Cults are no laughing matter. Except here. In the midst of a crazy world, it’s nice to laugh. JOIN US released a trailer at Xbox Games Showcase that had me laughing out loud. I was curious to see how Wolf Haus Games would approach this theme, and now that I’ve played the demo version, I’m actually looking forward to the full release.
If you select “JOIN US” you will first be directed to a facility where you are already part of a cult. There’s character creation, and there’s a lot when it comes to customization. In addition to playing around with clothing, facial features, and body shape, you can also choose the name and logo of your cult. It’s so funny that Wolf Haus Games is going all in on creating their own cult, and I love it.
After completing the initial customization, I went through a quick tutorial. Here you learn how to move, shoot, etc., and end by running through a group of followers to meet the “leader”. Yes, they were spewing out a lot of stupid voices and praising their leader. Yes, I am aware of the Simpsons reference in the name too. And interestingly, the developers didn’t add it intentionally. They added a reference to King of the Hill somewhere, but I didn’t find it.
After the meeting is complete and the leader’s message – to move forward and convert more people – is clear, you arrive at the new compound with a few followers. It’s nothing special, at least for now, but eventually we’ll have the opportunity to add to it and improve it. As soon as I arrived, local farmers who did not like our teachings appeared and tried to take us away.
This attack is the biggest impression of this game for me. “JOIN US” has a great Saints Row energy. From movement, gunfights, driving, and followers, this might be the Saints Row game many have been waiting for. Having survived the attack, it was time to go on the offensive in battle with the locals, so I went to the believers and selected some to accompany me.
It wasn’t too difficult to dispatch them as they travel to the farm in an SUV. The great thing is that you can switch between followers by simply pointing at them and holding a button, so you’re not stuck with the kit you have. Being able to change on the fly is great and helps you enjoy different weapons without having to run around on the ground looking for new weapons.
JOIN US takes place entirely on an open world map and can be enjoyed in one of two ways. Wolf Haus Games mentioned a campaign worth about 14 hours to enjoy the story. The second method is sandbox mode. I think this is just running around and playing around with the systems and mechanisms. There are a lot of meters at the top of the screen, and I didn’t have enough play time to explore everything that was going on under the open-world gameplay. Needless to say, there’s a lot more that “JOIN US” can’t reveal in 20 minutes, so I’m looking forward to diving even deeper into the cult… Wait, maybe I shouldn’t say that.
Of course, the best way to enjoy this is with friends. JOIN US allows for four-player co-op play, allowing you to transform your town with the help of your friends. My demo was single-player, so I don’t know exactly how it will work, but it’s going to be a fun time being able to dive into a team-created cult and cause some chaos.
My preview was clearly an early alpha build (graphics and performance were rough), but it showed me the potential of JOIN US. Friendslop style games are all the rage right now, with the likes of PEAK and REPO dominating the Steam charts. However, JOIN US doesn’t fit into this genre at all, and just happens to feel like a full-fledged game that’s great for playing in groups. If Wolf Haus Games can smooth out the edges and provide a compelling story behind it, this could be a huge hit. JOIN US will be released on PC, Xbox Series consoles, and PlayStation 5 in March 2027.
Join Steam
Start your own doomsday cult! Recruit followers, build compounds, customize your cult’s beliefs, and defeat your enemies in this 1-4 player co-op, action-packed open-world survival experience. Can you survive the apocalypse?
