Curse of the Dead Gods Review

Curse of the Dead Gods

Release: January 1, 1970
Publisher: Focus Home Interactive - Passtech Games - T
Developer:
Genre: Roguelike, XBox One Reviews, Xbox Series X Reviews
PEGI:
Comments:

 

Comment

You seek untold riches, eternal life, divine powers – it leads to this accursed temple, a seemingly-infinite labyrinth of bottomless pits, deadly traps, and monsters.

Collect mystical Relics and an arsenal of weapons to make yourself unstoppable. Battle through hordes of enemies in dark, cavernous passages filled with traps and secrets of all sorts – fire-spewing statues, explosives, hidden spikes, and worse.

Corruption builds in you with every step – encourage or ignore it, but each powerful curse can be a double-edged sword.

Your greed will lead you to death, but that is not an escape. Rise to fight again. Delve deeper again. Defy the malignant deities that linger in this place.

MAIN FEATURES

• A skill-based roguelike exploring a cruel, dark temple made of endless rooms and corridors
• Swords, spears, bows, guns – wield these and many more
• Light and fire will be your best allies to overcome the threats that lie in the shadows
• Unique curses influence each attempt, putting a twist on every action
• Dozens of enemies, with powerful champions and deadly bosses to face off against

Sure at first glance this game has a strikingly large amount of similarities to last year’s MEGA HIT Hades, but once I dug into the gameplay the differences become very clear. While sure this game brings a lot of the same spirit as Hades, it is very different in a lot of ways, both games being great in their own right.

While the plot of the game is basically non-existent you can get some lore and additional info from the codex you fill in along the way. But the overall game is this, you are a treasure hunter of sorts who gets trapped in this sealed temple that looks Aztec in nature, there are the ever-present Gods in this temple who are basically crafting new and random ways to punish you over and over again. The game gives you tons of options for weapons and perks but one very different mechanic is the light/dark. You have a torch that helps you light the way and see more of the environment, but when you want to fight you will have to put it away which greatly affects how far and what you can see so you have to make an effort to light cauldrons and other torches when you can. You also take increased damage in the darkness, so this really is the first enemy you combat through this game, that really never goes away.

Another way this game differs from others is the way it’s set up, instead of having to beat the entire temple at once, like in Hades. You have different floors made up of 9 rooms each with a boss battle at the end. Making the game much more forgiving once you get the hang of it. You earn along the way Crystal Skulls (Indiana Jones much?) and Jade Rings. They allow you to unlock new weapons, permanent upgrades, and the like so that you can come into each run better equipped and able to tackle the challenges.

Largely the game is like other rogues in its a hack and slash mechanic. However, Curse of the Dead Gods also throws traps, the light and dark, dodging, and blocking into the mix. Those who prefer a more aggressive gameplay style likely won’t make it far at all. You have to think and consider every move, every counter, every attack you execute.

Lastly one of the other mechanics is curses. You didn’t think the name came out of nowhere right? As you progress through each room you take on more corruption (a separate meter from your health) that fills up, it can also be triggered by taking darkness damage, or in events, you decide to buy an item with a blood sacrifice vs gold. When your corruption meter builds up, you will be given a curse that will make things harder for you, like taking 5% more damage, or enemies spawn more enemies and such until you accumulate five curses…the last being you lose 1% health every second until death….or you beat the boss which cleanses you of all curses.

Overall Curse of the Dead Gods is an excellent rogue-like game for sure with enough varied gameplay mechanics to keep you hooked and engaged for quite some time. However, where it falls a little flat of meeting the greatness of Hades for me is the soundtrack and lack of storytelling or narration. But if you put Hades down but enjoyed it, this is another great example of where Rogue-like games should be moving as a whole.