Below (2018)

 PC
User Score
5.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 67 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 67
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 67
  3. Negative: 24 out of 67

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. iseeall
    Dec 29, 2021
    7
    7/10
    An atmospheric roguelike, with an isometric view, real-time melee combat, some crafting and a semi-permadeath mechanic.
    Good: - excellent audio which gives at all a great, atmospheric "experience" feel - excellent graphics - though they are mostly just low-poly models, without even any textures. Still, the game has great looks due to real-time shadows, lighting, fog and the    7/10
    An atmospheric roguelike, with an isometric view, real-time melee combat, some crafting and a semi-permadeath mechanic.

    Good:
    - excellent audio which gives at all a great, atmospheric "experience" feel
    - excellent graphics - though they are mostly just low-poly models, without even any textures. Still, the game has great looks due to real-time shadows, lighting, fog and the haunting darkness
    - it's kinda permadeath but not really permadeath. There are no saves, but as you reach a cooking fire somewhere, you can make it a checkpoint by spending 25 gems (which you loot from killed mobs), and then, after you die, you can teleport to that cooking fire instantly. Then you need to reach your dead body and loot your stuff from it

    So-so:
    - inventory is small, but you don't know any recipes in advance, meaning that you generally have to hoard items and find out on your way what 3 items can be crafted into what. Quite early in the game you will find yourself dropping items to free up space, only to later return to the rooms you've been to already and loot the dropped items again etc. Although limited inventory could have been thought of as a mechanic to make the game harder, I think it just introduces hassle and isn't fun. Instead, they should have allowed all items to stack to any amount (also arrows! Currently fire arrows stack 8 max, and bomb arrows 4 max which is way too low) and make inventory scrollable, with no limit on space.
    - on a related note, most stuff you craft is useless. E.g. boiled soup, stew and broth aren't that much more efficient than raw food. And arrows are downright useless, especially those hardest to craft. A fire arrow flies in an arc and will land either too far or too close, miss the enemy you clicked and just burn out after a while. Caltrops will catch 1 enemy - that's not worth crating it from 4 shards and a few more items.
    - I kinda expected a tutorial but instead the game chooses to just let you find out its rules through exploration or randomly. For example, I wouldn't have learnt about the whole crating mechanic or the existence of the inventory, had I not checked "Controls" page in the game's Settings screen. But well, I'm a super-hardcore gamer so I always check game settings before I even start playing the game for the first time. It's probably not what most players would do. Some instructions at start would definitely make this game friendlier to starters
    - fog looks nice but gets dissolved too slowly, and you kinda have to stop at times to just let it dissolve - it annoys a bit

    Bad:
    - WASD movement feels clunky at times, especially with the winding paths and corridors the rooms typically are. Often the character will just get stuck if the direction in which you want it to move doesn't fully correspond to the wall's or edge's rotation. E.g. if there is an edge that's going from SE to NW and you hold the A key to move left, the character will be stuck in place. I'd expect it to just slide NW.
    - due to clumsy movement, most of my deaths were in spear traps - although I saw these traps! I'm not sure but maybe just the good old Diablo 1's control system with "click-to-move" and "click to attack" would be friendlier, and click-to-move means walking around traps(?)

