Gauntlet™ Slayer Edition
Arrowhead was undoubtedly thrilled to apply their mantra to their childhood franchise by quickening the series with a more tactical reboot. They indeed elaborated on the action, but did they make a winning formula, and is this truly Gauntlet?
The Heroes
If your perspective on nostalgia consists of 4 buddies coming together as Warrior, Valkyrie, Wizard, and Elf and challenging the Gauntlet, you’re in for a real treat. Arrowhead’s expansion to them is very worthy! Each possesses nods to their original concept. Merlin’s spells are an absolute joy to wield, and though the others have less to work with, there is elegance in their designs. All are solid, and all depend on player skill and improvisation.
– Real player with 1392.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Co-op Local Co-Op Games.
TLDR: Highly recommended, good fun in single player or multiplayer and ok for people who get motion sick from fps or moba style games.
If you’re thinking of getting this game, first thing I suggest you do is look at some gameplay on youtube. I have an indepth overview and review with gameplay here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQe6N-Bjjfo (hour long) and Zerohill has an awesome 20 video playlist you can see here https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEg-yDRmLEZ1F0zYiE14ciggS71YnssXX
The aim of the game
– Real player with 511.0 hrs in game
A Journey Through Valhalla
This is a fun game even if you are playing solo. Playing solo is rough because the game was meant for 3 people to co-op. There are some game mechanics I think it needs such as a way to swap out weapons sets during combat and maybe an easier way to loot items. I would also like to see more way to gain experience than just feats. Maybe making skills level as you use them would be a way to go. But, I still enjoyed playing the game, and would recommend it.
– Real player with 42.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Co-op Action-Adventure Games.
I think this game is pretty decent (especially for it being created by 3 people in their spare time) and shows a lot of promise. I’d recommend playing the game with at least one other person as it can be pretty hard solo, but it still provides a pretty enjoyable experience when playing by yourself.
I think this game could benefit from some balancing changes (namely the first boss and the chances of getting better gear, especially for the wizard class) and more content. besides that, this is a pretty cool game.
– Real player with 10.7 hrs in game
Hammerwatch
A hack and slash action adventure, set in a fantasy pixel art environment. With amazing music composed by Two Feathers, plus the Online Multiplayer Co-op Adventure, this game hands down is one of my favorite pixelated dungeon crawler still to this date!
IMPORTANT: This is more of a informational review that won’t be going into the game-play.
There are now two campaigns that you can play-through in this game.
Castle HammerWatch: The first and original campaign. Recommended to playthrough at least once before moving on to other campaigns
– Real player with 203.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Co-op Local Co-Op Games.
Hammerwatch is an excellent Gauntlet-style game with very clever level design and its own interesting mechanics.
The game offers two main campaigns for roughly 10 to 15 hours of gameplay combined, 6 playable classes with their own gameplay style, a couple extra maps (survival and defense), as well as a variety of crutches and handicaps to ease or spice up your game.
There also is a level editor and Workshop support for custom campaigns for additional hours of gameplay. I must admit I was expecting a little more maps than what is available right now, but most of the ones available are top-quality and very creative.
– Real player with 84.7 hrs in game
Barony
Pick a race and class. Survive for 3 minutes. Repeat.
Pick a race and class. Survive for 5 minutes. Repeat.
Pick a race and class. Survive for 1 minute. Repeat.
Pick a race and class. Survive for 40 minutes. Repeat.
An absolute classic that isn’t even 10 years old in the roguelike catalogue. With more playable races and classes, plus combinations, that you know what to do with. Not only a permadeath roguelike but one that seems to breach the gap between arcade-style dungeon crawlers. By that I mean that 95% of every session consists of starting the game from scratch, but one could load a saved game not that it matters much as the point of the game isn’t about getting to the end but to find a combination of race and class that fits the player.
