I never got the chance to really play The Falconeer before indie developer Tomas Sala started working on Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles, however the premise of his nautical and fantasy world of The Ursee fascinated me. While the former is a third-person action and flying game, the latter is a building game with strategic elements.
How can one developer change up things so much from the progenitor of his apocalyptic, nautical world to its large-scale and building successor? Will the themes of The Ursee fit well in a more relaxed and building sandbox type of experience? Find out in our Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles review!
Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles
Developer: Tomas Sala
Publisher: Wired Productions
Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X|S (Reviewed), Xbox One, PS4, PS5
Release Date: March 26th, 2024
Price: $19.99
The first thing you’ll notice when booting up Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles is that the game is gorgeous. It’s a very stylish, simplistic, yet iconic feel that you really have to see in motion to believe. The look of a well established Bulwark sitting amidst a raging storm, crashing with waves and crackling thunder, is awesome.
Individual building designs that populate your bulwarks have just enough flair and uniqueness pending how you build. This twist on building gives you a surprising amount of freedom with how to visually and mechanically design your bases. The various levels of tech also affect how your bases look thematically.
Solo developer Tomas Sala described Bulwark as “kitbashing”, or taking parts from various things and creating new models or designs. The game certainly feels like you’re cobbling together a makeshift refuge in a broken world. Units, attacks, and battles all look wonderful as well.
Having played Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles on both PC and consoles (Xbox) I can firmly proclaim the game is finely tuned for both platforms, and handles like a dream. The main way of moving is with its radial cursor and build menu, all of which is contextual to where your buildings and/or builder are located.
This sounds weird in theory to fans of building or strategy games but it makes perfect sense with Bulwark. This game isn’t so much a strategy game as it’s a building game with some strategic elements, and it was made to be controlled ubiquitously on PC or consoles. For this reason Bulwark really shines and is unadulterated fun.
I was worried the actual building and managing mechanics would be too simple in Bulwark as the game is definitely focused almost entirely on building. I was pleasantly surprised when I started building, expanding, and getting more supply routes. Bulwark lets you build the fortress of your dreams, while still adventuring.
Switching between bulwark building, managing your supply lines (which are identified with a slick user interface), and exploring the vast world of the Ursee is fantastic. I got addicted to maxing my base out to its utmost extent while exploring and sometimes fighting every corner of the world.
There’s something to be said of the very easy to follow and meticulously planned interface and in-game indicators that Tomas Sala cooked up. There’s a method to his madness and even with the most ridiculous of bulwarks, the interface keeps everything manageable and fun.
If there’s one complaint I have with the gameplay is that it’s sometimes hard to figure out what is going on with battles, and the aftermath with rebuilding. I get that Bulwark isn’t meant to be a regular strategy game with micro-ing of units, but I kind of feel like I wanted that still.
When not meticulously micro-managing and upgrading your bulwark, you’re out exploring with your builder airship and its entourage that builds as you get more captains and units. This leads to you encountering optional and sometimes mandatory (if you side too heavily with certain factions) conflict.
There were times when I was sure I would crush the enemy’s fleet or base and I ended up losing a good number of my fighters. The game briefly tells you of lost units and most seem to be recoverable at your captain(s) tower, though this isn’t really expanded on. Again, the main focus of this game is building, but I digress.
The strategy nut in me kind of wanted that extra level of micro-management to acquire more resources, and then captains, and eventually queue up more units to conquer the world. This isn’t really the goal of the game per se, this is me well-wishing that it scratched my builder and strategy itch.
The soundtrack in Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles is one of the highlights of the game as it perfectly captures the feel of a nautical, fantasy world on the brink of full destruction. It’s beautiful and somewhat sad, with a hint of mystery as to what is beyond the next wisp of clouds or raging storm.
The game manages to musically take you from a desolate feeling of longing and desperation into a raging battle with a heavy hitting theme to fit the combat. There’s a good amount of voice acting for the captains and city state that all sound great too.
While this game is a direct follow up to The Falconeer, it doesn’t have the same story campaign as that game because it changes the perspective up. The first game saw you living out the lives of individual warriors, its follow-up has to commanding an entire nation-state.
Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles takes things into the macro level and has you rebuilding the ruined world of The Ursee. I think it’s not really fair to criticize its overarching story as it’s more of a take it or leave it part of the game. It’s there, but the main focus is on building, or rebuilding.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles and made sure to not only take my time in exploring The Ursee, I tried to push the game to its limits with the biggest and baddest fortress I ever dreamed of.
If you’re a fan of building games and hybrid strategy games you’ll love what you find in this game. Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles is an endlessly fun building experience with some strategic bits sprinkled on top, creating a unique and rewarding game.
Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles was reviewed on PC and Xbox Series X|S with a copy provided by Wired Productions. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here. Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles is now available on Windows PC (via Steam and GOG), Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, and PS5.
