There is something immediately appealing about an action-adventure that understands the value of making its world feel mysterious. Rather than presenting players with a familiar fantasy landscape filled with clearly defined heroes and villains, Menes: The Chainbreaker plunges us into a surreal desert prison where the boundaries between captor and captive have become hopelessly tangled. Powerful beings are bound by chains, ancient secrets lie buried beneath the sand, and even the gods themselves appear to have fallen victim to forces beyond their control. It is an intriguing foundation for an adventure, and one that gives this independently developed game a personality of its own.
Created by solo Romanian developer Adrian Podaru and published by Rage Game Studio, Menes: The Chainbreaker brings together two very different action-adventure traditions. Its demanding combat draws inspiration from the precision and discipline of Soulslike experiences, particularly the emphasis on parrying and learning enemy attack patterns, while its platforming recalls the acrobatic adventures of Prince of Persia. These influences are not simply thrown together for the sake of recognition. They form the two central pillars of an experience built around timing, patience and the satisfaction of gradually mastering a hostile world.
You take control of Menes, a forgotten soul shard of an Archangel whose journey involves freeing Bastet and discovering why the Creator has been imprisoned. The story also explores Menes’ own origins and the strange history of the realm surrounding him. There is a deliberately cryptic quality to the narrative, with environmental details, hidden collectibles, conversations and major encounters gradually revealing pieces of a much larger picture. Players who enjoy being trusted to join the dots rather than having every mystery explained immediately should find plenty to appreciate.
Combat That Demands Your Attention
Combat is where Menes: The Chainbreaker makes its strongest impression. This is not an adventure that encourages players to rush towards every enemy, swinging their weapon and hoping for the best. Reckless aggression is likely to be punished, and survival depends on understanding how opponents move, recognising their attack patterns and choosing the right moment to respond. There is a definite rhythm to its encounters, but finding it takes practice. Early defeats can be frustrating, particularly when an enemy seems to have the upper hand, yet learning from those mistakes is an important part of the experience.
The central attraction is Daedalus, Menes’ living sword. Rather than functioning as a conventional weapon, it becomes more powerful through successful parries, creating an interesting relationship between defensive play and offensive potential. Every well-timed deflection contributes to its strength, meaning that players are encouraged to engage with enemy attacks instead of simply avoiding them. It is a clever idea because it gives defensive skill a tangible reward, turning a perfectly executed parry into something more meaningful than merely surviving another blow.
This mechanic also gives encounters an appealing sense of momentum. There is particular satisfaction in recognising an incoming strike, responding at precisely the right moment and gradually building the strength needed to deliver a devastating counterattack. It encourages concentration and makes individual battles feel like tests of observation as much as reflexes. The more familiar you become with an opponent, the more confident you can be in your responses, and that gradual improvement is an important part of what makes demanding action games so rewarding.
The major encounters against the realm’s false gods provide the biggest tests of this combat system. These imposing beings are both prisoners and jailers, making them fascinating figures within the wider mythology. Anubis is among the corrupted entities standing in Menes’ way, and these encounters are designed around learning attack sequences, recognising opportunities and making the most of limited openings. They are not simply obstacles to be defeated before reaching the next area. Each major confrontation also reveals more about the character being fought and the circumstances that have shaped this strange world.
There is a learning curve here, and it will not suit everybody. Players accustomed to fast, forgiving action combat may find the emphasis on precision demanding, particularly when several enemies are involved. However, the inclusion of three difficulty settings is a welcome decision. The more forgiving Baby setting reduces incoming damage to 25 per cent, while Normal provides the intended challenge and One Hit offers a particularly brutal experience for those who want every mistake to carry potentially fatal consequences. This flexibility is important because it allows more players to experience the adventure without removing the challenge for those who actively seek it.
A Desert Built Around Movement
While combat provides the main source of tension, platforming offers a different kind of challenge. The desert prison is filled with vertical environments, narrow ledges, dangerous gaps, and sections that demand careful movement. Menes must negotiate demanding jumps and traversal sequences, making environmental awareness just as important as combat technique. The influence of classic Prince of Persia adventures is apparent in the emphasis on acrobatics and on navigating spaces designed to test your timing.
The introduction of Icarus-style wings adds another dimension to exploration. Being able to glide across wide gaps and adjust your trajectory in mid-air gives Menes greater freedom of movement, although it is not an invitation to float effortlessly through every obstacle. Flight energy and precise positioning still matter, so players must think carefully about when and how to use their abilities. The possibility of striking airborne enemies also helps connect traversal with combat, giving the wings a purpose beyond simply making the scenery easier to cross.
There is an enjoyable contrast between the slower, deliberate rhythm of the fighting and the more fluid demands of the platforming. One moment you might be studying an enemy’s movements and waiting for the perfect opportunity to parry, while the next you are judging a jump across a dangerous stretch of terrain. This variety helps prevent the adventure from becoming entirely dependent on one mechanic, although the precision required by both systems can occasionally be a source of frustration.
