Mortal Shell 2 finally has a release date, and it's arriving sooner than you might think. Like so many other games releasing this year, Cold Symmetry is getting ahead of Grand Theft Auto 6's attention tidal wave blocking out November's horizon, and will launch at the tail end of August.

That makes the August-October release schedule even more stuffed than it already was, with games like Star Wars: Zero Company, Gears of War: E-Day, The Blood of Dawnwalker and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 all releasing in that window. Yet despite the vast amount of competition, I don't think Mortal Shell 2 has much to worry about, for two reasons.

First, Mortal Shell 2 is releasing right at the start of that crush, so it won't be jostling for space in a way that a lot of those late August, mid-September games will be (I'm concerned for that new A Plague Tale game, for example). Mainly though, it's because Mortal Shell 2 looks absolutely rad.

The basic premise appears to be "What if Dark Souls was metal as fuck?" and that comes through like a power chord on a 400-watt amp in the release-date trailer. There's a real emphasis on absolutely bodying enemies in the sequel, with combat that's several factors more brutal than the original. By the looks of it, you'll be constantly tossing enemies around, battering them with massive weapons, and performing utterly gnarly finishers on them. It reminds me of id Software's modern Doom games in a lot of ways, with as much emphasis on kinesis and aggression as being bludgeoned to death by a big boss.

I was a fan of the original Mortal Shell, which did an impressive job of replicating the challenge and satisfaction of Dark Souls despite being made by a tiny team on a fraction of the budget. But stylistically it did little to separate itself from FromSoftware's work. As such, I'm pleased that Cold Symmetry has found a way to give the sequel a stronger identity. Combined with the fact that it's ranking fairly high on Steam's most wishlisted page, I think it could prove to be one of the year's bigger hits.

Mortal Shell 2 releases on August 20. It isn't the only big hack 'n' slash releasing in the coming months, either. Onimusha: Way of the Sword arrives just a couple of weeks after Mortal Shell 2 launches, and that was one of the best games we saw at this year's Summer Games Fest.