Dead Cells: A Molecular Reconstruction of the Metroidvania Rogue-Lite Genre

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.

This is why the replayability of this game is almost infinite. In any run, you could go from doing “okay” with some strong weapons that don’t mesh well to finding that one thing that ties together all the status effects and passives, in turn making you an absolute terror capable of taking down the hardest of enemies with ease. It’s addictive to see what each new chest, each new shop or each new area will bring you and synergising that with Mutations to completely make each build unique.

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.