Dead Cells

If you love gaming, playing dozens of different games comes at its price. While it’s true that you get to enjoy a lot of different games, you start to notice the problems inherent in those games. Dead Cells is setting out to change all that. This refreshing platformer is so cleverly made, you could replay it a dozen times and still only scratch the surface of what it’s about. In this game, you are playing a decapitated corpse that has been reanimated for the purpose of running through these levels.

Breathtaking Detail

One of the first things that stand out in the game is the beautiful and intricate backdrops. Every detail is well done. The graphics are beautiful for an action platformer, but it isn’t just the visuals that are detailed. The platforms itself are set up so that no matter how many times you run through it, you’ll discover something new and unique.

This is perhaps the best feature of the game. You will always end up with unexpected new items, and never know quite what you’ll face—the zones are procedurally generated very much like Spelunky. If you’ve played that, you’ll know what to expect from this game. Instead, you’ll have to rely on your knowledge of what the game is like so you don’t end up smashing face first into a spiked wall or fall into other traps.

Balance of risk and reward

It’s really fun to go fast in the game. The game makes running, jumping, and attaining high speeds really easy. There are a lot of open spaces that scream at you to just zoom along at high speeds, but this is deceptive. There’s always a trap around the next corner that will punish those who aren’t cautious, and “death” sends you back to the beginning. Despite this, it’s amazing how easy it is to forget about these traps, because going fast is so tempting.

Somewhat cheesy storyline

Perhaps this games only weakness is the storyline. The game never explains why you were reanimated, or what the purpose of running this gauntlet of horrors over and over again will achieve. The game is filled with humorous references, but these often feel a bit forced. As an example, at one point the character finds “Git Gud” enscribed on a wall. He does his familiar shrug and says it’s probably an incantation. These are meant to be funny, but often fall just short. This is one of the few faults of the game, and frankly a storyline isn’t all that necessary to have fun when there’s so much going for this game.

Pros:

• Intuitive controls
• Beautiful backdrops
• Runs always feel fresh and new

Cons:

• Storyline isn’t all that well done

In Dead Cells, you play as the reanimated corpse of an executed prisoner, attempting to cross a treacherous island and defeat the evil King who sits on his throne at the end. As with other roguelike games like The Binding of Isaac and Rogue Legacy, Dead Cells is all about attempting to beat the game without dying, slowly gaining progress and finding new items with each run. Dead Cells stands out against other roguelike games by adopting the gameplay style and map system of games like Metroid and Castlevania. By marrying challenging gameplay with fun exploration and beautiful visuals, Dead Cells stands as one of the best roguelikes around.

Main Game Features:

• Dozens of unique items, upgrades, and weapons
• Challenging bosses and intense side-scrolling action
• Daily challenges
• Branching level paths

Every time you start up a run in Dead Cells, you'll begin as a newly-possessed prisoner with no items or upgrades. Before you embark into the first level, you get to choose between three starting weapons. Weapons and items are all color-coded and correspond to your three character stats, Brutality, Tactics, and Survival. Your Brutality skill helps you deal more damage with blades and other weapons, while your Tactics and Survival skills improve grenades, traps, and shields. Each skill can be upgraded by finding power scrolls scattered throughout each level, increasing your power as you progress.

New items can be unlocked by collecting glowing cells dropped by enemies and giving them to the Collector, a mystical merchant who pops up across the island. New powers can also be earned through mutations, which are awarded after successfully completing a level. Since the game allows you to upgrade your healing abilities and unlock new and powerful weapons with each playthrough, Dead Cells grows slightly easier with each new run. This makes it hard to put down, as even crushing defeats have a silver lining of new content.

This game is a great visual treat for fans of pixel-art and retro graphics. Enemies and bosses are expertly crafted with pleasing designs that are both modern and nostalgic in nature. The game's soundtrack provides a good mixture of driving rock melodies and catchy electronic tunes, guaranteed to stay stuck in your head for hours after playing. Generally speaking, the entire experience feels like modernized version of the classic Super Nintendo action games of the 90s. While many of the gameplay mechanics and features are modern in design, the map system, tone, and visuals are all reminiscent of the golden age of side-scrolling platformers.

Even when compared to other games in the rogulike genre, Dead Cells is a tough game. The enemies are as disgusting as they are deadly, each with a unique attack pattern to learn. Bosses can absolutely demolish your health bar if you're not cautious, especially the hidden bosses you can uncover in various side areas. Despite its high level of difficulty, Dead Cells is exceptionally rewarding and satisfying. If you're a fan of challenging, fast-paced combat mixed with memorable boss fights and fun side-scrolling exploration, you should play Dead Cells right away.

Pros:

• Exciting combat with high challenge
• Beautiful pixel-art visuals
• Inventive bosses, enemies, and level designs

Cons:

• Lack of memorable storytelling
• Unwelcoming to low-skill players