I don’t talk about video games much anymore, mostly because there are many other people online and in person who are better suited to do so. I haven’t owned a current-gen game system in quite a while (except for Nintendo’s systems, but most people don’t count those). But I’ve found a pretty decent gaming home on Steam, where one can find all sorts of things that scratch that retro-gaming itch – crucial for people like me who perpetually long for the SNES era of classic gaming – without breaking the bank. I usually only poke around when there’s a sale going on; a couple of days ago when the Summer Sale got into full swing I stopped to look at my discovery queue, which is a function of Steam that pulls together some tailored game suggestions for the user based on their preferences. Usually I find a couple of new items to add to my wishlist, and I maybe make a purchase or two (or ten. I have issues). This time I was intrigued by a game in Steam’s early access program (the games in this program aren’t finished yet and it functions like something of an open beta) called Dead Cells, which purported to combine Castlevania style platforming and exploration with elements of rogue-like gaming (in short: you die and that’s it).
Since I purchased the game a few days ago, my partner and I have put close to 30 hours into it collectively. For two people who both work full time at stressful jobs and who come home most nights with little desire to pour hours into a video game, it definitely says something that we’ve spent such a chunk of our free time forgoing activities like anime and television that require little active input in order to play this one.
In Dead Cells you play the headless animated corpse of a prisoner, your body given life from an infusion of green goo extruded from a mysterious tube. It’s implied that you might be the subject of some sort of experiment; a theory given merit by all the strange creatures around who seem to be observing you and taking note of your accomplishments. There isn’t much more of a story at the outset, and pretty soon you stop caring too much about the narrative since enemies start coming at you quickly and constantly. You start the game with a paltry 100 hit points and not much in the way of weaponry, but that changes quickly as you uncover upgrades to your health and battle power, find blueprints for better equipment, and begin to collect “cells” – glowing blue orbs that serve as a kind of currency for unlocking upgrades.
Though rogue-like and “rogue-lite” games are characterized by ever-changing, procedurally-generated environments and perma-death, Dead Cells gives you the opportunity to uncover and unlock certain things that are available upon each new playthrough (unless you decide to wipe your game file). There’s a health flask, a necessity as you start to work your way through some of the hairier stages, and various runes (at the time of this writing, 2 are available in the game) that provide the player character with more ways to navigate the terrain. There are also a huge number of weapons, skill weapons, shields, and general gameplay upgrades that, while not always available during every playthrough, become one of the random drops that could appear throughout the game. My favorite skill item is something called the “meat grinder,” which lays down a carpet of sawblades that causes bleeding damage to enemies that try to traverse it. There are some truly sadistic items in the game’s arsenal, and the arsenal is fairly large even though the game is in an unfinished state. The variety of weaponry allows for many different playing styles and lots of effective weapon combinations. The one criticism I might give the game in this area, though, is that the frequency of drops isn’t necessarily consistent, so I might go quite a while without a serviceable main weapon in one run, and have way too many good choices in the next one. That’s just the nature of randomization, I suppose.
If you’re not used to this sort of game, things can get a little bit frustrating. A couple of years ago I poured several hours into Rogue Legacy, which is a similar sort of gaming experience with a more humorous, cartoony exterior. I got very used to getting into the groove with my character, only to get my butt handed to me a minute later, thus booting me back to the beginning. The first couple of hours in Dead Cells are similarly difficult, and it can feel very repetitive since the time between runs is so short. What makes things tolerable and even fun is the fact that there are so many incremental improvements to be had right from the get-go and the game seems tuned to let you unlock them at a pace that keeps you coming back for “just one more round.” After gaining some confidence and speed, you can try for one of the game’s time doors, which cannot be opened after a certain time has passed on the game clock – the first one closes at 3:30, so you really don’t have much time. After figuring out some good weapon combinations, you can try fighting some of the boss creatures or tackling the more serious game areas – there are currently about 10 areas to explore and two really, really difficult boss creatures to fight.
Even though Dead Cells is quite fun in its current form, there’s still the question of why someone would want to purchase the game now in an unfinished state, rather than wait a while for the rest of it to be completed and polished. Someone I know voiced some concerns that the developers were getting paid for people to beta test their product for them, and there’s some merit to that when viewed through the lens of game development and finances. There’s one thing worth mentioning here, and that’s that Dead Cells feels like a complete experience the way it is right now. I haven’t encountered any bugs, the platforming and other aspects of the gameplay are tuned very well, and I feel like there are still several hours of fun to be had. Some of the weapon combinations might be ridiculously powerful right now, but I assume that’s something that will get addressed and I’m certainly taking advantage of it while I can. I think there’s also something appealing about watching the development of something unfold it real time and potentially being able to have some input on that. I really like Minecraft, and one thing that I’ve always found fun about that game is that the developers have always been very responsive to the things that fans have asked for. I have played the game since before the first “full” version was released, and love popping back in from time-to-time, just to see all the new things that have been added and fine-tuned. Dead Cells is maybe not the exact same sort of gameplay experience but, much like watching an anime series from week-to-week and discussing each new episode with the fandom, it’s fun to be around for each new addition, upgrade, and change, and be able to share that with an enthusiastic fandom for the game.
Dead Cells is available to buy and play on Steam. The MSRP is $16.99, but you can get it cheaper during the Steam Summer Sale. Check it out!
