After Play

Heroes of Loot

26 September 2015

Played

15 Sep 2015 - 23 Sep 2015

Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5

Plot synopsis

Five brave heroes have found a grand dungeon. One by one, the decend into the depths to gather as much loot as they can, and defeat as many monsters as get in their way. But if they die, it's all gone. How long can you last?

Impressions

Not very long, I fear.

The first few enemies are simple. They're numerous and are out for blood, but they're easily dispatched as long as you don't let yourself get overwhelmed. There's hardly any reason not to just hold down the fire key at all times and blow away all the monsters with whatever weapon you happen to have at hand: arrows, spells, whatever. No one can withstand your wrath.

The challenge comes in three forms:

1. The enemies get tougher. At first, you're just fighting these white-sheeted ghosts, and that's no problem. But gradually the bad guys start getting a little smarter, a little tougher. Some of them seem to be made out of stone, and can take a lot of damage. Others spawn more monsters to attempt to overwhelm you. It can get dangerous pretty quick.
2. Traps. Lots and lots of traps. Spikes out of the walls, or turrets that spew fire; these things can take you out pretty quick if you're caught off-guard. So you should be aware of your surroundings at all times.
3. Challenge doors can be found to give you a certain item upon completion. Defeat the challenge in time, and you are rewarded. Fail, and you won't get a second chance (because you'll likely be dead).

The graphics are pretty simplistic, but the bad guys are easily recognizable and the civilians you can rescue don't take friendly fire. It's essentially a rogulike shoot-em up, or it would be if the quarters weren't so cramped. But those cramped quarters can work in your favor, and you can lead the bad guys into killboxes if you know what you're doing.

This is not what I think of when I think of playing a roguelike. For me, that usually involves turn-based movement and battles. This game is definitely inspired by the roguelikes of old, but with everything done in real-time, it's fast-paced and exciting. It also means that the typical roguelike death is exacerbated; you're going to die a lot more often since you can't plan out your moves. But once you get used to the pace, you can get pretty far before you finally succumb.

Final verdict

Good fun, but it has a hard time standing out from the crowd, especially when that crowd includes games like Nuclear Throne. Tough but fair, it's a good lunch break roguelike as long as you don't mind taking long lunches for those rare good runs.