Dead Dungeon

Review

How good are you at hardcore platformer games? You know those games that lay out each of the levels entirely on your screen with a start and finish point, and seem to be quite easy to conquer?! Well, that impression wears off rather rapidly when you hit your 30th death in a row, having only completed a quarter of the stage, and having had to restart the level from scratch each time! Soon after your 50th death, your brain will be working overtime to find the last swear word that you know of in every language you speak! Welcome to . . . Dead Dungeon! 

Dead Dungeon is a hardcore platformer game developed and published by Alexey Roenko, and is available on Steam.

Here you are, my little cubic, skull-faced friend - you are about to enter one of the deadliest dungeons ever created. This dungeon has 50 levels to beat and your goal is to reach and activate a key; the key is located somewhere within each of the levels, and you must find it and open the exit door as fast as you can! This would be very simple to do if there were no spikes on the ceiling, floors or walls. But that’s not all, some of the levels will have circular saws positioned close to each other, giving you only enough space for your square little body to jump between the saws to get even closer to the key. That’s when you see these little square or triangle enemies moving fast from left to right on the next platform. And let me tell you, it will get even worse as you go along, especially when you hit every tenth level, at which point an invincible foe will chase you down throughout the level, and if you touch it, you’ll die!

Dying is quite recurrent in Dead dungeon! Touch a spike or saw, or be hit by a projectile, laser, or one of these floating semi-bosses, and you’ll restart the level again and again and again . . . . AND AGAIN! I think I restarted one level over 100 times before I successfully beat it!  I jumped out of my chair, fist in the air, with an incredible “YES” bursting from deep within my stomach. My joy was abruptly interrupted when a shoe connected firmly with my cranium, and a voice across the room told me, “It’s late - stop shouting!”  

The only enemies you can kill in this game are the small square ones; they are destroyed when you land on them, which is extremely rewarding at times, especially if you manage to reach the exit within the same run. Don’t land on the triangle enemies; pointy extremities equal sharp, and sharp equals death . . . NOOOOOO!

I have really enjoyed the levels so far, and they increase in difficulty as you go along. Ultimately, it is all about learning the level and jumping at the right time to avoid obstacles, projectiles or enemies. Regardless, what is fascinating is that even if you think you have every single step in that level down pat, you’ll probably still die. Until you reach the exit door, there will be no joy! Don’t worry; pain will continue in the next level.  You’d better get good at your jumps and double jumps swiftly!

Great, simple graphics and a chipmunk soundtrack which suits the game perfectly! I do think some of the deaths are touch and go. Sometimes it doesn’t feel that you were close enough touching an obstacle. The other thing is the momentum in running or falling; if you go too fast, you are more likely to die even if you think you pressed the jump button at the right time. Falling seems to be too fast, but it might be done on purpose. In terms of controls, you can play with your keyboard or gamepad. Personally, I prefer playing with the gamepad by a mile!