Developer: Stormcloud Games
Publisher: Rising Star Games
Reviewed on: PC
Code Received.
At first look, Brut@l appears to have a strong sense of style and focus. Harkening back to the age of ASCII dungeon crawls, including the infamous Rogue, it tries to merge those virtues with modern gameplay. Featuring 26 levels of randomness, two-player co-op, and a fully featured dungeon maker, the goal seems clear. However, after the gimmick wears off the result is a by-the-numbers roguelike action game in a sea of similar titles.
Gameplay
Brut@l is a fairly simple roguelike dungeon crawler that features permadeath and procedurally generated dungeons. Each run begins with the selection of one of four pre-built classes that emphasize a particular play style. For instance, the Ranger class can equip bows earlier than the Warrior class, but the Ranger starts with less health than the Warrior. Overall, classes are mostly cosmetic as any character can unlock all the skills and weapons over time. This makes the class selection more of a way to a provide specific boost early on rather than a serious commitment.
The combat is simple and revolves around a single attack button and a dodge mechanic. To be clear, the game recommends using a gamepad at launch, and that is what I used. Balancing between dodging and attacking is trivial early on, but later enemies require more finesse. For instance, armored enemies require precise dodges that open them up to back attacks. A neat animation of your character sliding between a large enemy’s legs as they stand dazed adds flair to these encounters. As skills are unlocked so do new combat abilities such as area of effect slams and magic abilities.
Overall, I found the combat and movement to be chaotic and imprecise. Most of the enemies rush the player, and this can leads to confusion when engaging several enemies. In addition, the combat uses an automated soft-lock system that eliminates any kind of precision when engaging multiple foes. In fact, it will sometimes even targeting inanimate objects in the middle of a fight. I eventually found myself simply mashing buttons hoping my timing was right and I’d come out on top. Even the act of running around feels swimmy, like the characters have a massive amount of weight to them, yet still stop on a dime. I never felt truly comfortable playing Brut@l because I never felt like I had full control over my character.
Letter of the Land
There’s more to Brut@l than button-mashing combat. A major element of the gameplay revolves around exploring the dungeon and finding letters hidden throughout it. These letters are needed to craft weapons whose blueprints are also scattered around. Early weapons like the basic sword and bow require just a few letters, but more powerful weapons may require large chunks of the alphabet to craft, encouraging you to explore every nook and cranny before moving on.
Furthermore, enchanting weapons requires special color-coded letters that are even more rare than their basic counterparts. If there was a persistent goal to Brut@l, it would be to collect as many of these letters as quickly as possible in order to craft and enchant your weapons. Luckily, the game’s map screen allows easy access to each floor’s completion stat, showing exactly how many letters, items, and monsters the floor has and how many remain to be discovered.
Brut@l is also unique in its approach to potions as each run wipes the slate clean on what each one does. One run may feature orange potions that restore health, but the next time orange potions may send the player into an uncontrollable frenzy for a short time. This may seem advantageous during a fight, but less so if the character simply spins himself off a ledge ending the game.
Luckily, the you can throw potions at enemies to discover their effects. This can lead to an easy victory or a super-powered monster. Either way, the information about that potion is recorded, so the next time an orange potion drops, its effect will be known. I found the potion mechanic superfluous at first, but invaluable the more I engaged with it. Figuring out what each potion does quickly became an early goal of every run.
Graphics & Sound
The art style of Brut@l is its standout feature and what the game’s entire gimmick is built upon. Primarily drawn with ASCII characters, it tries to harken back to old-school, text-based dungeon crawlers. Thick white lines highlight objects in the world making everything pop, bringing the player’s attention to important items. They took a lot liberties with the art style and didn’t restrict themselves to only using ASCII characters. This will either be a relief to some or negate feelings of nostalgia to others.
I initially thought the art style would be disorienting, but I quickly grew accustomed to it. In fact, it became rather repetitive. The style doesn’t leave much room for innovation, so every floor began to look the same. There are a few visual tricks that mix things up, like areas that are shrouded in darkness and require a torch to navigate. These moments are few and far between and because of the random generation, may take you a while to stumble upon. All in all, the novelty of the visual presentation wears off quickly and I found myself wishing for more variety. I also don’t believe that the loose adherence to source’s aesthetics will satisfy those looking to be transported back to those titles.
The sound design is slightly less impactful than the graphics. The repetitious noises of traps spewing poison, and drums beating when picking up new items is sufficient. However, the squeaks of small rodents can be helpful because they are difficult to see. Overall, the sounds effects grew just as repetitive as the graphics.
Performance
Brut@l performs well and should run smoothly on even low end systems. I encountered no crashes or errors during my play time and was impressed with the over presentation.
Conclusion
Brut@l is trying to get by on its looks and nostalgia for old-school style ASCII dungeon crawlers. Unfortunately, it takes too many liberties with the visual style to truly recapture that look and feel. Some interesting mechanics around potions and weapon crafting can’t overshadow its imprecise controls and combat. All in all, Brut@l boils down to a fairly basic roguelike dungeon crawler that doesn’t really live up to its roots.
