I used to have a friend that was obsessed with The Binding
of Isaac. She had 1000+ hours clocked on it, with every achievement unlocked
for not only the base game, but the expansions aswell. The aesthetic of the
game never really grabbed me so I hadn’t played it, but I eventually sat and
watched her do a few runs (coincidentally becoming her “good luck charm” when
she’d gets some OP items) in an attempt to understand what got her so hooked. From
what I can understand, it was the almost infinite replayability thanks in part
to the procedurally generated dungeons and the small challenges that weren’t
communicated by the creator, just waiting to be discovered. The punishing
difficulty, the rogue-like mechanics where once you die, the dungeons and all
the items reset and randomised, ready for you to try and prevail again. The
more you put into it, the more you get out. This spoke to her on a level. With
that much time invested, it was clear to see. And after roughly 50 hours with
Dead Cells, I can easily say this is my The
Binding of Isaac.
To use broad strokes, Dead Cells is game that fuses
elements of rogue-like game ideas with the action-orientated exploration of
Metroidvania titles. To simply describe it as this, however, would be to do
this game a dis-service. Borrowing ideas from many of its contemporaries and
predecessors alike; Dead Cells manages not to only to stitch these ideas
together masterfully, Motion Twin do so in a manner that you forget that you’ve
seen these before.
Each run is always a fresh experience, even if you do see
the beginning Prisoner’s Quarters area each time. That isn’t an issue, due to
the gorgeous environment that the developers have created. Set on a nameless
island, you play as a green blob simply known as Prisoner. Your one and only
directive? Escape the isle by fighting your way out. The plotline is relatively
threadbare, but Motion Twin did well to at least make this world feel like it
was there before your time with it, leaving little morsels of information in
levels that indicate what potentially happened here.
Not only is the escape a challenging objective thanks to
the brutal and sometimes overwhelming difficulty of the enemies, but every time
that you fall in battle (or the many traps that can maim, burn or poison you)
the entire map resets. Weapon and Item placements, enemy spawns and the types,
the paths that are afforded to you are procedurally generated, meaning that you
can’t rely on memory to find that killer item that got you so far last time.
While this will certainly be a turn off to some; I love
it. I can’t count the amount of times that I’ve been able to reach those end
levels with a pick’n’mix of weapons and tools that I’ve picked up on the fly,
needing to alter and adapt my playstyle to get the most out of what I’ve been
given. I truly think that is one of the biggest strengths that Dead Cells has. Every
time you start, you are given a simple sword (unless you have the random weapon
generator perk, but we’ll get to that in abit.) After that, it’s up to you to
choose between a bow or a shield, then off you go to make your escape. The game
has a plethora of tools that you can get your hands on, from simple Twin Daggers
to more exotic things like the Palpatine-reminiscent Lightning Bolt. You can
find any of these going through the levels and it’s your choice whether you
want to buy them using your gold or roll the dice and move on in the hope of
finding stronger weapons in chests. Assisting these are the tools that you can
employ. Each and every one of them is useful in their own situation, with one
use Tonic’s generating immunity and Wolf Traps to ensnare your adversaries all
the way to levitating lightning clouds and grenades that spawn an army or worms
that consume everything. Ontop of all of that, there are various “Scrolls of Power” that
increase one of three stats, entirely at your discretion. Have 3 items that are
red? Upgrade Brutality and watch your damage skyrocket.
Have a weapon that scales off of both Brutality and Survivability? Dump these
scrolls into both and reap the rewards. Between levels you can gain a mutation,
abilities that can help you modify your playstyle further. From Melee, that
increases your damage if you’re surrounded by enemies, to lowering your skills cooldowns with Efficiency, you really are spoilt for choice in determining how you’re going
to progress.
A game like this wouldn’t be as nearly as addictive if
the controls and gameplay isn’t up to par. Thankfully, the game runs butter
smooth (even on low-end PCs) and the controls are so tight and precise, meaning
any mistake is yours and yours alone. That being said, there have been very
rare occurrences where the auto-climb caused me to take a hit from the spikes
laying above when I intended to go down. However, this is very easy to look
over when everything else about the control is so good. Oh and I haven’t even
mentioned the down smash, your quintessential move when traversing the island.
I have to give it a special shout out as this one simple move is probably the
most satisfying “down smash” mechanic in any 2D game that I’ve played, period.
It’s so fulfilling to get the drop on enemies and watch the animation create a
small cloud of dust as I land and stun the enemies around me.
As I mentioned at the top, I think part of the reason my
friend loved The Binding of Isaac so much was the feeling that the more you put
into the game, the more it opened to you. Dead Cells is the same in that regard.
In your first few playthroughs, you are only able to take one path through,
stopping between levels to regain composure. Pry a little deeper and you’ll
find a labyrinth of areas that are only accessible once you’ve gained some of the
few skills that persist after death. Called Runes, these range from the ability
to grow vines to sticking onto a wall, Spiderman style. Speaking of persistence,
there are a few more things of note. There are pale blue orbs that drop from
enemies and in certain chests that are Cells, your core currency and main means
of progression on the island. Make it to the end of any level and you are given
the ability to unlock blueprints using the cells, granting permanent upgrades. All
the weapons and tools are available to you (once you find the appropriate
blueprint scattered throughout the levels,) aswell as more overarching skills.
The ability to heal more than once, have a bag of gold waiting for you when you
respawn that contains what you died with and more are available. These may seem
like minor things, but they culminate in a true sense of progression in a game where
you start off bare every time you die. Each new weapon unlock or extra health
flask use was followed with a sense of accomplishment as I slowly realised I am
going to last longer in each playthrough until I’m strong, and lucky, enough to
take down the final boss.
However, it isn’t over when the final boss is bested. Not
only does the game unlock Daily Runs, where you fight your way through a preset
dungeon for the best possible score and rewards, but the game unlocks a hard
mode, whereby even better weapons and stats are found. This is a true test of
skill, as the enemies are even more unrelenting.
Dead Cells is the antithesis of the state of the gaming trend.
Where big publishers and developers have been working on huge open-world titles
that you immediately get lost in, Motion Twin makes you start small. It forces you to fight to make the world bigger. It makes you scratch away until the surface
breaks and you find a deep and very fulfilling game that rewards you for wanting
to explore and not having it thrust in your face. The pixel art is unique and
beautiful enough to stand out from other Metroidvania titles like Hollow Knight
and the soundtrack is fantastic enough to listen to on its own. If I’m gushing
too much, it’s because I am unapologetically. Dead Cells deserves every ounce
of praise that it gets. It stands next to Celeste as one of the big surprise
hits of 2018 and will be sitting next to God of War in Game of the Year talks.
