Guns of Esctaton Preview: A Soulslike FPS Where You Parry Bullets
At gamescom 2026, held in Cologne, Germany from August 26, 2026, publisher 4Divinity offered a hands-on preview of its new title Guns of Esctaton (『ガンズ・オブ・エスカトン』). The game’s world was conceived by legendary art director Viktor Antonov, whose credits include a string of acclaimed classics. Esctaton blends a Western-style setting with the atmosphere of occult horror, creating a space where players feel a quiet, persistent dread while they play. Its systems fuse Soulslike action with first-person shooting, and the resulting experience is described as decidedly tough.
Combat begins with firearms. Players face enemies armed with revolvers and rifles, which alone would make Esctaton an ordinary FPS, but a parry system is built in. The timing is clearly telegraphed: when an enemy raises a weapon, the muzzle flashes toward the player and a distinct loading click rings out. A successful parry deflects the attack with a sturdy arm, breaks the enemy’s stance, and triggers brief slow motion, opening a counterattack window. Weak points are unconventional, however. They are not openly exposed, and headshots are not always the answer, while firing anywhere else deals little damage.
The codex, a single book carried into battle, is the key. Holding it while facing an enemy opens a relevant page filled with that creature’s data, detailing which body parts to shoot and in what order to reveal its weak point. That turns combat into a puzzle rather than a simple parry-and-fire loop, and the system peaks in boss fights. The previewer noted that third-person Soulslikes are familiar territory, but first-person ones are far harder to read: vision is limited to a single eyeline, and enemies snipe from long range.
Sound becomes a survival tool rather than flavor. Because enemies emit a loading click the moment they take aim, attacks from outside the player’s view can be anticipated, giving the game a horror-like tension. The preview also highlighted ammunition handling. The six-round revolver ejects and reloads one cartridge at a time, and the high-damage single-shot rifle cycles after every shot, so deciding when and where to reload is a serious tactical judgment. No release date or platform details were shared, and Esctaton is clearly a selective, demanding title. For players who enjoy mastering unforgiving systems, it is one worth watching.
