Gods Will Fall
Make your own myths in GODS WILL FALL.
With the exception of Spelunky 2’ s moles, it’s been a long time since a game has wrung quite as many swears out of me as Gods Will Fall. I’ve turned the air blue with eulogies to fallen comrades, cursed its pantheon and effed and jeffed my way across its god-infested island. Make no mistake: this is a good thing. Most of the time, anyway.
The main target for this barrage of f-bombs are the ten deities at the game’s centre – a cruel and unusual bunch who rule over humanity with an iron fist. Time to enact the title of the game, with a plan that has the fatal flaw of involving a fleet sent across the sea to attack a group of celestial beings who have control over the elements. And so you wash ashore, an army of thousands whittled down to eight. A little salty language is probably to be expected.
Luckily, these eight survivors are a real bunch of Celts, each handy with their weapon of choice: twin maces perfect for getting the first hit in, the blessedly long reach of a spear, heavy axes that drag along the ground and release in a killer upswing. You’ll likely warm to a particular playstyle, and whichever warriors happen to wield it, something the game smartly doubles down on by giving them a randomlygenerated name, look and story.
And then they start dying. As you wander the island you’ll find ten doors, each leading to a dungeon overseen by a different god and themed to match whatever they’re god of (war, fertility, all-you-can-eat buffets). Slip up while battling your way through their minions, or the boss fight at dungeon’s end, and your warrior will be claimed by that god.
Back on the island, you can choose to have another try – essentially gambling another of your Celts – or go and see what’s behind another door. The latter might be the smart choice, thanks to difficulty levels that vary hugely from god to god – but you never know which ones will be harder or easier, because they’re randomised for each playthrough. And besides, if you can make it to the end of this one and slay the god-boss, you’ll free any warriors under their thrall. It makes for a proper tooth-grinder of a choice, and some incredible highs and lows. Let me show you what I mean.
A real bunch of Celts, each handy with their weapon of choice
MORRI-GONE
A single Celt stands outside the gates to Morrigan’s forge-themed realm. This is Gwenn of Little Kaelaff, and all seven of her compatriots are trapped. Gwenn wields a sword, meaning she’s not seen battle so far – which in turn means that she’s not picked up any of the buffs or skills that more experienced warriors accrue. Lose her, and it’s right back to the start with a new band of warriors.
I load Gwenn up with all the equipment gathered from previous realms – throwing knives and spike traps and healing skewers of meat – and take it very slowly, my heart beating so hard I can’t tell controller vibrations from my own pulse. Somehow, she makes it all the way to Morrigan, in the form of a giant crow, who turns out to be one of the easier boss fights I’ve encountered. It helps that I’ve got a backpack full of throwing knives, of course.
Her wings harden into stone, then crumble… and Gwenn stumbles into the light with an entire troupe of Celts. Obscenities are yelled, but cheerfully. It’s the single most exhilarating moment I’ve had in a game so far this year.
Like Dark Souls and Spelunky before it, Gods Will Fall is a game that runs on frustration. It’s less punishing than those games, and considerably shorter than your standard Souls- like – a successful run should take around eight hours. But you’ll still step away with war stories that feel hard-fought – albeit ones that, with no inns or taverns to tell them in right now, might never leave your bedroom. But it doesn’t matter all that much, because most of these stories can be summed up in a single word. Specifically, the type of word with four letters.