REMEDIUM: Sentinels is a fast-paced action roguelike auto-battler brought to you by Sobaka Studio and ESDigital Games. With a lot of these Vampire Survivor clones coming out these days, I believe that this is one of the best auto-battler games that I’ve played so far. In my REMEDIUM: Sentinels review I’ll deep dive into this game and see what it has to offer, from its unique levels to unlockable steampunk sentinels.
Graphics
REMEDIUM: Sentinels caught my attention because of its 3D art style, which is still something of an absence in this genre. It reminded me of old-school Warcraft 3 for some reason and I felt like I was playing an early 2010s RPG game, somewhere between the lines of Diablo and Torchlight.
I’m also surprised that the game didn’t get super laggy when it comes to battling hundreds of hordes on the screen except when you’re playing Endless mode and you’ve reached beyond the 5-minute mark. For context, I’m playing this with a GTX 1060 (6GB) laptop, and it’s holding up pretty well when playing Normal mode.
A minor nitpick that I would add is that the UI may need some bit of tweaking. Sometimes I can’t see the scoreboard or how much time I have left before my run finishes especially when the game screen becomes bombarded with hordes.
Gameplay
This is where REMEDIUM: Sentinels probably figured out the “sweet spot” when it comes to these types of genres. Most Vampire Survivors clones would last at an average of 20 to 30 minutes per session but for this game, it will only last you 15 minutes per Normal mode run. So clearing and decontaminating the main levels will probably take you around 8 hours or less.
REMEDIUM: Sentinels is also easy to pick up. All you need to do is move around the map while dodging hordes of enemies and upgrading your abilities. If you want to grind for Scrap to unlock sentinels and other upgrades, you can play Endless mode for an added challenge.
You also have the ability to control the game time later on if you want to dodge difficult enemies by slowing down time or quicker sessions by speeding up time which can be unlocked via the Upgrades section which is similar to Vampire Survivors. I just wish that we could do a toggle implementation instead of holding the hotkey.
Sentinels & Level Design
REMEDIUM: Sentinels has six levels that you can play with as well as an Endless mode. In this, you can really test how long you can survive against hordes of mutants and pray that your GPU can handle the graphical load.
You will actually notice a huge difference in difficulty whenever you hop into an Endless game mode session. This is where I actually feel some frame drops on my gaming rig once I’m approaching the 5-minute mark.
I also loved the thrill of unlocking different sentinels (or golems, but I prefer to call them sentinels) during your runs. They are usually locked in cages on some levels. Each sentinel also provides you with a unique weapon and starting abilities.
Favorite Sentinels
Personally, I liked playing as Lamina and Archangel for the entire duration of my playthrough because of the Sawblades. It’s super satisfying to use especially if you’ve maxed it out. There are also Sentinels that would cost you Scrap but feels tedious to get them as well. I had to play a couple of Endless mode sessions just to buy those two sentinels.
Each level has its own atmosphere and you may need to beat these levels a couple of times so you can decontaminate the area of plagues. If you want to completely remove the contamination for every level, you need to survive for 15 minutes.
Frozen Pass is the only level that I’ve encountered in Normal mode where it didn’t have a 15-minute stopwatch, it just felt out of place. Though you will face a mutant boss that you have to beat if you want to win the level.
Abilities & Upgrades
This particular section is where I wished REMEDIUM: Sentinels spiced it up. I was expecting that aside from the unique weapon that each sentinel had, they could’ve created more choices when it comes to discovering abilities during runs.
Sometimes I get tired of seeing the same abilities again and again like the Mine, Emitter, Heavy Rain, and more. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy the overall feel and gameplay of REMEDIUM: Sentinels but I think the replayability of this game can greatly improve if they made the transmutation unlocks a bit easier.
In order to unlock the transmutations or elemental buffs, you need to max out each ability in your runs. There’s also this one occasion whenever I upgrade a maxed-out weapon to have an elemental attack (e.g. Machine Gun), the fire rate resets.
I was also looking forward to a comprehensive upgrade tree, maybe similar to Oblivion Override. But to my surprise, they decided to go for the simpler route.
The Verdict
REMEDIUM: Sentinels has cemented itself as a competent title in the action roguelike and survival genre and they made it accessible to busy people. Although, it lacks variety when it comes to discovering unique abilities for each sentinel, watching your mech beat hordes of enemies feels therapeutic and satisfying.
At first, you might feel that the game is a bit slow but as you immerse yourself longer, you’re going to feel like the pacing is just right. Once you’re done clearing the levels, you’ll get that itch to hop into Endless mode and try to become the top scorer. You can also do a quick 15-minute Normal session if you want to squeeze in time to unwind for a bit.
We hope you liked our review of REMEDIUM: Sentinels. If you want your own copy of the game, feel free to get it on Steam as it’s now out of Early Access. It also comes with Steam Deck support as well, so this is a perfect game to carry with you whether you want a quick break from work or you’re traveling.
This review is based on the PC version of REMEDIUM: Sentinels. The key was provided by Sobaka Studio and ESDigital Games.
