N
O
W
P
L
A
Y
I
N
G
I don’t know what
it is that makes
Dead Cells so fun. It
might be the crazily
tight combat.
It could be the
smart level design.
Perhaps it’s just the fact I want to kick
the Hand Of The King’s ass into next
week a few more times. Whatever it
is, it’s made me sink 60 hours into the
game in just over a month.
For some sprawling, triple-A titles –
games like AC: Odyssey and Red Dead
Redemption II – you could understand
it. But Dead Cells is a rogue-lite, 2D
side-scrolling platformer with a set
number of areas and a final boss. If
you die, you go back to the start with
a little more knowledge, a couple of
extra weapons in your arsenal, and
you begin from scratch again. So why
am I not bored yet?
It all comes down to the
procedurally generated levels that
mean you can follow the same path
through the game and experience
new levels every time. It’s hard to get
your head around until you play it, but
the team at Motion Twin has built a
system that makes every playthrough
fresh, and constantly challenging.
“It’s a very unique way to create a
game world because we mostly
create handcrafted content
for the global perspective- by shaping the level
layout – then we
leave it to the random
generator,” explains
Sebastien Bérnard, game
designer at Motion Twin.
“Then we again create
handcrafted content for the
very low-level – ie the actual room
level designs.”
Building blocks
It means that, while you might see
familiar landmarks, or recognise
a room, it will be surrounded by
platforms, doors and item drops in an
order you’ve never experienced. You
can’t learn the perfect route through
the game, or take the easy path.
You’ve just got to git gud.That’s why I’ve been playing for 60
hours. I’m getting better, but I’m still
nowhere near good enough. Sure, I’ve
beaten the Hand Of The King a few
times on the easiest mode, but once
you beat him once, you can push the
difficulty up a notch. On ‘Hard’ I’ve
reached the Hand maybe four
times, and he’s embarrassed
me every time. I’ve got four
more difficulty levels to
master before the game
is ‘complete’. Bugger.
Thankfully, the
weapons also keep
things fresh. As you
progress you’ll discover
blueprints for new melee
and long-range weapons, as
well as abilities and throwables like
grenades. Later levels hold more
powerful weapons, so you’ll need to
think tactically about when to switch
and what to keep. Finding a powerful
combo feels awesome, and every now
and then I get a loadout that I know
will take me to the final boss. And
then I die because I forget to take a
health potion and a bomb-chucking
asshole literally blows my head off.The best part is that, even after 60
hours, there are whole areas I’m yet
to discover. I’m currently fighting my
way towards the Cavern, a new area
added as part of the free DLC a few
months ago. On my way there I’ll need
to pass through the Graveyard, which
I’m sure will be full of pretty flowers, a
couple of friendly groundskeepers and
the occasional sombre relative. Along
the way I’ve spotted at least three
doors or areas I can’t access yet,
because I haven’t beaten the Hand
enough times, or I just don’t know
how to reach them. And I’ve barely
even attempted to explore all the
challenges on offer. Actually, I better
get back to it... QFighting for survival in the sprawling, deadly and ever-shifting
world of Dead Cells STEPHEN ASHBY
PUBLISHER MOTION TWIN / DEVELOPER MOTION TWIN / FORMAT XBOX ONE / RELEASE DATE 7 AUGUST 2018“You can’t learn the perfect route
through the game, or take the easy
path. You’ve just got to git gud”
WHAT IS IT?
A hack-and-slash
platformer with randomly
generated levels and
hundreds of weapons. It
gets pretty hard.098 THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE
extra