Some of the platforming sections can feel unforgiving, particularly when awkward camera angles make it harder to judge distances or understand exactly where Menes will land. When a game places such importance on precise movement, even relatively small inconsistencies can become noticeable. The same is true of occasional collision quirks and moments when the controls do not feel quite as fluid as the design demands. These issues do not undermine the overall concept, but they can interrupt the satisfaction of successfully negotiating a difficult section.
A World Full of Unanswered Questions
The setting is one of the game’s most distinctive qualities. Rather than attempting to recreate ancient Egypt as a straightforward historical location, Menes: The Chainbreaker uses Egyptian mythology as the foundation for something considerably stranger. Sun-bleached structures, enormous monuments, subterranean chambers and mysterious murals combine to create an environment that feels caught somewhere between an ancient civilisation and a supernatural nightmare. Glowing chains provide a particularly striking visual motif, reinforcing the idea that imprisonment is central to the history and identity of this realm.
Environmental storytelling plays an important role in bringing the setting together. The world is not simply a collection of arenas connected by corridors, and there are secrets to discover for those willing to look beyond the obvious route. Hidden collectibles and visual details help flesh out the mythology, encouraging exploration and giving players reasons to pay attention to their surroundings. The story behind Menes and the origins of the prison are gradually assembled through these discoveries, creating a sense that considerably more is happening than the immediate objective suggests.
The false gods are particularly interesting within this context. Their position as both captives and wardens introduces a welcome degree of moral and narrative uncertainty. They are powerful adversaries, but their circumstances invite questions about how they came to occupy their roles and whether the chains binding them represent punishment, protection or something altogether more complicated. This approach gives the boss encounters an additional layer of significance, making the journey feel like an investigation into a broken mythology rather than a simple quest to defeat a succession of monsters.
Visually, the game has plenty of atmosphere, even if it does not always possess the polish of a larger production. Some environments and animations can feel rough around the edges, and lighting inconsistencies in darker interiors occasionally detract from the intended presentation. There are also moments when the limitations of a small development team become apparent. Nevertheless, the overall visual identity is coherent, and the combination of desert architecture, shadowy interiors and supernatural imagery gives the game a memorable sense of place.
Sound That Gives the Desert Its Soul
Audio is arguably one of the presentation’s strongest elements. The original soundtrack, composed by Romanian electronic artist Silent Strike, brings a distinctive electronic atmosphere to the ancient mythological setting. Rather than relying exclusively on conventional orchestral fantasy music, the score uses atmospheric synth textures and mythic percussion to create a sound that feels both modern and otherworldly. It helps give the prison realm an identity of its own, particularly during moments when the environment is allowed to speak for itself.
The music also plays an important role in shaping the mood of encounters. Exploration benefits from the more atmospheric material, while the tension of major battles gives the soundtrack an opportunity to reinforce the danger surrounding Menes. Full voice acting adds further character to the experience, helping the narrative feel more substantial than a sequence of text descriptions and environmental clues. These elements work particularly well because the story relies so heavily on mystery, atmosphere and the gradual revelation of information.
An Ambitious Indie Adventure Worth Discovering
What makes Menes: The Chainbreaker particularly interesting is the ambition behind it. Bringing together parry-driven combat, challenging three-dimensional platforming, aerial traversal, boss encounters and a lore-rich mythological setting is no small undertaking, especially for a solo developer. Not every element achieves the fluidity or polish that its influences might suggest, and there are moments when the difficulty feels more irritating than rewarding. Yet the underlying ideas are strong, and there is a clear creative identity running through the adventure.
The combination of Daedalus and winged traversal is especially effective. The sword gives combat a distinctive risk-and-reward structure, while the wings provide a different way of interacting with the world. Both mechanics demand that players understand their limitations rather than simply relying on them whenever convenient. When everything comes together, the experience can be genuinely satisfying, particularly when a difficult encounter finally falls after repeated attempts.
The game’s biggest weakness is that its ambition occasionally exceeds its execution. Camera positioning, platforming precision, animation stiffness and occasional collision problems can make certain sections feel less comfortable than they should. Those shortcomings are worth considering, especially for players who place a premium on technical refinement. However, they should not overshadow the considerable effort involved in creating such a distinctive adventure, nor the appeal of its setting, soundtrack and central combat mechanic.
Menes: The Chainbreaker is a challenging and atmospheric action adventure that knows what it wants to be. It takes familiar ideas from beloved action and platforming games, combines them with an unusual Egyptian-inspired mythology and adds a living-weapon mechanic that gives its combat a welcome identity. It may not always match the precision of the games that inspired it, but there is plenty here to admire, and its willingness to offer both an accessible difficulty setting and a punishing One Hit challenge is commendable. For players who enjoy learning through defeat, exploring mysterious environments and taking on imposing supernatural enemies, this is a journey worth undertaking.