– Real player with 641.3 hrs in game
What more can I say about this phenomenal piece of art? Assuming you’ve read the description of the game in the Steam Store before you hopped on over to the review page, there’s so much that I feel and so little I can say. Let me just start by saying that it is one of my most played games on my Steam Library and I haven’t owned it for very long, relatively speaking (picked it up November 2017 during the annual Steam Winter Sale). It was a game that a friend of mine had recommended to me for quite some time but never mentioned what it was, what it was about, or any details on why it was so much fun. Truth be told, words cannot describe what keeps bringing me back to playing this game. It reminds me of a true classic (regardless of genre) game that doesn’t have a “outstanding” aspect among it, but is able to blend all of its elements into a fun and addicting masterpiece. Personally, I see this game as a classic in the sense that despite it’s young age, it is a game that keeps drawing me back. It is a game that, like Age of Empires 2 (just as a classic example), has something that is able to draw the player back to it. Maybe it’s the competitive “PVE” style that, after getting smashed by a boulder or starving to death, makes you think “I can do better”. It makes you want to go back after getting squashed and say “challenge accepted”. Maybe it’s the randomness that it throws at you. The level designs, trap placements, the monsters and the way they spawn in and react, the item drops, they all lead to a practically impossible scenario of ever playing the same game twice regardless of whether or not you picked the same class. The developers show a ripe passion for the game and listen quite well to any community feedback (which isn’t something that they absolutely have to do) and overall, are genuinely concerned about the game’s well-being. There are certain games that the developers you can tell have a lack of caring or “meh” kind of attitude. We’re seeing it now in the game industry like never before and words cannot express the respect and admiration for the developers for putting in all of that extra effort. This game took me to the point where I went and wrote my first ever steam guide about a game. I had never given it much thought before and this game sparked that interest. If nothing else, think of this game as a super-drug without any negative effects. Content comes out gradually, but in the best way possible. With everything that comes out having heart and soul put into by the creators. Overall, Barony has made my all-time favorites list (it’s not even in a genre I usually enjoy) and I highly suggest anyone just to give it a shot.
– Real player with 411.7 hrs in game
Next Up Hero
Saw a streamer I know play this and it looked interesting enough for me to buy during the February Steam sale. Since then I’ve been unable to put this game down.
Be warned, though, this is Early Access and it shows. Some of the menuing doesn’t work as expected, you can sometimes get stuck on screens, not all the ventures show, you can easily go out of bounds on some characters, etc. There’s also a variety of tuning issues, with the time trials requiring you to think with a speedrunner’s mindset, the sky is falling levels filling your screen with rocks that on the edge of the level can be hard to see, don’t be greedy levels that rob you of gaining precious prestige, and other things.
– Real player with 175.5 hrs in game
I was a bit shocked that with all of the negative reviews I would like the game as much as I did. I have been enjoying it quite a bit and have unlocked a bunch of heroes and created my own stages and so on. It is fairly enjoyable, I also enjoy the boss pushing mechanic as well. It is weird in that you are kinda supposed to die and build on your own defeat. The same goes for other people. If you have friends that play the game it does become way more fun as you can tackle dungeons in co op and also have more echos to use faster as your friends die playing your stages. I had no problem with it. The bosses have a lot of health but in roughly 4 tries if you know their mechanics you can take down their full health bar. The last time I tried I did it in 2.
– Real player with 44.0 hrs in game
Portal Dungeon: Goblin Escape
Sorry goblin fans, this goblin is adequate at best.
- It’s dumb and simple enough to be the kind of inbetween game with nearly no story you can play on a “I want to click and not think at all.” break.
It’s literally just “click to break or attack objects” the game.
- The goblin’s design is funny since his head looks like a dragon’s.
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The music is generic and forgettable, seriously just mute it and pick your own music in the background.
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The sound balance is terrible because the music can be at least adequately hearable. However, the sound effects are incredibly quiet by comparison.
– Real player with 0.5 hrs in game
Smash Dungeon
Milrendir is said to be brimming with riches long forgotten, left behind after the Dwarves that inhabited were forced out of the area by something sinister.
As a member of the Golden Tooth, a famed band of treasure hunters and mercenaries for hire, you are the latest to attempt to plunder the depths of the stronghold, in your quest for untold wealth. What you were not told is that many before you have tried, and all have failed.
In the depths of Milrendir something evil stirs, and is growing more powerful by the day.
Do you have what it takes to destroy the evil within, and more importantly, claim the riches that lie beneath?
Procedural Dungeons
Smash Dungeon is a new game from indie developer Plastic Cow Games taking inspiration from arcade classics to bring you procedurally generated dungeon mayhem creating dungeons with traps, secret areas, shops and special rooms.
Hordes of Enemies
There are many enemies to defeat in the dungeons beneath Milrendir, from shambling skeletons, charging metal hulks, javelin tossing orcs, farting pigs and more - and that’s before you reach the bosses.
Relics
To help aid you in your quest for riches there are many Relics scattered throughout the dungeon such as Mjolnir, granting chain lightning, Orbs of protection, Juggernaut Armour to help bolster your feeble stats and many more. Who knows you may even find some Legendary Relics.
