The Citadel Project Blends Thief and Dark Messiah Into a Stealth Game Launching Into Early Access on November 11
A new indie stealth game is drawing attention for combining two beloved cult classics into one package. The Citadel Project, developed solo by Reliquary Software, mixes Thief’s shadow-based stealth with the physical, momentum-driven combat of Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, and it’s about to leave its demo phase behind and launch into Steam Early Access on November 11.
A Solo Project Built on Two Classics
Set in a dark fantasy world, The Citadel Project casts players as a nameless prisoner who escapes a cell deep inside the Citadel, a sprawling fortress megastructure built by the Old Kings as humanity’s last line of defense against a catastrophic storm. That defense has since rotted from within, and the Citadel is now stalked by infected guards and civilians who can’t be reasoned with. The game leans heavily on Thief’s toolkit of shadows and sound, pairing a dynamic lighting system that calculates visibility against every nearby light source with a crossbow that fires several kinds of bolts, including rope bolts for reaching new heights and bolts that snuff out torches. The Dark Messiah influence shows up in the physics, since infected enemies can’t be killed in a straight fight, but they can be shoved off ledges, into hazards, or stealth-killed from behind if a player is careful not to leave a body out in the open.
Exploration, Loot and a Touch of Dark Souls
Beyond sneaking and shoving, The Citadel Project also rewards players who take their time. Exploring the Citadel’s corridors turns up ammunition, relics, artifacts and notes that piece together the fortress’s backstory, and some of those side paths reveal entirely new routes through the structure’s deeper levels. There are also bonfire-style checkpoints where players can upgrade their character between encounters, a touch of Dark Souls that sits alongside the game’s lighter RPG and adventure elements. A demo has been available on Steam since September 30, covering two of the game’s areas and offering roughly three to four hours of content, with some players reporting they spent well over six hours exploring it fully.
Direct combat with the Citadel’s infected guards is a losing proposition, pushing players back toward stealth and improvisation.
A Longer Road Through Early Access
Reliquary Software built the Citadel’s foundation alone before turning to its Discord community for feedback, and the studio says that work will continue for a while yet. The developer expects The Citadel Project to stay in Early Access for one to two years, with plans to add six more areas, expand the bestiary and item pool, and improve enemy AI along the way, while pricing is set to climb gradually with each major update until the game reaches its final 1.0 release price. It’s one of several Thief and Dark Messiah successors arriving around the same time, following Nightdive’s own Thief: The Dark Project Remastered and a Ubisoft-approved Dark Messiah community edition, but it’s set to be first out of the gate when it enters Early Access on November 11.
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Picture Source: Reliquary Software
