City of Brass
Today I had the honor of testing out City of Brass, which just hit Steam’s Early Access.
About City of Brass
Become a daring thief in City of Brass, a punishing first-person, Arabian Nights-themed rogue-lite. Armed with scimitar and a whip that can grab, trip, disarm, stun or shatter as well as swing, players will lash and slash, bait and trap their way through hordes of undead, making it to each level’s exit before the Sands of Time run out, collecting treasures and looting chests for weapon and armour upgrades or powerful relics on the way.
This City Has Teeth!
Players will have to leap across pits, slide under blades, avoid spears or arrows, evade or employ sprung paving slabs, and skirt round poison gas traps – all the while manipulating these dangers to their advantage against enemies.
Deadly Magic, Mischievous Genies!
Incarcerated within the city are genies, most of them friendly, who will barter benefits in return for loot or grant wishes for a powerful advantage.
Endless Death, Eternal Replayability!
The rhythmic interplay between sword and whip is carefully tuned along with sprinting, crouching, sliding, leaping and vaulting to give a fluid, balanced and natural feel to the movement and melee. Eternal replayability is granted by a design that encourages combinative gameplay within an ever-changing but logical procedurally generated world. Players will die in the City of Brass – often, and quite horribly – but they will always want to come back for just one more try…
My Review
When it comes to Steam’s Early Access games you never know what your going to get. Many are so riddled with bugs that their nearly unplayable. City of Brass is very well polished so far, and has very much potential in my opinion.
I’ve always been a fan of Arabian Nights themed games and movies. When I noticed this game I wrote the developers, Uppercut Games Pty Ltd right away. To my delight I found a review copy in my inbox today.
So how is the game? From the first gate I was drawn in right away. The Arabian landscape is designed very nicely. There are skeleton warriors roaming the streets everywhere, and traps around every corner. The Indiana Jones bullwhip is a nice touch, and the other weapons are cool also.
This review will be graded on the follow 6 factors which I think are the most important.
Video Source – uppercutgames
Controller Mechanics
I played the game using my wired Xbox 360 controller. The controls overall feel very precise and fluid all beside running. To run you hold down the left toggle, but you can hardly tell you’ve picked up any speed.
Battle Mechanics
The fighting system is probably my overall favorite feature. I love to whip the enemies in the legs and come in for the kill. In the game I tried out 3 different swords. The first sword you had to swing, the second was a poker, and the 3rd destroyed with a heavy blow.
Bad Guys
What would an Arabian Nights style game be without Skeleton-warriors and Genies? City of Brass contains a wide variety of ghoulish foes roaming the streets, and all look really creepy. I especially like the cage headed un-dead chargers. The Djinn are also designed to look really cool like evil Jafar from Disney’s Aladdin.
Sound
The musical score and sound effects can really make a big difference in setting the tone for a game like this. The games music matches it nearly perfectly. It puts you in loot and destroy mode as you obliterate your foes and plunder the cursed treasure. The enemy sound effects are also pretty good as well.
Landscape
I absolutely love the Arabic setting. The Skeleton Warriors and music compliment each other so well. The stages are loaded with traps everywhere you look. When locked in battle it can be easy to walk right into a spike-trap or get shot with spitting darts. At times the traps can seem overwhelming, but that is part of the challenge.
Overall
Overall I’m very impressed with City of Brass, especially since its still in Early Access. Besides the running and jumping I didn’t find any real bugs. The setting and bad guys quenched my thirst for a good Arabian Nights game. I think its a lot of fast paced fun, though at times can piss you off a bit. I’m going to go with a Very Positive user review, and recommend you check it out for yourself.
Check Out The Official Website
Read Also:
- Nice Mechanics
- Cool Bad Guys
- Great Landscape
- Running & Jumping Sucks
- Sometimes To Many Traps