Slash, slash, dodge, special attack, dodge, slash, slash, collect, slash.
That’s pretty much Diablo, Torchlight, Super Dungeon Bros, and every other game of this ilk. And that’s absolutely fine if you know what you’re getting yourself into and that’s exactly what you’re after.
Certain games do it better than others, of course, and in this case SDB isn’t quite up to the standards set by Blizzard and Runic, but it’s mindless, switch-your-brain off, co-op fun and that offers a nice change of pace from the current break-neck release schedule of games.
With a rip-roaring heavy metal score, you can play locally with up to three buddies or jump online and co-op with friends. To be honest, you’re really going to want to co-op this one. Go it alone and you’re asking for an ass-whooping.
Whereas games like Diablo and Torchlight seem to tailor difficulty to your playstyle, you’ll just get hounded by skeletons and archers and armoured knights recklessly which is almost too much for one person to handle. The difficulty curve is savage. Fortunately, with buddies at your side you can do a variety of co-op attacks that help plough through the healthy opposition and offer some satisfaction and creativity at the same time.
And the great thing about this is that the game will always have healthy online activity with cross-platform support with Xbox One and Windows 10 players able to come together and PS4 and PC players the same. Add to that SDB will be a November Games with Gold and the userbase has potential to be pretty substantial.
The content is ever-changing as well. Procedurally generated dungeons mean the layout differs, making it difficult to prepare ahead, always keeping you on your toes. This includes enemy placement, platform positioning, the types of traps you’ll encounter, as well as enemy types and more.
The weapon variety also mixes up the action quite well with hammers, crossbows, swords and forms of magic, each with special attacks as well as the base strikes.
You can earn coins by smashing jars and beating enemies to purchase potions, as well as using it to spend on increased damage and additional health points. These are only good on individual runs and don’t stack for future runs, which makes it more of a rogue-like dungeon crawler, but also adds to the overall challenge and encourages experimentation.
While there’s plenty of charm infused into SDB, it does lack the finnesse which makes others in the genre more enjoyable and irresistable. Yes, the in-game challenges make sure the game keeps giving you reasons to drop back in, but this one is only worth a glance if you have a group of buddies to play it with. Solo, it’s a bit of an unforgiving slog.
When it’s not thrashing you or moshing you to smithereens, Super Dungeon Bros is a fun and engaging co-operative experience.
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