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E3: Harebrained Schemes' Necropolis Is Dark Souls Meets Spelunky

Published Wed, 15 Jun 2016 05:23:15 -0500

Last updated Wed, 15 Jun 2016 05:42:58 -0500

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yL88PejOh8

Madeline Ricchiuto writes from E3,

"Its basically Dark Souls meets Spelunky" was how this game was first described to me, and I have to say it lives up to that comparison. Necropolis is a roguelike third-person action game in which you (and up to three friends, or none) play as a thief trying to find the exit to a magical dungeon that reconstructs itself every time you play. It also reconstructs itself when you die, for that Dark Souls-esque punishment factor.

All items are randomized – a red potion might heal you on one run and then paralyze you the next. Scrolls affect your enemies, which is nice, but are similarly randomized. All of the descriptions are fluff, so you have to actually use your equipment in order to learn what it does, and that will all change the second you die.

Two things I learned while demoing this game were: the importance of dodging is since even blocking costs you health and that I really enjoy games that make my life hell.

Unlike Harebrained's Shadowrun series, Necropolis is rather light on story. You can piece together fragments of the world by reading a bunch of inscriptions along some dungeon walls which are written in 140 characters or less, or you can just ignore all that as fluff and just keep killing things and exploring.

You can change your character's gender and color scheme, but that's about as much customization as you get which works with the minimalist feel of the game.

Necropolis will be available on PC on July 12, you can pre-purchase it on Steam now. It will also be coming to Xbox One and PS4 via Bandai Namco later this summer. Happy dungeoning!

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