War of the Roses, a third-person shooter and sword-fest, launched yesterday with a new trailer. Thus far the game sits presumably pleased with three reviews and an 80 Metacritic score. Joe Robinson, a reviewer at Strategy Informer, claims that the game is “definitely going to be punishing to casual players or people who simply aren’t that good, but if you do manage to get to grips with it, it’s very rewarding.” That fits perfectly in line with the tag line that ends the launch trailer: “Skill is not an unlock”–ouch. That’s a jab at Call of Duty, a game in which you can level up characters to open up enhancements to increase your performance, and any other game of similar ilk (Battlefield too, yes). Is it a warranted attack? I’ll let you be the judge of that.

UPDATE: Paradox Interactive has apparently gotten enough good responses from critics and players that it is now supporting War of the Roses with a team whose focus will be on updating the game. Paradox also currently has a contest going on that challenges players to capture the most action-packed screenshot. The winner will have access to a 32-player server for three months, and they will receive 5 copies of the game. Ten other winners will win a copy of the game. For more details, visit the War of the Roses Facebook page.

War of the Roses is now available on PC for $29.99 on Steam and other leading digital services.

Check out the launch trailer for War of the Roses:

Ryan Southard

Ryan Southard is a video game enthusiast, dissecting games down to their tiniest details. Whether it’s new or it’s old, as long as it’s awesome, he’ll play it. Follow him on Twitter at @Ryan_Southard

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