"Fusing five weapons feels great, the circle-running maps don't"
About
Arms of God is a top-down autoshooter in the Bullet Heaven mould, where your character fires automatically and you steer through swarms of enemies, surviving timed rounds while hoovering up upgrades. Each crusade runs around 20 to 30 minutes across 15 levels, with short rounds of roughly a minute apiece. The hook is wielding five weapons at once and merging them through a fusion system to build something stronger, fed by a Crux currency and a shop where you can banish unwanted offers. The setting is grimdark apocalypse, with crusaders and templars, holy and elemental damage types, gore, ragdoll physics, and a metal soundtrack drawing openly on Doom and Warhammer 40K. It is in Early Access, spanning Act I to IV with three difficulties up to a nightmare mode.
Verdict
Arms of God nails the part of the genre most clones fluff: the moment-to-moment feel. Enemies come apart in ragdoll heaps, the weapon fusion gives you a reason to chase specific combinations, and the grimdark dressing actually commits where rivals go for cute. The drag is structural. Rounds last barely a minute and the maps reward circling rather than positioning, so the tactical room some players want never opens up. Add menu bugs and clumsy controller navigation, and you have a strong core still waiting for its surroundings to catch up. For ten euros in Early Access, it already delivers more than enough to justify the buy.
You'll like it if …
- +you want a Bullet Heaven with weight and gore rather than pastel mascots
- +merging weapons into a tailored build is the part you play these games for
- +you're happy to back an Early Access title that already feels good to play
You'll dislike it if …
- −you need maps that reward positioning over running in loops
- −buggy menus and awkward controller support will sour a run for you
- −you want a finished, fully balanced experience right now
Breakdown
- +Auto-fire combat lands with real weight, helped by varied ragdoll death animations
- +Difficulty is described as punishing without feeling cheap
- +Weapon fusion gives each run a build to steer toward
- −Maps reward circling enemies until the timer expires rather than smart positioning
- −Round timers of under a minute keep tactical play shallow
- −Manual aiming is buried in a menu toggle instead of a proper control
- +Plenty of weapons, crusaders and meta progression to unlock
- +The fusion system hides more customization than first appears
- +Campaign structure across four acts and a nightmare mode adds longevity
- −Some upgrades amount to flat numerical bumps rather than new decisions
- −Weapon mechanics can feel generic despite the fusion layer's promise
- +The grimdark, apocalyptic theme stands apart from the genre's usual cuteness
- +Campaign framing makes runs feel purposeful rather than aimless slaughter
- −Story is thin context, not a draw in itself
- +Art direction gives the game a strong identity that suits the brutal action
- +The metal soundtrack draws repeated praise
- +Performance is generally solid, including on Steam Deck
- −Screen clutter makes attacks, projectiles and animations hard to read at once
- −Some animations come across as low quality
- +Load times and stability are broadly acceptable
- −Controller navigation fails basics like wrapping a grid selection
- −Menus are buggy enough that players single them out
- −Systems like fusion and upgrades aren't clearly explained, hurting onboarding
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