Dungeon Rats is a turn-based, party-based dungeon crawler set in the same world as Age of Decadence. This is an RPG focused almost exclusively on squad level tactical combat for players who enjoy turn-based games in general, and AoD's combat systems in particular. If fighting your way out of a priso...
Dungeon Rats is a turn-based, party-based dungeon crawler set in the same world as Age of Decadence. This is an RPG focused almost exclusively on squad level tactical combat for players who enjoy turn-based games in general, and AoD's combat systems in particular. If fighting your way out of a prison mine - and frequently dying in the attempt - is your idea of a good time, you've come to the right place.
Starting out as a new prisoner at the bottom of the gangs-ruled prison hierarchy, and of the prison itself, you must fight to survive and develop your combat skills, acquiring better weapons and equipment as you go. Recruit allies to your struggle or carry on as a lone wolf, and kill anyone foolish enough to stand in your way.
- Party-based - the most frequently requested feature.
- Flanking and other strategic bonuses. Positioning matters a lot.
- Manual placement of your characters before a fight.
- Charisma determines the number and quality of your party members.
- Skill points are split between the party members: more people means fewer skills points per person and slower level ups.
- New weapons, armor, and creatures.
- 3 difficulty levels: Nice Guy, Tough Bastard, Murderous Psychopath
Features include:
Tactical combat system, including standard attacks, aimed attacks targeting specific body parts, and per-weapon special attacks such as Whirlwind and Impale.
Detailed crafting and alchemy systems: forge your own weapons, brew potions and poisons, experiment with Liquid Fire and Black Powder.
8 weapon types: Daggers, Swords, Axes, Hammers, Spears, Bows, Crossbows, and Throwing Weapons, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.
Fully customizable main character, as well as 10 possible companions, not all of them human (maximum party size is 4).
Developed by superb Age of Decadence creators Dungeon Rats is a tactical dungeon crawler which offers engaging story and even better combat. There are tons of new, convenient additions compared to Age of Decadence, enemies seem smarter and almost always there are shooters which adds a bit of challenge. Initial fights might be problematic, if one would waste resources and fight rather badly he might reach a point where advancing won't be possible and only restart will remain so for the first run I recommend you start on easy difficulty.
What I love:
Fights which are challenging but not to the point of frustration
Spartacus reference and overall story (very interesting for a dungeon crawler)
Many new improvements like easier looting thanks to drop down menu, improved crafting, reloading weapons, etc.
Age of Decadence references
Interesting locations which often don't resemble those from AoD and look fresh
New portraits and art overall
Music
What could be better:
The initial formation setup could be improved
Your allies could be somehow distinguished from the rest
Who would I recommend this game to? Firstly to Age of Decadence fans who liked the writing and characters created by Iron Tower developers. Secondly to those who enjoy games where you need to use your brains instead of mindless clicking (so for example Desperados/Commandos fans or Jagged Alliance fans). And thirdly to those who like challenging RPGS and like to compete with others, create interesting builds and want to feel really powerful in a game. I strongly discourage those who think this game is some elaborate RPG (it's a dungeon crawler so fights, fights and some more fights with skill checks here and there and some good quality writing) or those who think that if they're masters in Skyrim they will fare well here too.
I highly recommend it and I'm buying another copy on Steam.
In short:
- Buy if you liked the Age of Decadence combat and want more and better!
- Buy if you are thirsty for a CHALLENGING and fresh party-based, tactical dungeon crawler.
- Don't buy if you disliked Age of Decadence combat are don't want to learn a new combat system and want a game where you don't need to pay any attention and just basically kill time.
It's ok to want to spend your afternoons playing something simple but this game requires your full attention in every fight.
With its tactical, turn based combat where you control a party of 1 to 4 characters (depending on your stats), Dungeon Rats demands you put your brain in overdrive for there is no filler, there is only you and the enemies ahead of you and do with that what you will.
Fights are difficult, you will be replaying them often and use everything you can but what is the last game that really forced you to do this? It gave me a great satisfaction when I beat any fight. The satisfaction is two-fold, as not only you are a badass for getting further in the game but you are rewarded with a robust character system that allows for a wide range of play-styles and customization.
Spears, swords, bows, hammers, etc, everything plays distinctly different, also depending on your stat allocation you get different companions which makes the game worth replaying. Also improved crafting, alchemy, itemization.
Cons: the presentation is considerably low-budget, it's not for everyone because of the challenge but I think that's reflected in the price.
So why would you bother with all the tough fights when the game looks a bit crappy and you only fight there?
Because this is one of the few games that treats the player like an intelligent person, gives you a great deal of options, supports them to the end of the game. There IS a story, there are (albeit a few) intelligently written dialogues, there are interesting items to be had and the lore is quite fresh. It's a more traditional successor to a unique game.
Important Note: I played through Age of Decadence several times before playing this game, so my experice may vary to yours. I only played this game on "Hard" (default difficulty) and "Solo Mode Hard".
