Gods, heroes, and curses have been the subject of human mythology since we started telling stories. At one time it was religion and gods. Now it’s superheroes, but the stories and people’s love of the mystical remain the same. Curse of the Dead Gods, by developer PASSTECH Games and publisher Focus Home Interactive, sets your explorer against an endless labyrinth and hordes of cursed enemies on the path towards eternal life and the powers of the dead gods.
Your journey to the power of the dead gods begins at the doors outside the labyrinth. The first tutorial happens here for your initial level, but in later levels this area can be upgraded with tables corresponding to each of the Dead Gods that contain weapons to start the game with. You start out simple with a sword, revolver, and a torch that can light some pots and torches on the walls throughout the map. Gameplay changes slightly in the dark as enemies are able to deal more damage and eventually you can’t even see what creatures you are fighting without carrying the torch or finding a light source.
Throughout this labyrinth, you clear rooms of enemies and navigate traps to make it through the different rooms. At the end of each, you are presented with a map to choose the next direction you want to go. Each route comes with unique rewards signified by symbols on the map. However, the door to the next room also corrupts your player slightly.
In addition to the usual health bars, Curse of the Dead Gods uses a secondary health system to add an extra layer of difficulty to the game. Each time you move from one room to another, or if you come across one of the many fountains spread throughout the map and choose to pay for your upgrades with blood, your corruption meter increases with no way to decrease it until the start of your next game when it resets. There are 5 levels of corruption and each comes with an extra challenge including more powerful enemies and enemies that disappear in the dark.
Monsters and obstacles are spread throughout the different rooms of the labyrinth and serve as the primary objective for much of the game. I guess in theory it’s possible to advance to the next level without killing all the enemies, but I doubt you could make it through the door without being killed. There are a few different classes of enemies ranging from run of the mill minions that are easy to kill to mini bosses with an attack radius 3 times the size of your own, or a witch that shoots spells at you from across the room. However, every single one of the enemies gets stronger in the dark. In addition to the enemies, there are also obstacles like spike floor traps and fire cannons that activate if you hit them with your torch.
Curse of the Dead Gods is an entertaining game with a great feel, easy to learn controls, and great fight mechanics, but I was always disappointed when I made it to the end of the labyrinth. I just ended up wishing there were more levels or more maps to keep the action-packed game going, but there weren’t, and it always left me wanting more.
It was easy to enjoy my time playing Curse of the Dead Gods. Between the intense fighting, supernatural feel, awesome weapons, and fun gameplay, it’s easy to spend hours chasing the power of the Dead Gods through the labyrinth. I wish there had been more maps, but this is still an excellent play and it’s definitely worth an addition to your Xbox One collection.
8/10
Check Out the Curse of the Dead Gods Trailer:
Curse of the Dead Gods is available for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam and Origin.
For more information, please visit https://www.focus-home.com/en-us/games/curse-of-the-dead-gods
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Xbox One Review
My first console was the original Playstation and I would play Twisted Metal every now and then but games didn't hook me until I played the original Halo at my friend's house. As soon as I picked up that controller, I knew I needed an Xbox and I had to have that game. Since those early Halo days, I've branched out and played any game I could find with a great story and memorable characters but Master Chief is still my favorite. @thenotoriousTGT on Twitter
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