Necropolis is both a single player and multiplayer game focused on trying to survive long enough to escape the dark depths of a devious dungeon that changes itself after every death you suffer.
Within this dungeon you’ll meet the Brazen Head, a callous god that doesn’t care whether you live or die to the dangerous monsters lurking around every corner. Brazen Head callousness might be due to the fact that you will be dying quite a bit in this game and every time you do you’ll have to start over from the very beginning of the game.
This doesn’t mean that you are utterly helpless though. As you clear floor after floor in your attempt to escape, the Brazen Head will give you missions to complete. These missions could be anything from clear a certain amount of enemies per floor, to removing a specific type of enemy from the floor. As you complete these missions the Brazen Head will take pity on you and grant you a coin which you can use to learn magical attacks that you’ll be able to use in future playthroughs or outfits that will increase your survivability.
Even though it seems unlikely that you’ll survive long enough to learn much magic, there are other methods of surviving the Necropolis. As you fight, many enemies will drop items such as pieces of cloth, or meat that you can use to craft interesting equipment or food from. In the demo I played I crafted meat from the flesh of my enemies, rotten meat that wasn’t fit for consumption, but it still managed to give me a chance to heal up and keep going.
I can’t say that my mission to get to the bottom floor of the Necropolis was a success. After meeting the Brazen Head and getting a brief description of the controls I was sent on my way to a lower level, where massive monsters lurked. Having only a weak sword and shield at my disposal I tried hacking and slashing my way through the hoard of enemies. Sometimes I felt like I was just flailing about trying to get the sword to actually connect with the enemy, but I also didn’t realize that there was a targeting button.
Some of the weaker enemies looked similar to the player character being smaller and having a more humanoid shape. These didn’t take long for me to take care of, but the larger the enemies did end up getting the best of me right as I started to understand the crafting mechanic. Not only did I not complete any of The Brazen Heads objectives, but he laughed at me during the loading screen for dying like a little wimp. I tried to take it on the demo again, this time in multiplayer mode to make sure that I at least had a chance to get to the second floor of the dungeon.
Multiplayer plays very similarly to the single player experience as the overall objective remains the same. You’re trying to get to the bottom floor while helping your allies do the same. There are a few issues with this though as Brazen Head wouldn’t make it that easy on you. The first difficulty involves the fact that you can hurt your allies, so picking strong allies that know what they’re doing is key to getting lower and lower in the game. The other major difference is that you’ll be able to revive your allies when they fall in battle. For the smart players keeping an eye on enemies and allies will be tantamount to your own survival.
With a better understanding of the game I set off for the second time down the floors of the Necropolis with the developers in tow. I managed to pick up some stronger equipment from the enemies we dispatched and I made sure to utilize the targeting system as to not hurt my fellow adventures. Brazen head gave us the order to clear the floor of a certain type of monster, and I was ready for it this time. Even though I died two times I was helped back up and the three of us continued towards our assured destruction.
After several areas full of humanoid monsters, I had false sense of security feeling that I wouldn’t face anything stranger than this on the first floor. That was a big mistake. We got separated from each other due to our drive to explore and as soon as I was far enough out of reach strange shield like monsters with an ability to shoot fire appeared and made short work of my inexperience. My allies didn’t last long either as Brazen Head insulted us during the loading screen after our death. With my demo over I couldn’t help feel that it would take much longer for me to get used to the game. I still have an itch to go just one more round and beat at least 1 floor of that dungeon, just to get back my pride.
Whether you play alone, or play with friends is up to you. It makes no difference to the Brazen Head. Working in groups has its clear advantages and disadvantages. Playing alone will allow you to pick each and every dropped item, while multiplayer will force you to share with your allies. You’ll be able to let loose in single player without having to worry about hurting your friends, but at the same time, when you die you’ll die. Make no mistake though, even with these advantages and disadvantages you will die, and you’ll die a lot. The weak will give up on this game thinking it’s too hard and stop trying while the stronger will prevail. This is the world of Necropolis. Your will to carry on is the key to your own personal survival.
Supposedly this game will be coming out during the summer for PC/Mac, Playstation 4, and Xbox One. If you’re looking for something to do with your friends this game might be for you.
