This bowhunting title created by a Bethesda vet plays like you could make a whole game based on Skyrim's stealthy archer playstyle

The Axis Unseen feels like Skyrim stripped down, a game that is made from one strand of the Elder Scrolls DNA. There are no townsfolk or guilds. No celebrity voiceovers. Just you, your bow, and the crouch-walk key. A world of skeletons and vaguely Norse-looking creatures awaits.

The Axis Unseen’s first publicly accessible demo impressed me after years of teasers and trailers. Nate Purkeypile's previous work on Bethesda games is a different genre, but this feels like a more refined version of the way those games were played. This is not an RPG in which you play a Ranger, but a simulator. The Axis Unseen, thanks to its focus, is a surreal, isolating and very satisfying stealth shooter.

The demo begins with a combination of a tutorial and a playable trailer that follows a hunter as they go through their early years, training and flashes from mythic battles. It's a bit like the beginning Metroid Prime, where you get to frag with an arsenal of endgame weapons before being brought back to earth. In this case, you play as a hunter, but they die, and you control their successor in the actual game.

You can only use two basic moves: crouching and shooting the bow. After the pre-game frag, your quiver will be severely limited: only three arrows at first, but you can automatically reload them on approach. The result is a high-stakes shooting game that requires you to make every shot count. A shot to the lungs will quickly take down a fantasy elk, but its gnarled horns provide a natural defense against headshots.

It feels fantastic when you land a kill shot on one of Odin’s magical creatures. You get a nice screen shake, a sound effect, and geyser on the killshot. Purkeypile has nailed that same magic which makes videogame archery so satisfying in Skyrim Far Cry and Overwatch. I'm still trying figure out how I feel about The Axis Unseen stealth. I didn't feel as in control of the game as I did in Metal Gear or Thief. But there are more variables and I think this is a different kind of experience. I found that the light HUD feedback was not as reliable as simply avoiding an enemy’s line of vision.

The Axis Unseen’s stealth often led to these great cat-and-mouse duels between me, and the wildlife. The game's sound design is excellent. I could identify different critters' footsteps after an hour or so. Once I was in their territory, I would slowly circle around, trying to catch its eye before it did.

The open world exploration is another great feature of The Axis Unseen. You begin the game without a map or any clear objectives. All you know is that the green pillars visible in the world will help you become stronger. You'll have to walk over hills and dales, avoiding hostile creatures, and exploring interesting landmarks. It's a surreal and meditative experience. However, I think the game, which is largely HUD free, would benefit from having a compass.

The Axis Unseen's visuals are compelling. I have only seen the first of several visually distinct zones. It's a performance hog, though: on an RTX3070, no amount fiddling with settings could get me to a consistently 60fps. Medium preset DLSS performed in the low 50s.

The Axis Unseen's demo was great, despite a few minor complaints. You can try out the demo and wishlist The Axis Unseen ahead of its release on October 22.