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On many occasions, when we hear that a company wants to make a combination of genres for a new game, it is always normal to feel nervous. The people behind these products often focus too much on one aspect and abandon others. But what happens when everything is in balance? I can tell you. The result is Endless Dungeon, the game I had the opportunity to review, which proved to me that it could be a perfect mix of roguelike, tower defense, and twin-stick shooting elements.
Endless Dungeon Review: You’re Not the Hero
Before I begin this review, it’s important to mention this game falls inside the Endless Universe created by Amplitude Studios, meaning those who’ve played Endless Space or Dungeon of the Endless will find some similarities. However, those dipping their toes for the first time in this title won’t have difficulties understanding what it’s all about since the game has its own story.
Story: Lost in Space
Unless we are talking about Returnal or Hades, the story is rarely the focus of the action-roguelike genre. Here, everything starts with a walking expedition where we are shown the supposed heroes who do not even last five minutes on screen because their ship crashes, and the only survivor is Sweeper, the person who will take the mantle of one of the game’s protagonists.
During a short tutorial, we meet Zed, who explains the game’s most important mechanics and takes us to the saloon of the station. Here, we discover that many more stranded characters cannot get out of this station because the only apparent way is to take a crystal to the core. When they fail, which happens constantly, they all “die” and return to the saloon—a good way to justify the roguelike elements.
The most memorable parts of the game’s narrative are the dialogues of the characters in the saloon and their related missions that give you a little more background on each of their personalities and backstories. Each character you unlock has their own quest, and completing them gives you some information about them. This is one thing I loved because, in many games, we go with the strongest or most optimized character and don’t change it. Here, the simple fact of having quests made me experience them all and complete each character’s story so I could learn more about them.
Gameplay: A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That
The best part of the game and what I enjoyed the most in my review of Endless Dungeons was the gameplay. This game combines three genres, which are roguelike, twin-stick shooter, and tower defense. At first, I didn’t think it was going to work very well, but the truth is that it is an almost perfect amalgam. I say almost perfect because even though none overshadows the other, some aspects still need to be polished. Even so, it was a very engaging experience.
The main objective is to protect a robot carrying a crystal, which, you guessed it, is what will help this eclectic group of characters escape. To make this happen, you must open doors to find the exit from each floor and place turrets to defend your robot from danger. If that isn’t enough, you’ll face bosses, traps, and other shenanigans that’ll put your current run at risk.
As soon as you enter a level, you realize that each genre exists without taking the spotlight away from the other. The most prominent at the beginning is the twin-stick shooter, which you always use when fighting. From there, you can observe tower defense mechanics whenever a wave of enemies comes. The roguelike part happens in each level where the layout is different, and all the rewards you get are never the same. To go into detail about the combination of elements, let me tell you about one of my runs where, despite having three genres simultaneously, I never felt overwhelmed.
I chose Bunker as my character. She has a very good defense and can stun enemies with her shield, an ability that is very responsive, thanks to the twin-stick shooter mode. By this time, I had already obtained resources to upgrade my weapons, something you can do after each game, and my guns had more damage and range. When I got to the second floor of my zone, I found a crystal that allowed me to upgrade the robot I had to protect, so I took the risk of taking him to that crystal with the danger of activating a horde. What happened was not pretty.
In each room of the floor where you are, you can place several turrets. You always start with one that works as a basic machine gun, and then you can get more. At this point, I had the aforementioned turret, one that functioned as a flamethrower and one that slowed enemies. I felt prepared and almost invincible when I activated the enemy wave. Or at least I did until I remembered that the enemies on this floor were resistant to the elements of my turrets. Yeah — I didn’t last long.
These small decisions and risks you take give rise to many variations in your run. You can decide whether to open all the doors and risk waves of enemies. You can play it safe and not build generators that give you resources to prevent enemies from attacking you from various directions. There’s the option to build turrets like crazy and make the strongest fortress you can. Ultimately, it may not work because you forget something as vital as enemy weaknesses. But you know what? It never bothered me to die and try again. If perishing to the hordes was necessary to improve my weapons and characters, I would do it repeatedly.
Speaking of different things, something that I applauded and liked the most was feeling fear when opening doors. Let me explain. In the game, all the levels are different; to pass them, you must find the exit from the floor. To do this, you must open doors that, although many have rewards and let you get resources, others are full of dangers and enemy spawners. It is essential to decide whether to open the doors or not because one can lead to an enemy’s lair. This adds high-stake choices to your game because, ultimately, you need to open almost everything to progress, but it doesn’t come without its risks and hazards.
One thing I didn’t like during my game review of Endless Dungeon was that the game seems to be designed always to be played with others. Don’t get me wrong, playing co-op is a lot of fun and the best way to play this title. But, before my partner joined my game, I played single-player, and my experience wasn’t as fun.
Your AI companions sometimes don’t do what you ask them to, or they don’t defend the room where the robot is. If you want to play this game, try to find other people because co-op play is the ideal way to experience it.
Finally, the gunplay was another thing I didn’t feel was the best. Although many weapons in the game have elemental damage that affects enemies, I never felt that one was memorable. Since it’s a twin-stick shooter, I would have liked to see the weapons stand out more and have more depth than just holding down the trigger.
Graphics and Audio: As Charming as It Gets
The graphics of the game are great. They are not hyper-realistic and not at the level of other AAA games, but they have personality, which many games lack nowadays. Each character has a unique design that is very hard to forget. This personality is seen in the levels as well. One of my favorites was the garden-themed level decorated with plants and destroyed organic matter that evoke that fear and insecurity that whatever experiments went wrong will soon come for you.
The audio is a beautiful thing that stands out when waves of enemies appear. As you explore and open doors, the music is ambient and fits the level you’re exploring. Once the waves start, you can feel that tension of enemies approaching as you see the sea of red dots on your radar and know there is no escape.
Conclusion: An Innovative Blend of Genres
My game review of Endless Dungeon was fun, thanks to the combination of systems and the ease of co-op play. Although the single-player mode was a bit bland, and the weapons are not my favorite thing, I already have my group to continue exploring this space station. Amplitude Studios has set a new standard for genre mash-ups with Endless Dungeon, and I’m excited to see what the studio plans to do with this game.
Endless Dungeon is available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (Reviewed).
Review copy given by Publisher.
Endless Dungeon (PC Reviewed)
Endless Dungeon is a great game that blends many genres, but shines more in co-op play.
Pros
- A great mash-up of genres.
- High-stake missions with fun progression systems.
- Memorable art style.
Cons
- Multiplayer progression issues.
- Weapons don't feel too entertaining to use.
