14 DAY TRIAL // It all starts with a few open graves. My character easily raises three frail-looking skeletons, which might not seem like much of an offensive force. But the trio, backed by a few magic projectiles, do short work of the six humans who rush to attack us. I raise them up too and soon the undead army is snowballing beautifully, moving through groups of humans with relative ease.
The Necromancer now has a few spells to add to the bone-powered wave, which helps when the peasants get reinforcements that include some wizards and at least one werewolf. The special opponents are starting to whittle down my forces and you can’t raise the dead a second time.
The Unliving is developed by RocketBrush Studio, with publishing from Team17 Digital. The game is in Early Access on Steam on the PC. The two companies aim to get feedback from the community and improve the experience, with no definitive launch date. The title offers a mix of action and strategy mechanics with a rogue-lite structure.
The story is built around a Necromancer with dreams of world domination. The problem is that his soul has fractured and he needs to find the pieces, the only way to regain his lost power. This involves fighting armies of humans, who don’t very much like the fact that he is raising the dead for his own purposes. The game hints at a deeper narrative, uncovered as players make progress.
When the Necromancer is dropped into a level, he can quickly raise a few corpses to serve him. After that it’s a matter of moving through the world, battling groups of enemies, and then reviving them in undead form to power further exploration. Initially, the Necromancer can fire magic missiles with the left mouse button, directing the attacks of his horde with the right one.
The game's systems work well, as long as players are aware of incoming attacks and focus on the bigger opponents first. Move fast because undead rot and it’s a pity to lose them to decay rather than drive them into battle.
Each type of raised undead has unique capabilities and can be sacrificed at any moment to perform a special attack. The best strategy I found is to always keep the horde in the front, taking the brunt of enemy attacks, while my character moves around the edges, trying to pick the best moment for a powerful spell or tackling the biggest enemy threat.
As players move through the world, they acquire a variety of resources, in true rogue-lite fashion. Gold is the most basic, Arcke allows gamers to get extra runes and spells, Prima gives access to new Citadel-wide upgrades, and Ash improves weapons. It is important to explore levels thoroughly, to get access to extra health, better spells, and more. The world is created from scratch for each run, although pieces of it will be familiar.
The Unliving adopts a retro look that works well with the mechanics and the universe. The pixel-driven presentation is a little funny and abstract the violence inherent in the premise. Players will be easily able to see what the capabilities of their enemies are and decide where and when to attack. The sound design is equally solid, with a soundtrack that does not distract from the action but enhances the atmosphere.
Conclusion
To keep players invested, the game needs to deliver a wide variety of loadouts and an interesting narrative. The Unliving has a good mix of ideas and I really want to see how the final version of the game tweaks and improves them.
A preview key was provided by the publisher.
