Curse of the Dead Gods
CURSE OF THE DEAD GODS is a sharp and atmospheric roguelike dungeon crawler.
Who are you? Where are you? Why are you here? These questions and many more are gleefully ignored by Passtech Games. After a brief tutorial it’s a case of ‘here are some weapons, there’s a temple full of monsters and treasure, get on with it’. A bold choice for a roguelike in the post- Hades world, perhaps; and one that provides the first sign that comparisons with Supergiant’s colossus are misleading.
Curse of the Dead Gods takes many cues from traditional action adventure games, and benefits from them enormously. The most obvious one is probably the fact that the game is essentially split into levels. The first temple tier contains three ‘levels’, with three more tiers and a total of seven more levels above that. Each completed level is permanently marked with a satisfying green tick. It’s a sign (along with more levels becoming available) of achievement and progress, which is an important part of player feedback that many roguelikes fumble.
Combat is brilliant, another example of more traditional influences. Though familiarly dependent on stamina points, it has a speed and flow that ensures battling the horrors of the temple is always a joy. They didn’t just put ‘curse’ in the title because it looks cool, either.
Each time you pass through a door leading to a new area, you gain 20 corruption. Hit 100, and you gain a random curse, a twist on play that makes things more difficult for you.
You can carry up to five curses at a time, with the fifth and final one slowly sapping your HP until it hits one point. So, you know, you want to avoid that. But! You’re regularly tempted to willingly increase your corruption. It’s the only way to heal in the rare healing chambers, and anything available at a shrine—weapons, upgrades, buffs—can be had for a corruption cost if you aren’t carrying enough gold. It’s a very interesting example of balancing risk and reward, particularly for the longer runs.
DEAD GOOD
Mind you, it’s difficult to lay out the rules of the game, as the developers take such delight in regularly rewriting them. This partly comes through the curses, which might encourage you to embrace the dark rather than shy away from it, or ensure you have at least 300 gold when passing through a door or pay the difference in health. The rarer buffs and weapons meanwhile have their own spins on the experience, such as reducing the corruption inflicted when passing through a door, or increasing your damage according to how many relics (buff-bestowing items) you’re carrying. After a few hours, you’ll start to see the same room layouts creeping in, but it always feels fresh.
Randomness plays a strong part in the experience—it’s still a roguelike— but you’re given the opportunity to slightly nudge things in the direction of your choice. You can spend your persisting currency to expand and (to a small extent) dictate your choice of starting weapons, and even gain tokens to reroll what’s on offer at the shrines you encounter during each run. It’s a welcome element (illusion?) of control.
The curses, while an important part of what makes the game unique and enjoyable, could do with a bit of balancing. The importance of some depend on your playstyle, but it’s much easier to ignore some (chests must be parried on opening or they deal damage) than others (regular enemies spawning poisonous
‘vermin’ on death). There’s one curse in particular, which swaps corruption gain on opening a door for a constant accumulation over time, that can completely kill a run if you gain it at the wrong time. Just before a boss fight, after which you can remove it? Not too bad. Just after a boss, with a curse already on board and several rooms to get through? Best prepare for that HP drain.
That’s annoying, but it’s also my only big criticism of the game, because just about everything else clicks together wonderfully, for a fantastic roguelike experience.
They didn’t just put ‘curse’ in the title because it looks cool