When a game is titled Dauntless such as this one, you know that you’ll inevitably be tasked with something extremely difficult, something that will test your mettle, courage, skills, and abilities to the utmost limits. Such a game will require you to grow and become something greater than yourself – a hunter, warrior, slayer. In a word, to become dauntless yourself.

However, I bet that you haven’t expected trials that this game had prepared for you. Inspired by hits such as Monster Hunter, Dark Souls and World of Warcraft, Dauntless is action RPG developed by The Phoenix Labs. The game is set in the world of the Shattered Isles – a place that had long ago survived a terrifying cataclysm known as The Upheaval which left it in the state of complete disarray. The world is now composed of hundreds of floating islands, disjointed fragments of a once compact mass that are supported in midair thanks to a powerful energy source known as Aether. Humanity somehow managed to survive this ordeal and even managed to adapt inventing the means to traverse between the islands, such as splendid sky ships.

Unfortunately, as if all this chaos wasn’t enough, The Upheaval brought another threat: Behemoths. Much like ancient creatures from the Godzilla franchise, these gigantic monsters were dormant until the cataclysm had released them from the bowels of the earth. Now they are wide awake. And hungry – very, very hungry. The only thing that stands between their insatiable appetite and the largely defenseless humanity is a cast of Behemoth hunters called Slayers. As you can guess, you’ll play as the latest addition to their ranks, a bright new hope for humanity set out to make the name for yourself – if you survive all the ordeals before you. As a professional monster slayer, you’ll need proper tools if you hope to bring down a gargantuan opponent such as a Behemoth. Different swords, axes, hammers, and other weapons will be at your disposal. Every piece has its different offensive capabilities, so it’s guaranteed that you’ll find something that will fit your fighting style. However, since different types of Behemoths have different resistances, every once in a while you’ll be forced to leave your comfort zone and find an alternative weapon that’s more suited to a particular task. Thankfully, the game offers a bunch of crafting options, so you’ll certainly have a great time experimenting with different combinations and the most powerful weapons will be infused with the Aether.

Of course, the highlight of the entire game are Behemoths themselves. While some specimens seem like crossbreeds between Pokémon and Godzilla, they are for the most part really spectacularly designed. Most of them are quite fierce looking, and come in many different forms, from the flying Kharabaks to massive stegosaurus resembling Pangars. Their attacks and types of damage vary the same as their looks and behind every slain Behemoth there potentially can remain some valuable resource that can be used in crafting. Behemoths also feed on Aether itself, so during the game, you’ll encounter even larger and more powerful versions.

The spectacular action is performed from the third-person and you can play on your own, or in the co-op mode with up to four players at the time. The game is currently in the open beta on PC.