Hands-On Preview: The Jolly Co-Op Construction Of ‘Salvation Denied'

There’s a certain magic that comes with playing around with physics in video games. I can still remember the first time I saw a Havok ragdoll death animation in “Max Payne 2” and it absolutely blew my mind. Since then, entire games have been built around physics simulation, like the “Bridge Simulator” series, “Octodad,” and countless others.

The latest physics-oriented title is “Salvation Denied,” from game studio Firevolt and publisher Digital Vortex Entertainment. Players take on the role of robotic construction workers, either alone or in groups of up to four, and are tasked with building structures across a variety of mission types. I had the opportunity to go hands-on with members of the dev team and came away impressed with the chaotic co-op of “Salvation Denied.”

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My session with a preview build of the game saw me play with three members of the development team. The mission began with us looking forward to a meticulously constructed tower on the horizon… Which is then hit by a meteor from space, sending pieces thrown all over the map. Our task was simple: reconstruct the tower, or at least build a structure of similar height.

Needless to say, it was easier said than done. Knowing I was playing with professionals, I took a more hands-off support role, but still was able to contribute to the process. I’d drag pieces from the map towards where my allies were beginning to assemble a proper replacement tower. Thankfully, these robots don’t have to rely on their raw strength to move giant hunks of steel around (lift with your knees!) Instead, everyone has a “Half-Life 2”-styled Gravity Gun that can be used to move stuff around with ease, and even rotate them in mid-air.

Another tool at our disposal is the Foam Gun, which launches globs of foam (duh) that causes objects to stick together. It’s not a welding tool and pieces can still break apart, but it’s good to have someone constantly making sure that parts of the structure are sufficiently foamed. Needless to say, I assigned myself to this relatively low-pressure task.

As my allies and I (mostly my allies) built our tower, we unlocked the “Fat Boy,” a massive bulldozer with an attached 3D printer and grinder that could be used to destroy unwanted objects… Or toss your friends in for a lark. Since the bulldozer spawned a few hundred meters from where our increasingly magnificent tower was being built, I hiked over and got behind the wheel of the massive vehicle, which was about as tall as our structure. I very nearly crashed it into our tower, which could have been a hilarious disaster, but was able to steer out of the way and park conveniently alongside the tower.

This is where my time with co-op ended, but I later went back and relaunched the demo to experiment with the physics and see if I could build something half as elegant as what my partners did the first time around. I could not. Even so, I still had a surprising amount of fun solo, which felt like a very different experience than playing with allies. Gone was the jolly cooperation, and in its place was a more meditative, slower-paced version of the adventure.

It’s worth noting that, for performance optimization reasons, “Salvation Denied” uses the tried-and-true Havok physics engine instead of Unreal Engine 5’s default “Chaos” physics engine. For what it’s worth, I never felt like the structures misbehaved of freaked out like physics-based-objects are wont to do. Of course, I can’t guarantee that it won’t ever happen, but the physics seemed realistic and stable from what I could tell.

The mission we played involved building a tower, but that’s not the only mission type in the game. Other mission types include building a bridge across a canyon gap, building a tower under a time crunch to escape rising hazardous fog, building while being pelted with foam-eroding acid rain, and building on the top of a mountain, with strong winds and limited space making for a much more challenging experience.

All told, “Salvation Denied” looks promising. It knows what it wants to achieve and doesn’t reach beyond that. If you want to play a game where you play with physics to build a structure to the stars alone or with some pals, “Salvation Denied” aims to deliver exactly that. If you want to try it out for yourself, a demo is out now for free on Steam. “Salvation Denied” is slated for release later this year on Steam (Wishlist here), with console versions aiming for a 2027 release.

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This story was originally published June 4, 2026 at 11:28 AM.