Brut@l Review

Old school and new school mix in Brut@l! An update to the past dungeon crawler recipe by StormCloud games.

If there was one way I could describe Brut@l, it would be middle school (a really bad way of me mixing old and new school) as it's a modern re-imagining of the classic ASCII dungeon crawler. Now you may be thinking that for a game today, that is a huge step back, however did I also mention that its also fuses ASCII with up to date 3D to bring you what I deem to be something truly unique?

The game can be played in either Single Player or with a friend in Co-Op. You can choose between four classes and that is Warrior, Mage, Ranger and Amazon. Each class brings provides its own skills and abilities, so depending on how you like to play, there is something there for everyone.

As soon as the game starts you are dropped in to a dungeon and the main aim is to make it to the end by fending off foes, avoiding traps and collecting keys to open doors. You can also pick up food to keep the belly of your warrior full, this allows them to perform at top capacity.

The weapons themselves can't be used initially until they are crafted and in order to do this, you need to hunt down basic ASCII which is scattered around the dungeon. Each weapon lets you know which letters you need, so there will be no random guessing or potential hair pulling from frustration.

A mini skill tree is also in the game where you can upgrade your character. Every time you level up, you are awarded one skill point and you can use this to boost your character's abilities by either increasing their health, unlocking basic moves or more power.

Potions are a sort of wildcard this time around as you are never sure what you are going to get. I remember brewing three of them as I was low on health, however it ended up blinding me, turning me invisible and killing me in the end.

Along with the main game, a dungeon creator has also been included. Think you can make better levels? Well now is the time to prove it as you can create one from the ground up. You'll also be glad to know that these levels can be shared too.

As we mentioned earlier the game is a fusion between old school ASCII dungeon crawler/ 3D and this is apparent in the game's overall presentation which I have to say is visually striking. Colour's other than black and white are kept to an absolute minimum which just makes it stand out even more.

I can't really say that I've had much experience with the old school dungeon crawlers or even ASCII, but I've had a lot of fun playing Brut@l. The visuals draw you in and the gameplay seems to be the perfect mix between the old and new school. I hope this is not the last we see of it and hopefully there will be more updates in the future.

What did you think of Brut@l? Let us know in the comments below or hit me up on twitter - @TheLibanAli

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