely dropped, with exponentially more frame rate drops and environmental glitches.”
replayability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
40%
30%
Replayability opinions are mixed, with some users criticizing limited progression and build variety, leading to low replay value after a short playtime. Conversely, others praise the game's solid gameplay loop, challenging enemies, and meta progression that create a compelling "just one more run" experience, offering near-infinite replayability.
- “Endless replay value, a good comfort play but still high octane enough to keep you going back in for more punishment. Enemies are challenging but not just bullet sponges.”
- “Didn't take me more than 10-15 hours to see just about all the content the game has to offer, but for a $20 price tag and theoretically infinite replayability whenever I get the urge, that's more than enough.”
- “Still, the replayability is strong, the gameplay loop is solid, and it nails that 'just one more run' feeling.”
- “No replay value.”
- “Replay value is limited by bland progression systems and poor build diversity.”
- “Atm the replay value is 0.”
character development
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
29%
14%
The character development in the game is praised for its distinctive comic-book-inspired designs and clear enemy silhouettes, enhancing visual clarity during combat. Reviewers appreciate the effort put into creating memorable characters and an engaging narrative that adds depth beyond typical shooter gameplay. Key characters like the lady gunslinger, Dead-eye, and Lady Valerie are highlighted as particularly well-designed and contribute to the game's compelling world.
- “Unlike other shooters that focus solely on the thrill of combat, Soulslinger offers a rare gem of character development and an intriguing narrative that keeps you coming back not just for the gameplay, but for the characters and the world they inhabit.”
- “Real great game, you can really see that the developers put a lot of effort and love into this game, especially with the character designs.”
- “I like the intro and the character design of Death and Lady Valerie.”
- “It doesn't look bad and the story and character design are decent, but the gameplay is just rough.”
monetization
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find the monetization approach off-putting due to intrusive and frequent ads that disrupt gameplay. Additionally, the promotional advertising misrepresents the game’s content, leading to disappointment over its lack of story depth and overall content.
- “You'll be frantically dodging the swarm of small ads while there's 6 or more bullet sponge "ogres" that can launch huge aoe attacks anywhere in the arena.”
- “The biggest things are the lack of content and the optimization, along with some minor stuff like some jank when it comes to ads, some rough animations and some minor bugs.”
- “The ads is offputting, where the gun itself aims down but instead of using the sights you still use the reticle.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect is generally well-executed, with engaging voice acting and a snappy, heartfelt story that draws players in. Despite a somewhat silly tone typical of westerns, the game effectively explores deeper themes like death, creating genuine emotional moments.
- “The story feels a little silly (what good western doesn't?) but most of the voice acting is done well and it's snappy and emotional, so much that you do feel drawn in and curious.”
- “Randomly has some heartfelt moments as the protagonist grapples with the concept of death.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find the humor subtle but effective, often arising from amusing character behaviors such as their pathing.

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60%Critics’ scoreBased on 1 critic reviews

Soulslinger: Envoy of Death Review (PS5)
Soulslinger: Envoy of Death is a fast paced roguelite shooter set in a dark western version of the afterlife where you battle through arena style encounters and grow stronger with each run. Its moody atmosphere helps carry an experience built around tight combat loops and steady progression in a central hub. While it delivers solid action and a clear sense of style, limited variety and repetition in more ways than one keep it from feeling truly exceptional.
Impulsegamer.com
60%

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9h Median play time

11h Average play time

8-10h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 8 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Soulslinger: Envoy of Death is a shooter game with fantasy and dark fantasy themes.

Soulslinger: Envoy of Death is available on Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 5, Windows and others.

On average players spend around 11 hours playing Soulslinger: Envoy of Death.

Soulslinger: Envoy of Death was released on April 17, 2025.

Soulslinger: Envoy of Death was developed by Elder Games.

Soulslinger: Envoy of Death has received mostly positive reviews from players. Most players liked Soulslinger: Envoy of Death for its gameplay but disliked it for its optimization.

Soulslinger: Envoy of Death is a single player game.

Similar games include Voidborn, Witchfire, Deadzone: Rogue, Abyssus, Bloodshed and others.

Soulslinger: Envoy of Death

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