Dungeon of the Endless. What would you gather from the title of that game? Some titles give a really good idea and insight into what a story could be. Some games don’t. But, this one`s good for giving away a hint, because that`s very much what it is. You awake in a Downed pod, that you have to explore different rooms to get out. And those rooms, are very much, endless.
Dungeon of the Endless is developed by Amplitude Studios, and for the last year and a bit, has been a release for PC users, through the high-end Steam service. Now that it has made the jump to next-gen consoles, has it been worth making that move? Some games in my opinion are released on a certain console, and they deserve to stay on that console. Has the move to the Xbox One been a wise one? I`m not so sure.
Straight from going into the action, I didn’t really have a clue what I was actually meant to be doing. A cross-road between a RPG-type game with a tower defence, where you have to defend the room where the generator is, that will power up every single room you visit. And, Of course, being able to defend yourself. Straight from the main menu, you are able to pick who you are going to take control of in the dungeon, and pick wisely, as every character will have different abilities and better stats in certain aspects that you`ll be able to use. As with a lot of games, the more you play through it, the more and more characters you`ll be able to unlock and have at your disposal.
However, the more and more I played through the game, the more and more I found myself becoming quite tedious, repetitive, and to be quite frank, quite bored. It`s the same thing, over and over and over again. Open up a room, see what you can gather, see if there are any enemies to kill, and that`s it. Everything behind a door is randomly spawned, so you could find some pretty neat valuables and resources behind one door, a merchant behind another who will supply you with a range of goods, or a ton of enemies behind another who want to kill you and get to their all-important objective of bringing down the generator. I did find later on that there is a tutorial that you can access through the menus, and if you`re a bit like me, that threw themselves straight into the action without knowing what to do, then I`d strongly recommend you have a look and have a go at it.
Over the course of the game, it`s very much one for the explorer. As I`ve said, you`ll never know what`s behind each door. Whether you`ll find something that will be beneficial to get out, or whether it`ll hinder your next move. You make the decisions behind which doors you are next to enter. But make that move wisely, as it could cost you big time.
The more and more you go through the levels and doors to get the power running to the outside (which I later worked out that was your objective, to go through the pod and find the open, in which the power connects to running through the entire pod and that`ll advance you) you`ll find resources, but you must be able to dish them out and use them wisely. Throughout your journey, you`ll be building materials from resources to help you, and aid you. But do it wisely. The last thing you want is to be able to build something, but can`t because you`ve just used up your last bit of resources.
There are 12 levels that berate you from the start to the finish. Depending on what characters you pick from the start (as I`ve mentioned, each character has different stats that will be beneficial in a different way), a game may not be the same. Why? Because what you build within the pod in a level, will also determine what happens. You may build something that summons a swarm of enemies, but you may build something that gives you a nice clean finish. The possibilities, are again in the name. Endless.
There`s something about these games that from a personal point of view, really strike me. You can either spend hours and hours into these type of games, or fail to get into them and lose real interest after a short period of time. Unfortunately, I fall into the 2nd half of that statement. For me, it offers enjoyment for quick-short bursts, but I found myself after a while having to turn it off, because I was losing interest in it. For some, they`ll really enjoy this, the idea of exploring, and escaping the pod (which I never managed to do by the way) but for some, they`ll play for 15 minutes before un-installing from the console. But one things for certain. After playing that, the possibilities, truly are endless.
A huge thank you to XCN for supplying us with a Review copy.
