Curse Of The Dead Gods is a roguelike dungeon-crawler that I’ve been watching for some time. It has a similar aesthetic to Darkest Dungeon, but instead of turn-based combat, it throws players into some top-down hack and slash action, like Hades’ – a combo that I’m really looking forward to trying. It was in the early access phase for just under a year and was fully launched today. It looks dark and punitive and really really good.
In Curse Of The Dead Gods, you play as a guy who is exploring a horrible and deadly temple for exactly the reasons you would expect – money, power and eternal life. Like many roguelikes, you’ll collect relics and weapons to help you get through hordes of enemies and ultimately kill some gods. All in one working day.
One of the main tricks of the game (which is very similar to Darkest Dungeon) is that you will have a lot more fun fighting monsters while you’re in the light. You have a torch that you can use to light a room and locate traps and enemies, as well as braziers scattered throughout the dungeon. You will also want to do this, because not only will you suffer more damage in the dark, but it will also increase your level of corruption, which is where the “curse” part of the title comes in.
Fill your Corruption bar and you will receive a curse. This is not so bad – curses usually have a negative side and a positive side (like opening chests gives you more gold, but it also increases your corruption), so relaxing in the dark for a while is not the end of the world.
Honestly, the only reason I didn’t get early access is because I know how many hours I’ve been obsessed with Hades and Darkest Dungeon. But do you know what? I think I’m late as a life-devouring roguelike now.
The game was developed by Passtech Games, which you can recognize as the creators of Space Run and Masters Of Anima, and published by Focus Home Interactive.
Curse Of The Dead Gods is now available for PC via Steam for £ 18 / $ 20 / € 20 (although there is a 10% discount on launch until March 2nd). It is also available on Nintendo Switch, PS4 and Xbone.