I don’t know what made me pick up a copy of Severed Steel. I remember seeing it on sale somewhere, saying it looked really neat, and adding it to my Steam wishlist. I probably figured it would show up in Humble Choice at some point. When I saw Severed Steel go on sale for $4.99 on Fanatical.com, I just had to grab a copy, and I am so glad that I did!

I have two complaints about Severed Steel. The game is extremely tiring to play, and I wish it were longer. I have logged less than six hours so far, and I did finish the game. I plan to go back in soon and play through again on the next difficulty level.

Severed Steel is all about using the slo-mo mechanic. I died quite a lot before figuring out that the goal of the game seems to be working things out so that you almost never leave bullet time. You have infinite bullet time as long as you’re parkouring along walls, sliding, or diving. You are also completely impervious to damage during these parkour moves!

I wouldn’t want to say that the game got easy when I understood that you have to be constantly sliding, diving, and gunning, but it definitely became possible to complete each level! It is also a heck of a lot of fun!

The game is short, but you spend nearly 100% of your time playing, and most of that time is spent playing at 110% of your abilities.

Severed Steel Steam

This isn’t like Borderlands where you spend time walking to the next group of enemies, scoping out their locations, and taking time to plan your attacks.

This isn’t like Team Fortress 2 where you play for three minutes, die, wait a minute to respawn, then spend 20 seconds walking back towards the action.

This isn’t like Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 where you spend the majority of your time sneaking around finding vantage points to most easily take out a group of enemies.

In Severed Steel you are constantly running, aiming, and shooting. Always. The entire time. You are working hard, and it is awesome.

Is Severed Steel worth $24.99?!

I am realizing that I don’t know how to answer this question. I supposed it depends on how you decide to value your games. This is so subjective! I have plenty of games in my Steam library that I paid less for and have played for ten times as many hours.

I paid $5 for Severed Steel, and I feel like it was a steal at that price. If you enjoy fast-paced first-person shooters, and Severed Steel is on sale, I absolutely think you should pick it up. It is a ton of fun.

Severed Steel is a ton of fun, and it seems like it is going to have a ton of replay value. I have two more difficulty levels to finish, and they are kicking my butt. There’s a mode called Firefight where you get to aim for high scores on each level, and there are community-made maps.

What am I trying to say here? Is Severed Steel worth $24.99 to me? I think I can safely say that I wouldn’t have regretted paying full price.

Protondb says Severed Steel is playable on the Steam Deck, but I’m not sure I could manage to play without a mouse and keyboard!