CURSE CORRECTION

CURSE OF THE DEAD GODS is a sharp and atmospheric roguelike dungeon crawler.

- Luke Kemp

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.