Overview:
The game consists of approximately 50 battles, which are set-pieces. There are no random encounters. This makes it a game about learning what the encounters are about. Playing the game for the first time was challenging and I did not learn my lessons that defense is more important than offense. I also learnt later that it is ok for some of the early companions to die (although you don't want it to happen often).
I would certainly suggest anyone playing this for the first time to play on "Easy", especially if you have never played Age of Decadence before. This game is unforgiving on "Hard" and like the description says, you will die a lot.
In general however, if you enjoy turn-based battles, and like tactics and strategising, then you will likely enjoy this game.
For example, each weapon has multiple attack types, which alter your attack chance and also which body part you hit. Attacking a heavily-armoured opponent with a "Fast" weak attack will not do anything, as you may not even be able to damage the character. However, if that same character is not wearing a helmet, then it is likely worth trying for headshots instead.
Character Creation:
You start the game by creating your character.
This is in essence the most important part of the game, which is why you should play on "Easy" if you do not understand the mechanics of the game.
It is imperative to focus on only 1 weapon skill and only 1 defense skill. You will not be (or are very unlikely to be) fighting with multiple weapons. The game's defense mechanic only works on one defense skill, which is why there is no point splitting points between dodge and block.
You should as third and fourth skills probably go for Critical Strike and either Crafting or Alchemy, but it is probably better to not choose these at character creation. Instead, ensure you can win your first few battles without relying on these.
Battle:
As described above, you will be fighting (and dying) a lot. So be prepared to save your game a lot. Press F5 to quicksave and save on new slots as well in case you make a mistake, you can go back.
The battles are action points dependent which in turn are dependent on Dexterity. Each weapon has a certain amount of base AP needed to use it and different attack types woudl then alter both the amount of AP and damage the weapon inflicts.
Be aware of enemy's armour, shields or lack thereof as that should change your tactics. Sometimes it's better to hit someone in the arms so you do not die, rather than go for a power attack and hope to kill them faster.
Crafting:
Crafting is an integral part of the game, as you find new forges to make better weapons and armour. Each point in crafting will unlock better crafting techniques, however, it's every two points that really matters as this would allow you to craft with higher quality materials ranging from Bronze to Sky Metal. Each upgrade in metal type increases damage by 1 and defense rating by 1. Since this game is played out with 30-60 hitpoints, this is a lot.
Imagine two enemies attacking you for 5 damage each with two hits each. In one turn that would mean 20HP lost if they hit you all 4 times without any armour. If you had an additional 2DR, each hit would only mean 3 damage, reducing your HP pool by only 12HP, almost halving your damage taken.
Please be aware of this when looking at armour, and weapons.
Alchemy:
This is similar to crafting except that it can help you in a wider range of situations. Alchemy can be used to heal after battle, increase your Action Points, increase your damage or even throw bombs and fire at the enemy.
The first thing to use alchemy for would be to heal yourself and create antidotes against poison as well as creating poison agaisnt humans.
My Games:
I played the game through to completion twice, however I did experiment with a few different builds.
First playthrough was a dud and I realised I had focused too much on attack, which meant I died too often. I also focused on Intelligence and Charisma, which apparenlty is not as useful in a Prison as it was in Maadoran (Age of Decadence).
The second playthrough was much better. I played a crossbow character focusing only on my defensive and offensive skills. I did not build any crafting or alchemy, leaving that to my followers. I found the start relatively difficult, but the end game, with a full build crossbowman and rest of party meant the final few battles were relatively easy.
I tried playing an ironman game after that, but realised it's not for me. I enjoy trying out multiple tactics more than restarting the game from scratch all the time.
My latest game (and likely last one unless a patch changes things up a lot) was a solo run as an Axe/Dodge build. Several battles proved very hard, but everything I learnt from my previous games meant I had a relatively easy early game. It was the late-game playing with just one character which was hard and I did win a few of those thanks to some luck or by the skin of my teeth.
All in all, I must have played around 60 hours (even though Steams says 50 - as I played some offline too) and enoyed it tremendously. I put down Tyranny and Dragon Age: Origins for this. Which probably says quite a bit about the fun I have playing this game. I also do prefer turn-based to be honest :D
Anyway, I recommend this game to almost anyone who enjoys turn based games, but I recommend starting on "Easy"!
Dungeon Rats is a straightforward, linear dungeon crawler from the makers of Age of Decadence. It's smaller in scale than that game, but it's set in the same world and uses an improved version of the AoD combat system.
Dungeon Rats is heavily focused on turn-based combat, and it's quite hard. The default difficulty setting is called "Murderous Psychopath" but this can be turned down. In Dungeon Rats you will fight battle after battle, and die often. You will have to reload many times and try to find new ways to win using every resource at your disposal. Did I mention it's hard? That's by design.
Dungeon Rats also has a satisfying-if-thin storyline to propel the game along, and for those already familiar with the universe of AoD, it's a nice addition.
Considering the game's price, I find Dungeon Rats to be an excellent value. I've gotten more enjoyment out of it than I have out of many more expensive titles.
Thank you for the solo mode and the easier difficulty to help guys like me to ease ourselves in. I have enjoyed the game thus far and also appreciate the interface improvements compared to AOD. Recommended.
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