In Banishers, players are plunged into a dark land stalked by all manner of undead apparitions, their task being to cleanse the landscape of a haunted curse. Banishers may seem derivative, but with the journey encompassing heady themes of life, death, love, sacrifice, plus the narrative complexity Don’t Nod are famous for, then Banishers has a few tricks up its sleeve that’ll help it stand out.
Setting
Set in a fictionalised rendition of colonial North America, the setting is a dark, gloomy, mysterious, and – as described by one of Banishers’ two central protagonists, Cuban-born Antea – as colonised land that is haunted. Now, whilst developer Don’t Nod have acknowledged their 17th century set game does indeed take place on colonised land, colonialism isn’t a central theme. Instead, New England in the late 1600s was likely chosen due to its historical notoriety for witchcraft, notably the Salem witch trials, with them having taken place in Massachusetts a couple of years before the Banishers inhabit the area in 1695.
Open world is linear in style
Banisher’s action takes place in a semi-open world, an area that feels vast yet inhibits a gloomy claustrophobia, with different biomes distinguished by lighting and vegetation. Natural landmarks funnel players through, but Don’t Nod have made attempts to evoke a feeling of isolation, making the player feel like they could easily get lost amongst the mire. World building has been of great importance to Don’t Nod, with the efforts of level designers, narrative designers, and environmental artists coming together to craft a distinctly atmospheric world for players to explore.
Protagonists
The ghost-hunting Banishers are Scotsman Red MacWraith and his Cuban-born wife Antea Duarte, and their duty is to protect the residents from the lingering threat of spirits and spectres. Now, this isn’t a spoiler as it’s well established in Banisher’s preview material, but during a disastrous mission Antea dies, becoming a spectre herself. The story henceforth focuses on Red’s attempts to cleanse the landscape of haunting whilst straddling the line between bringing Antea back from the dead or facilitating her into afterlife.
Gameplay
As Banishers, players will step into the lives of colonial settlers whose townships are plagued by haunting curses; paranormal investigation, then, will take up a big chunk of player time, blending crime scene style examination and dialogue choices with a sprinkling of spellcraft. Signs can be marked into the earth that’ll trigger fated memories appearing as ghostly renditions retelling events that’ve happened, painting a clearer picture of what has transpired. The other half of gameplay encompasses combat, with the usual light and heavy attacks, melee, blocks, combos, and weapons, interspersed with magic all at the disposal of the Banishers as they seek to rid the landscape of nefarious spectres.
Characters can be switched between
During paranormal investigation and in combat both flesh-and-blood Red and see-through spirit Antea can be freely switched between. The latter is integral to many of the game’s environmental puzzles, inspecting spectral dust and lighting up glowing glyphs to reveal hidden clues, pathways, and echoes of the past, things otherwise invisible to the mortal Red.
Combat looks a step up from Vampyr
Don’t Nod’s prior action-RPG Vampyr has a lot to love, but it’s fair to say the repetitive, simplistic nature of its combat dragged the whole experience down. Learning from the formulaic action of its predecessor, and perhaps taking more inspiration from modern action games, Banishers looks to be step up. Don’t Nod are on record stating they’ve learned from Vampyr’s past issues, with the combat described in this feature’s previous entry exemplifying this. Plus, character animations and effects appear spellbinding too, which is another step up from Vampyr’s oftentimes drab animation.
Character arsenal
Combat throws up some nice variation via Red’s ability to slice foes via cutlass or blast from distance with a weighty musket blending fluidly with Antea’s preference for a hands-on, melee focused approach interspersed with ethereal area of effect attacks. As expected, Red has a health bar that needs to be managed and topped up whereas Antea’s gauge is magical vitality that can be replenished via Red’s attacks.
Upgrade paths
This being an RPG there are of course skill trees for each character, although less expected is the fact both characters will share the same upgrade paths. Still, there’s enough specialisation to flit through here in terms of abilities, weapons, and crafting menus that each character can be tweaked to individual playstyle. Don’t Nod have resisted stuffing too many collectibles, weapons, armour, and spells into the game though, instead providing a more modest offering that players can run with throughout the game’s duration to upgrade to their maximum potential.
Enemies
Banishers promises a wide variety of supernatural enemies, from run of the mill zombie-types to more formidable, towering opponents. The game’s official bestiary trailer showcases skeletal, dog-like creatures, floating, demon-eyed spectres, rampaging, rotting-fleshed soldiers of battles past, plus humungous bosses that’re kind of hard to describe, our glimpses of them mostly contained to shadows. One particular hazard players must watch out for is fallen spectres possessing the bodies of anything and everything lying dead across the landscape, whether deceased wildlife or humans.
Moral choice a major narrative theme
With Antea’s passing at the game’s outset, both Banishers face a moral quandary enveloping the entire story: resurrect Antea’s body to bring her back from the dead or aid her to move onto the next plain of existence, whatever that is. To achieve either outcome, the Banishers must decide upon an investigation’s conclusion whether to blame or banish deviants, with the former delivering an increase in ghost points enabling Antea’s return to flesh and blood. It’s not always going to be clear cut though; outcomes will be morally ambiguous. Show kindness by granting delinquents an ascension to the afterlife of their own and Antea gets closer to the hereafter herself. Characters will be torn between their love of each other with their revulsion of the undead, their choices carrying substantial weight that may have serious consequences later. The tormented souls and afflicted residents each harbour stories of love, betrayal, and suffering too, their deliverance being far from an open and shut case.
Campaign length
Banishers story runtime is speculated at being at least 20 hours, with 30 hours most likely. Throughout, the Banishers will explore five distinct regions, each potentially haunted by their own ghostly flavour.
Made in Unreal Engine 5
It’s 2024, and we’re starting to see Unreal Engine 5 become a more commonplace game engine. Banishers is no stranger to Epic’s state of the art engine, it being crafted within in. Players can expect photoreal visuals, tactile environments, and immersive lighting, and it’s put to good use here in Banishers by just how organically decayed everything looks.
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