Quest of Dungeons (Xbox One) - Review

Quest of Dungeons is available now on the Xbox One and is priced at £7.19.

There are a fair few roguelike dungeon crawlers now on the Xbox One, most of them are pretty good too. So does Quest of Dungeons measure up?

Quest of Dungeons is a solid addition to the indie market. Procedurally-generated pixelated goodness abounds and never actually feels 'grindy', which is still fairly unusual in this genre. You can pick a character from four different classes (five if you have completed it) and head on into the dungeons to complete quests and more importantly GET MORE STUFF!

I'm very OCD when it comes to games. It takes me ages to complete games because I like to explore every nook and cranny, well as long as the game is good! In fact I have still not completed my play through of Fallout: New Vegas as my OCD gets so bad that I can't continue quests in case going further in the story locks me out of one side quest. It's tough being me. Anyway Quest of Dungeons is just one of those games, I am yet to leave a floor before I have gone through every room with a fine tooth comb, I just can't do it!

Usually I advise you guys that games like this are good for the odd ten minute session, load up have a quick go and get out. But that is not true for this game, in fact I spent three hours on it today in one gloriously uninterrupted session whilst my daughter napped. The same can't be said for many of the roguelikes I have reviewed previously. This may be because this one feels a little more strategic than most, after a few goes you start to predict where the enemy will move to so you can get the first hit in, or even better get them to step on a trap.

I found trying to play with the analogue stick a little fiddly, but that was easily rectified by using the D-Pad. I had to turn on auto pick-ups, because it was just too damn annoying to keep pressing to pick everything up. At first my screen was way off, but I did find the screen size adjuster eventually and then 2x zoomed the game and now I'm in pixel heaven. It's beautiful. The music in the game is brilliant too and I actually found myself absent-mindedly humming it earlier as I went to pick my son up from school.

Of the reviews I've written up today this one is the cheapest, but you know what, it's the most fun too! It's the one with the best replayability by far and is priced fairly, which is something I rarely say these days. Go get it!

9/10 BUY IT!

A code was provided for the purpose of this review. 

Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition (Xbox One) - Review

Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition is, quite honestly, the type of game I usually dislike, at least a little. I find that they normally lack a cohesive, engaging narrative and soon dissolve into a mass of button-mashing whilst mindlessly travailing the extremely linear path set out for you.

Now if you expect Diablo III to not feel a little like the above at some points then you've clearly never played a dungeon crawler before. But even though that style of game usually sees me scrolling through my Twitter feed in one hand, whist mindlessly bashing a random sequence of buttons on the limp controller in my other hand, I enjoyed Diablo III. Immensely. Let me tell you why...

So the first time I put this game in I wanted to really test myself. I decided to play it solo (or rather my co-op partner was at work!) and went straight away for the highest difficulty available to me. Now if you know me at all you will know that this is completely NOT what I would normally do. I'm a cautious gamer on my first play through of any game, I usually play through on mid-difficulty for the first play-through, telling myself it is because I want to 'fully immerse myself in the story'. This isn't true. My choice in difficulty level usually boils down to one simple fact: I'm shit-scared of most things and HATE repeating because I died.

My epic battlemage!

So after choosing this difficulty and commending myself on my bravery I then did another silly thing that is completely UNLIKE me. I chose to play my FIRST EVER game of Diablo in 'Hardcore' mode. Hardcore mode means that if (or rather when) your character dies they do COMPLETELY DIE. No do-over. No second chance. They are just GONE. Or in Diablo III, all progress in the story is lost but your character 'Will be remembered'. The only other game I've ever played in Hardcore mode is Fallout: New Vegas. And that is because the VATS system rules. And I am a pretty awesome adventurer.

So my first ever character created for any Diablo game was Mallory the Demon Hunter, (NOT the character pictured above, more about her later). Later, reading up on Diablo on some forums I discovered that this is the class most people would STAY AWAY from if they were to play the game solo. Awesome. I started my game thinking 'Ah well, it'll be a fun 15 minutes'....

But my character is STILL ALIVE TO THIS DAY. I am still in a state of shock really. I played with Mallory for a couple of hours, getting more and more nervous, especially when I got any cool stuff, that this battle would be her last. For the first hour I told myself I didn't care, but after that I couldn't hide it anymore...I cared about her a lot, and knew I would be extremely mad if I lost her because I'd ticked one stupid box. I got to the bit where you find the fallen star with her and then had to quit to make the family's meal.

