ENDLESS DUNGEON

VWVhere defence can be the best form of attack

As we clump around its abandoned and infested space station, Endless Dungeon conjures the air of a gung-ho twin-stick shooter. While its scenery and layouts hark back to 2014 turn-based tower defence game Dungeon Of The Endless, our trigger finger does most of the early work. Once into the nitty-gritty, though, there’s plenty of the old DNA left. Like that reversal in the title, Amplitude Studios is playing with many of the same ideas here, just switching the order and emphasis.

We take direct control of our space-station survivors this time, and aim our own bullets, yet the Roguelite structure, resource allocation systems, and tower defence elements remain. As before, your fate rests on protecting a crystal that powers the ship’s grid from fixed locations, but to progress you need to leave it behind, vulnerable to swarming enemies, so your topdown shooter skills will only get you so far.

Initially, Amplitude had intended to create an experience closer to the original’s, although it always wanted to lean more towards action. “The main breakthrough was when we decided to introduce realtime elements,” creative director Jean-Maxime Moris tells us. “That was only six months ago.” Until then, Endless Dungeon hadn’t been detached from its turnbased roots, which dictated when combat could occur. “It was just boring,” Moris says. “You would explore, explore, and then always have the enemies come at a set time.”