Dead Cells puts you in control of a failed alchemic experiment.
- Release Date: 7th August 2018
- Developer: Motion Twin
- Publisher: Motion Twin
- Platforms: Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC, Mobile
- Version Played: PC
I will admit straight out of the bat that I’m not a fan of roguelikes. Which is a big shame as there are plenty of roguelikes that have great gameplay, and can be a ton of fun for a while. I just don’t like the randomly generated levels or restarting so much, which is something that Dead Cells does, although not quite as much as I expected.
The gameplay feels great, a side scrolling hack n slash game with a ton of different weapons and abilities, all of which are available randomly on each run though the game. You can get power ups which increase the power of certain types of weapons, and you’ll need to collect blueprints to begin the process of adding them into your weapons pool.
You play as a headless zombie creature. Each time he does, he gets returned to the prison area and heads off. You’ll need to reach the King and kill him to finish one run, going though different level themes (which are consistent between runs, even if their layouts aren’t) until you get to him. You’ll then unlock another difficulty and you’ll need to repeat this four more times (each on a higher difficulty, with new enemies) to reach a different boss.
As you defeat enemies, you’ll collect cells, which can be used to purchase permanent upgrades that persist throughout different runs. These will be health potions, better starting equipment, keeping some gold and new weapons and items to add to your pool of weapons. There’s an immense amount to unlock – especially with weapons – that it would take far, far longer than I could ever play the game to unlock it all.
Dead Cells leave me with the same wish I have of a lot of roguelike games: I want this gameplay with a more structured game. Pre-set levels and a sense of progression that doesn’t feel random. That said, Dead Cells does offer a few ways to upgrade your current equipment during a run, so it doesn’t feel as random as some I’ve played.
One thing I did appreciate about Dead Cells was the assist mode, which lets, you adjust the difficulty of enemies, help you find secrets and give you extra lives (you’ll restart from a checkpoint, so it doesn’t remove the challenge completely), which means you don’t have to redo the easy levels due to a few mistakes. This last one made the game much more enjoyable for me.
For as long as it lasted for me, Dead Cells is a blast, and the issues I have with the game are more or a preference than anything inherently wrong with it. The developers are working on a Castlevania game – and not a roguelike – so this has me very excited for that.
Fun