Coming back to it that evening my partner and I decided to play together. Not wanting to subject Mallory to anymore torture today (and to be honest wanting to keep her away from any game that my partner was playing with me because really he is an AWFUL co-op partner!) I created a new character. Valeri, the wizard (see picture above). Sam picked the Demon Hunter class and away we went.

So instead of boring you to death with more of the same I'll get on to the meat of the review, the stuff you all come here for...Should you part with your hard-earned cash for it or not?

Gorgeous scenery

The answer is a HUGE YES. As I said above, I'm not really a dungeon-crawler fan, but I have sunk many an hour into this game now, and I am still hungering for more. I go through every are with a toothpick in order to get the most loot. I beg my partner to play 'just another hour' until it's 3am and we both have to be up in 3 hours. Missing out on this game is truly missing out on one of the greatest games on the Xbox One so far.

Yeah, it has some issues (which games DON'T?) but they pale into insignificance when faced with how much fun this game is. The 'A' button can be particularly annoying, as it is used for your Primary Attack, but also to interact with the world around you and to move to different areas - we often found ourselves going in and out of the same door due to the fact that there were enemies waiting immediately inside. And sometimes the auto-aim can be a little bit silly and instead of aiming at the more immediate danger, i.e the guy right next to you, it aims at someone about 20 feet away. But all is forgiven Diablo III, I love you despite these things.

Dungeon crawling is always better with a friend

And the good stuff is really GREAT. Visually the game is GORGEOUS, with beautiful landscapes and scenery and gorgeous character designs. The story is good too, albeit not the best but good, especially for a dungeon crawler. The voice acting is a little hammy, but again it's to be expected from this type of game. And one of the best things about this game is that you don't feel like your'e being babysat. The tutorial doesn't force itself on you, interrupting the action to tell you to use the LS to move (like anyone REALLY doesn't know that?!). Instead it is the reassuring friend in the background, there for you to glance at to know you're doing the right thing.

So if you haven't already guessed, or if you're one of those who just skips to the end of a review for the 'answer' so to speak, this game should definitely be on everyones Xbox One shelf. It managed to charm me. which is no easy feat, especially considering my lack of love for the genre. But after playing this game I would't be without it, and I look forward to my nightly visits to a dungeon. So grab a copy and join in!

10/10 BUY IT!

A promotional copy was provided for the purpose of this review.

Realms of Ancient War (XBLA) Review

Realms of Ancient War is available now on the XBLA Marketplace for 1200MSP.

Now I have mentioned many a time how much I LOVE co-op dungeon-crawler RPG type games. Once the kids are in bed me and my other half pick up a controller each and go to town. RPG games are for us the creme-de-la-creme and they have an extra cherry on top if they're co-op.

So, by rights we both should have loved this game, right? Wrong. I have found it very difficult to carry on playing this game for the purpose of this review. I have lost interest in this game more times than I can count and have frequently turned it off to look for fun elsewhere. He likes it though, he's not overly enthused by it but he doesn't quite understand why I am SO bored by it.

Off the bat you pick between the three characters available, a mage, a warrior damage-dealer and a rogue. We both opt for the same characters we always do...he the warrior and me the rogue. Upon choosing them you are dropped straight into the game and it all starts to fall apart.

NO WORLD MAP! NO MINI-MAP! Quintessential in an RPG no? Well say bye-bye because this game only has a pretty useless world map INBETWEEN levels. Not good.

RPG's for me have always been best when there is at least a lose basis of tactics involved. R.A.W laughs in the face of tactics and doesn't even give players the option to roll, dodge, counter or otherwise. Just keep hitting, keep bashing the attack button and your golden. VERY, VERY basic. It means you just stand trading damage with others and running when you seem a little bit f*cked. Mage class is where this is worse, obviously, and when we did attempt to play as the mage the game just verged on the ridiculous.

The skill 'tree' (I have used this term VERY loosely as you'll see) is again extremely basic. There is no real tree. Each character has a certain amount of skills that they can level up three times. Done. It doesn't really offer any chance for customisation, something which I feel is very important.

The graphics are pretty good, everything is pretty dark, but I can't really pick on anything except the pretty crappy attack animations. They're just a bit jarring. The music is alright too, pretty atmospheric, but nothing too exciting.

Too sum it up there just isn't really anything to this game. It's very basic and monotonous and has no stand-out good points. It is what it is. Priced at 1200MSP I think this game is a total rip-off, maybe priced at 800MSP it'd have a chance. 1200MSP just seems like far too high an asking price for the quality of game you get.

If you love dungeon-crawlers and it goes on sale, maybe give it a go. Otherwise I'd say skip on this one.

4/10 SKIP IT!