Power ups
To further help in your quest some enemies drop single use items such as bombs that can kill enemies or uncover secret areas, phoenix flames to incinerate your foe, extra health and more.
Help is at hand
But if it all seems a bit too much to handle don’t worry, play with a friend in couch co-op.
Fight through the hordes of enemies, dispatching them in a variety of ways such as Melee, bombs, Phoenix flames, Chicken and more.
Scattered throughout the dungeon are a number of items to help bolster your chances of defeating some of the larger enemies and bosses, and coming away with the riches from beneath Milrendir.
Trickster VR: Co-op Dungeon Crawler
Updated 11.2019
This game is still being supported and developed, that alone makes it worth your money for sure! Index controller support is in and since I originally bought it, tons of new things were added. Surely a game within the Top 10 VR games until today!
One of the first games you should get when you’ve just finished installing your Vive!
If you ever wanted to feel like Legolas, Gimmli or Aragorn then this game is for you.
While it does not have anything that can be remotely compared to a narrative story, it is just ridiculously fun to slice, shoot and bash through the procedurally generated levels or “sky islands”.
– Real player with 16.6 hrs in game
A most excellent game. Completely emersive and unique VR setting, incredible combat mechanics and a great deal of all round fun. The game currently in early access, symultaneously infuses the player with the sense that they are a one person orc killing machine and also provides a robust challenge on some of the later levels.
The weapon mechanics are intuitive and offer a range of tactical approaches. The orcs themselves have a range of different skill sets that one has to adjust to, and one has to constantly work with the procedurally generated environments on the fly to gain the tactical advantage. I have found myself sprinting for higher ground to spring an ambush on some approaching orcs, ‘hiding’ in some tall grass near the bottom of some stairs and picking off orcs or throwing myself into battle with axe swinging wildly. All of it sweaty, triumphant unbelievable fun.
– Real player with 13.8 hrs in game
Brut@l
So although I am actually enjoying this game as a time waster, there are too many design decisions that make me say do not buy. The first issue is the obvious, the controlling scheme. The character feels ‘floaty’ and is too unresponsive at the best of time, meaning that most falls will be to the game over-steering and not to any actual skill and thus not the players' fault
Secondly, the lackluster combat. The fact that’s a simple three hit combo is fine, the button presses are reasonably responsive, but the targeting is sloppy and in a game like this that means most of the combat deaths are not going to be the players' fault.
– Real player with 12.5 hrs in game
This will become a cult classic for ARPG/Roguelite fans
The Good
– ASCII aesthetic extremely reminiscent of the warez and .nf0 days of early internet piracy and cracking
– Near-fully destructible environments (destroying environmental items gives experience and has the potential to drop phat lewts)
– Lock system that requires weapon enchants to open doors. A new twist on an old mechanic (door keys)
– Interesting and varied weapon selection
– Simplistic yet effective weapon enchantment system that offers high reward for your checking-every-corner-for-hidden-loot addiction
– Real player with 10.2 hrs in game
Gloomhaven
Need a break from the endless grind of looter-shooter games or from the stress of endless pvp?
Well look no further, because Gloomhaven has got you covered.
Gloomhaven is a turn-based strategy rpg that can be played solo or co-op. You work together as a team of mercenaries adventuring through dungeons and saving the city of Gloomhaven from evil (or maybe not.. depending on your choices hehehe).
It plays like a classic roleplaying game, such as pathfinder, or Dungeons and Dragons. This is a digital adaptation of a board game and offers both the full campaign with 95 quests from the original game as well as a new guildmaster mode with 150+ unique quests and some new bosses. There are 17 playable classes, with 6 starters and 11 that you unlock as you progress through the game.
– Real player with 1123.1 hrs in game
So let me start this review by saying that yes, I do own the board game. I have a 178 hours into Gloomhaven, most of which I accumulated during Early Access playing the Guild Master mode. I am currently playing the campaign mode, and I have done the bulk of those hours, outside tutorials, in multiplayer.
I love this game.
So if you’re either struggling to work with a 20+lb board game and keeping a steady gaming group going, for me the challenge is my gaming group is almost always 5 people which is one too many. For reference, I do play a lot of board game digitally, Through the Ages, Carcassone and Ticket to Ride, to name a few. I also love Zombicde, Hero Quest (got the new edition this week), Vindication and 7 wonders to name a few physical games.
– Real player with 230.1 hrs in game