Cinder City Preview: The Spark Is There but It Something’s Missing

The hands-on Cinder City demo I played at Gamescom had a strong opening, but at the moment I fear it doesn’t do enough to separate it from other third-person MMO shooters.

The demo starts in an exciting fashion, with your character diving headfirst out of a helicopter into hostile territory crawling with soldiers and defended with anti-air weaponry.

With the impact from the fall cushioned by the character’s exosuit I wrongly assumed this was a game where basic infantry are…well…basic, but after charging into battle I quickly realised my gameplay needed a more tactical approach.

The first few areas were easy enough to get through, with well-positioned enemies taking defensive positions and forcing me into cover. Eventually I thought stealth might be the best way forward, but when I hit crouch I was greeted with, by no exaggeration, the slowest crouch-walk I’ve ever seen in a game.

Deciding I didn’t want my demo to be 30 minutes of tip-toe walking I went back to my usual approach of rushing into combat, and it was decent fun. Your regular weapons aren’t anything to boast about but you get a number of gadgets ranging from supply drops and some form of heat-seeking missile. You’ve also got grenades but I was surprised to see my futuristic super soldier couldn’t throw them very far…

The more I experimented the more I realised the enemy AI wasn’t very bright, though I’m giving it the benefit of the doubt as a few Gamescom demos dialled back enemy difficulty so you could see more of the games.

After disabling the anti-air weapons my team landed behind me and a massive firefight ended my hands-on experience, with my teammates doing little to help but did offer a good distraction so I could pick off whichever enemies peeked over their barricades.

I’ve definitely played worse third-person shooters, but I’ve also played better. Cinder City does feel like your usual run-of-the-mill futuristic army shooter but I’m at least open to giving it another go when the game releases in 2026.