A code was provided for the purpose of this review.

Brimstone (XBLIG) Review

 I've heard a lot of good things about Brimstone so when the developer replied with a review code I was pretty excited to sit down and play this game.
Unfortunately Brimstone has left a slightly bitter taste in my mouth. Now Indie Games, for me have to earn a few stars for the pure fact that even if you only have a little fun it's only cost you 80MSP. And with a lot of Indie Games I often find myself thinking that I would have paid more for the experience. Brimstone is not one of those games.
Now it isn't that I dislike RPG's, in fact I LOVE them. What I dislike is a game masquerading as a story-led RPG that turns out to be a dungeon-crawler with very little customisation available.
When you open the game you are treated to a beautifully drawn screen to look at whilst you listen to an incredibly dull voice explain the pretty dull story. Then you're thrown into the first dungeon. There is a man at the desk that will explain a few bits to you and a man whom you can buy items from.
Now to anyone who buys this game I suggest you test your buttons out in this room. This room will NOT allow you to use the attack button (x) but get used to the menu buttons etc. DON'T press 'y' as it will use one of your Scrolls of Health (you're welcome) but yeah use this danger-free room to become accustomed to the buttons as this game has no tutorial. This would not normally irk me quite so much, but in a game such as this I do think a tutorial is pretty much needed. You have to be a seasoned RPG'er to work out a lot of the stats and nothing is explained. Literally nothing. You have an inventory full of items that state 140+ P Res 10+ Eva and 1+ Dex for example. Pretty self-explanatory to someone who is familiar with an RPG, but to anyone who has picked it up because of it's value for money aspect may be left a little baffled.
There are only four main stats to level up, Strength, Toughness, Dexterity, Magic. Each time you level up you get five points to use as you see fit. For some of the more uncommon items find you will need to have a certain stat levelled up.
I didn't find this game boring, but I can't say it was particularly enjoyable either. It was just there. I just played and played without really feeling anything. It felt like I was constantly bashing the x button and every so often the y button to recover some health. I didn't feel a driving need to push forward to see what happened next and I didn't really care whether I levelled up or not. As I said this game feels more of a button-bashing dungeon crawler than an RPG.
For 80MSP I'd say try it. If you like dungeon crawlers, if you don't mind mindlessly bashing buttons for what feels like hours on end. And if you think a game can be called an RPG because it includes four things to level up, go for it.

4/10 Try It!

A code was provided for the purpose of this review.

Diehard Dungeon (XBLIG) Review

 The Uprising continues! Todays release was Diehard Dungeon a dungeon crawling bargain at 80MSP!

Now this game really grabbed my attention as the dungeons are different each time you enter, a lot like a game I am addicted to at the minute, Spelunky on XBLA. I LOVE that you can't just 'learn' your way around as each time you restart it is totally different. It makes the game infinitely playable, how can you get bored when it's always different?
There are also many different endings to this game, so even when you've completed it and feel like that's it really you HAVE to keep going to see what the other possibilities are!
The dungeons don't bring anything too challenging. Small bouncy enemies that are pretty annoying who try and steal your companion crate. A few blade-wielding bad-guys and some bouncy red blobs. There are some traps that bring spikes from the walls and in all the dungeons you have to find the silver key to open the next door. Every so often you'll find a golden key and at the beginning of the game it is explained that collecting ten of these makes you pretty awesome. They are pretty hard to come by though, something that is being patched, amongst other things in a few days.
There are big bosses after you've cleared a few dungeons. These are normally pretty huge and can be difficult to beat. The first one, a giant monkey had me restarting about five times. I was given a ranged weapon which worked brilliantly but I just struggled with my tactics for awhile.
There are some really awesome features in this game that stop it just being a hack and slash dungeon crawler. There is a mini-game when you open a trap door, which sees you granted with extra abilities if you beat it. The chests you find throughout the dungeons, I think are pretty original. Once you click to open them 0,1,2,3 blinks across the screen. Press a again to stop the blink and thats how many attempts you get to get treasure and other goodies from the chest. Again it's just something that mixes it up a little.
As I alluded to before this game is getting a patch very close to release, the developer tells me it should be within days. This patch will 'improve many of the visuals' and do some general bug fixing. Once the game is patched I will post some comments about the improvements. As it stands I don't actually feel like this game is suffering graphically so I'll see what happens when it's patched.
Overall this is another Uprising offering that is totally worth parting with your MSP for. It is great fun, easy to pick and play and changes every time. Unless dungeon crawling isn't for you it is a definite must buy!

8/10 BUY IT!

A code was provided for the purpose of this review.