Condemned to Hell (Nintendo Switch) – Test

since attractive (2008) later Binding of Isaac (2011), the roguelike (and roguelite) is indeed one of the favorite genres for indie developers. With critical and public acclaimHell (2020), the popularity of this genre has steadily grown and grown. Condemned to hell, released on November 20th on Nintendo Switch, is a direct descendant of those successes. Created by a couple of independent Brazilian developers still in their twenties, the game comes to the eShop at a very attractive price of €4.99. A question regularly plagues us when faced with games at this price: are we dealing with a good deal or a scam?

Before starting this test, we would like to point out that the game does not offer a French translation. Only Portuguese translation available. Beginner to intermediate English is required to play properly.

Hell + Enter the Gungeon = Condemned to Hell

Condemned to hell offers us an introductory cinema to place us in context. Our character Rose chooses her moment badly to die: Satan himself has just decided that the underworld is overpopulated and the only solution to this problem is to organize a battle royale in which the survivor will have the right to return to Earth. .

After the Devil briefly explains how to run, aim, and shoot, we’re faced with a horde of creatures who only dream of one thing: to be able to leave Hell. The game is very simple and quick to learn. The left joystick and trigger allow us to move and roll to dodge bullets, while the right joystick and trigger allow us to aim and fire our weapons.

Each level consists of five waves of enemies. Between each wave, we can choose an upgrade that will only be active for the duration of the level. Between each level we can buy weapons and upgrades that will extend the duration of our game. We collect money on the map, but also by killing enemies.

Upgrades are really a classic of this kind of games. Our life bar, shooting speed, damage we deal, critical hit propensity, etc. we can increase. Condemned to hell offers only two types of weapons: shotgun (shotgun, pistol, assault) and sword. As we progress, we will have the opportunity to purchase more powerful weapons with special purpose bullets.

Condemned to hell it gives us the impression of half fig half grape, a game that could have been a lot more effective and fun if it had put a little more effort into it. First of all, his villainous side isn’t really one. Dungeons aren’t randomly generated and we end up with really small maps with no exploration where the only interest is stupidly shooting a very small monster.

For each zone (there are three), count four different enemies that appear in a predetermined order based on their power. Each area ends with the same boss, except for the last one, which doesn’t really fit into the overall story. We very quickly find ourselves with repetitive gameplay and no creativity. The weapon selection is also severely limited and you very quickly find yourself on the same path to victory.

The devil wears a duck

It also has a very short lifespan, which is a shame for a roguelike-inspired game. Allow an hour or two to complete the game completely. There are no alternate endings, new dungeons, or unlockables: the credits roll and you can restart the game. Even for five euros, the replayability is not there, we have a hard time recommending the game to you, because the roguelike market is saturated with very good games.

In addition, the difficulty is not very well balanced: the first boss is much more complex than the other two. In general, once you gain access to auto-aim weapons, the difficulty is unfortunately simplified. We had to restart the first boss ten times and killed the second one in less than a minute.

we clearly feel the effects Condemned to hellstuck in between Hell and one Enter the Gungeon. However, the game’s content is bland, uncreative and more like a cheap fire than a roguelike.

We really wanted to encourage young developers, but it’s impossible for us to support a game sold by lying to the prospective buyer. Contrary to what the description says, don’t expect to see “epic and challenging boss battles” and “a wide variety of weapons and skills.” Instead, expect a repetitive and very short cheat that will be forgotten in your library once completed.

The graphics, contrary to the listing, are not “incredible pixel art”, but still interesting. Despite the variety of backgrounds and enemies, and the lack of consistency, the pixel art is pretty cool. The music is also not very varied, dynamic and enough for the little content that the game offers us.