Brutal | Review and Screenshots (PS4)

Hover mouse over screenshots for commentary.

April 2017

Brut@l

Long ago there was a computer game called "Rogue" and a similar game I played a lot called "NetHack." These games used an ASCII interface, which basically means that the graphics were simply letters and other keyboard symbols. A "+" represented a door, for example, and a "D" represented a dragon. A red "D" could be a fire-breathing dragon or a blue-ish white "d" could be an infant ice dragon. In these games your character was represented with an "@" symbol, which is why Brutal is actually named Brut@l.

In Brut@l you play in a 3D environment but everything is based on old ASCII games. For example, your shield has an @ symbol on it and enemies have letters on them that coincide with the letters that represent them in the old games. The maps are randomly generated and it's game over if you die (but you can earn extra lives). The objective is to get to the bottom of the dungeon, which is 26 levels deep. Along the way you collect letters to create new weapons and you can learn new skills as you level up. There are four main character classes to choose from and they operate in similar but distinct ways; for example, the wizard has low hit points but can cast magic whereas the warrior has lots of hit points and can throw his shield.

I was really looking forward to Brut@l because I love NetHack and it was neat to see some developers embrace the old ASCII games in a new way. Unfortunately, Brut@l has a lot of issues that keep it from being a great game. First and foremost - it's pretty boring. The combat is very basic (similar to NetHack, admittedly) and essentially boils down to pressing a button over and over again. You can dodge and block, but that's pretty much the extent of it. I actually found the combat pretty hard about halfway through the game until I realized you are invulnerable while doing a special attack. So then I just did the special attack over and over, and that's all I needed to do to beat the game. I'm not sure what I would have done differently but it just seemed like bad game design. You earn XP by defeating monsters but also by destroying parts of the environment; the result is that a large part of your playtime will involve smashing crates, torches, and urns. C'mon, that's not fun.

Another issue is that the game just isn't complex enough. NetHack is awesome in part because you can do almost anything. If you kick an altar the gods might send down a djinn to kill you; if you rub a lamp a genie might grant you a wish; if you accidentally touch a cockatrice corpse you'll turn to stone; if you write in the dust with a wand you'll get a clue as to the power it holds. In Brut@l there are a few potions and wands and altars, but it's quite basic. For example, the only way to interact with an altar is to donate money. Sometimes the altar will give you an extra life and sometimes it won't. For a game with basic combat I think they really needed to flesh out other parts of the game - but unfortunately they didn't.

One other issue that I just have to mention is the pits. Occasionally there will be a hole in the floor and if you fall in you die instantly. It makes for a pretty unceremonious end to, say, a three hour attempt. A couple of factors make this even worse: 1) the game is in black and white and there are no shadows, so it's very difficult to determine where your character will land after a jump, and 2) there are sections where the floor is one square wide and will crumble after you walk on it; in other words, you might need to quickly jump between multiple platforms - with no shadows - and if you fall it's game over. It's just dumb. There's no reason for it. If you fall in a pit they should have just made you re-spawn before the jump and take away a chunk of health. Now, I'm totally in favor of the brutal and occasionally unlucky difficulty of NetHack ("You fell in a pit trap! There are spikes at the bottom of the pit! The spikes are poisoned! The poison was deadly. Would you like your possessions identified?"), but something about the insta-death of the pits in Brut@l just annoyed me.

There's a lot to like about Brut@l, and it's refreshing to see developers pay homage to classic games, but there are just too many issues with the game for me to give it a strong recommendation. And that's really a shame because there's a great game in there somewhere.

	Those enemies are green because they will inflict poison damage, and they stand between my character and that shrine.	The visuals are unique and may seem a bit unpleasant in screenshots, but it actually looks pretty cool in action.
Charging into a room with an archer.	You can drink potions to restore your health, but don't accidentally drink an Inferno potion!	This is the inventory screen. At the bottom right you can assign weapons to the D-pad for faster selection. Those bottles can be used to brew potions. You'll notice the fish and chunk of ham - you need to periodically eat food or else you'll starve.
This is the upgrade screen. Each line has abilities that coincide with each character class, but you can pick whatever upgrades you want.	When you pause to look at the map, the camera quickly raises up and you get a view reminiscent of the old ASCII games, like NetHack. It's a cool effect.	A loading screen.
If you collect the proper letters (scattered randomly around the levels) and you have the proper blueprints, you can build new weapons.	If you have the proper colored letters you can enchant your weapons. Purple adds a chance to transform the enemy and all of the other colors add damage over time from either poison, shock, fire, or ice damage.	An enchanted purple weapon.
Zombies can only be killed with fire. Why are they worshiping the fire, then . . .?	A dumb pit.	Fighting foes.
Getting XP from smashing furniture. It's like 40% of the game, unfortunately.	A fully upgraded skill set.
That lava will mess you up.	This dragon is actually the final boss. Kind of a bummer because NetHack had dragons all throughout the game.	A seriously strong arsenal.

Obligatory platinum trophy screenshot.

The Therapist Gamer

Brut@l

Those enemies are green because they will inflict poison damage, and they stand between my character and that shrine.

The visuals are unique and may seem a bit unpleasant in screenshots, but it actually looks pretty cool in action.

Charging into a room with an archer.

You can drink potions to restore your health, but don't accidentally drink an Inferno potion!

This is the inventory screen. At the bottom right you can assign weapons to the D-pad for faster selection. Those bottles can be used to brew potions. You'll notice the fish and chunk of ham - you need to periodically eat food or else you'll starve.

This is the upgrade screen. Each line has abilities that coincide with each character class, but you can pick whatever upgrades you want.

When you pause to look at the map, the camera quickly raises up and you get a view reminiscent of the old ASCII games, like NetHack. It's a cool effect.

A loading screen.

If you collect the proper letters (scattered randomly around the levels) and you have the proper blueprints, you can build new weapons.

If you have the proper colored letters you can enchant your weapons. Purple adds a chance to transform the enemy and all of the other colors add damage over time from either poison, shock, fire, or ice damage.

An enchanted purple weapon.

Zombies can only be killed with fire. Why are they worshiping the fire, then . . .?

A dumb pit.

Fighting foes.

Getting XP from smashing furniture. It's like 40% of the game, unfortunately.

A fully upgraded skill set.

That lava will mess you up.

This dragon is actually the final boss. Kind of a bummer because NetHack had dragons all throughout the game.

A seriously strong arsenal.

Obligatory platinum trophy screenshot.