    As with most art-centric games, Below excels in its aesthetics but isn't great in its mechanics. Also, there is zero narrative: you don't know why you're venturing into these depths, the game kinda sets up the "story" with a long atmospheric cutscene at start and that's it. I'd still recommend this game just for its sheer aesthetics, especially if you get it at a discount. Just don't expect it to hold your attention for too long after you've understood its mechanics and found out that there isn't actually much meat in it. The semi-permadeath thing will pad your playtime maybe 2x or 3x but there is a limit to how many similar winding rooms you'll be willing to clear.    … Expand
  2. EvilEmperor2
    Jan 16, 2019
    10
    Esse é um ótimo jogo tecnicamente, que tem todo um design de Titan Souls e tem gráficos magníficos ao meu ver, e quanto mais você joga, mais viciante fica, mostrando ser superior a muitos jogos que vi em 2018.
  3. madarasi012
    Dec 30, 2018
    6
    Below is a fine game. From Canadian indie studio Capybara, Below is a game that’s been long in development. Announced in 2013 and intended for release in 2016, the game was infinitely delayed so that Capybara could take the time to polish the game. The completed product was released on December 14th, 2018 and, believe me when I say, it is well-polished.
    Below does not hold your hand when    Below is a fine game. From Canadian indie studio Capybara, Below is a game that’s been long in development. Announced in 2013 and intended for release in 2016, the game was infinitely delayed so that Capybara could take the time to polish the game. The completed product was released on December 14th, 2018 and, believe me when I say, it is well-polished.
    Below does not hold your hand when it comes to explaining things, nor does it give you a ‘tutorial section’ to figure things out. That is something that I both enjoyed and didn’t—I enjoyed seeing what items I could put together in my inventory to craft something entirely new, and then watch that new item in action, but, at the same time, I did not enjoy the fact that it explains nothing—it took me two hours into the game to realise that I could switch my weapon by pressing X.
    Designed to be ‘difficult, but fair’, is only one of those two things. The combat is engaging, with the levels slowly introducing newer and more difficult monsters, but the random presence of spike traps and death pits that kill you—out of nowhere—and force you to start over from scratch will grate on your nerves as you wonder why you picked up the game to begin with. Furthermore, the fast-travel system in the game is obtuse: You need to collect 25 bits to be able to turn a fireplace blue, which allows you to travel from that point to the previous fireplace… for 25 bits. If you die, you are permitted to use the fireplace once, probably, for 25 bits, that will then allow you to pick up where you left off. Die again, and you’re forced to start from scratch.
    Too much focus is placed on the survival and rougelike elements, creating a game that is frantic and fast-paced; yet, going too fast punishes the player. The game is imbalanced and difficult in ways that seem needless. Some people will enjoy this game; the sense of achievement that you get from clearing an area, or finding a way deeper down is a feeling quite like any other, but the pace of Below is contradicted by its desire to have you explore—a quick pace and exploration do not go hand-in-hand.
    All in all, I would recommend this game for people who like a challenge like no other, because Below is a game quite unlike any other. That’s not a commendation, but it is by no means an insult.    … Expand
  4. Panoramixomix
    Dec 29, 2018
    10
    *DISCLAIMER FOR ANYONE NON-SURE IF WANNA BUY* Yes, game is hard and can be frustrating. But it is precisely designed part of its experience. Yes, there is permadeath. But the game does have many kinds of game saving mechanics. Firstly: after every second or third level (or sth like that) you get acces to a shortcut: from Island to a certain floor. There are many of such shortcuts, they are*DISCLAIMER FOR ANYONE NON-SURE IF WANNA BUY* Yes, game is hard and can be frustrating. But it is precisely designed part of its experience. Yes, there is permadeath. But the game does have many kinds of game saving mechanics. Firstly: after every second or third level (or sth like that) you get acces to a shortcut: from Island to a certain floor. There are many of such shortcuts, they are regular. Secondly: on one of first floors you can find an oniric equipment storage mechanism, which allows you to hoard items and food. Thirdly: on the Island, and from shortcuts there are certain areas filled up with a certain items. For example: floor 3 is the best for gaining crystals, if You know how to survive there. That allows you to make preparations for next stepping into the depth. And, of course, you can find your last dead character and take its items - it is easy, because the map shows you exacly where it is. What is more, the map is very easy to follow, and always shows you: if the room is safe or not, what are directions to walk from this room, and if there is a secret in this room. So no frustrating exploration - your task is to find the way, enlight hidden things and investige them, in interactive way. Yes, there are one-kill traps. But they are visible and easy to disarm, they are to force you to be careful and understand importance of light in this game. Game have no tutorials and dialogs. It is atmospheric rougelike, much more interactive than you think. It is hardcore gaming, but very fluent and immersive. *END OF THE DISCLAIMER*

    Was waiting for such a game for so long! Seems normal artistic-indie atmospheric fight exploration game, but the trailers and ,,first 15 minutes" do not show much, so you are not sure what to expect. You run the game. No start screen, no tutorial, even no menu. Lonely boat on an ocean. Lonely island. You step into the cave, and then...

    To the last moment you have no idea what you can find in the depths. What you will have to do, to survive. Hunting for mices to not starve? Eating raw meat, and then vomiting, placing yourself in danger if attacked? Will you see the traps? Will you figure out, how to disarm or protect from them? You know, half wounds you will get, will be bleeding. How many bandages you made before? One? Great, this time you are not dead. That monster wasn't worth risk, you know, you wouldn't be able even to get meat from it. You want to explore that corner? Do you have enough lantern crystals or torches to get there, go back to the next camp and don't get killed in between? Well, if so, you're welcome... Did you wonder about that strange sounds around?

    On the surface - simple crafting based on four/three slots to combine, simple combat without stamina, not many weapons or items to colletc, nice looking locations with no hidden rooms.

    If you look correctly - perfectly working deep mechanics connected to the narrative and gameworld logic. Suprisingly many resources to get from environment, and even more items to create with them. Dynamic, movement-based combat with emphasis on timing and aiming, where every weapon has its application, and any wound is a big step to fall, or victory. Beautiful, spacious locations, filled up with different resources and dangers, every single level with its own specific atmosphere and desing construction. Discreet, easy to understand HUD, an affordance to explore with no pointless tries to find the hidden door, but some shortcuts and keys to special places.

    And, of course, great soundtrack by Jim Guthrie, which do not need to be praise :)

    For me - magnificent game. Hope people will find out what precious thing they got to their hands :3    … Expand
  5. foxonarock
    Oct 3, 2020
    10
    I got the game after the explore mode was available, and I feel like my review would have been very different if I had to go trough the original difficulty. This game is an absolute gem. It has a sound design on the level of hyper light drifter(!), with an ambiance so thick it seeps out of the screen and into your room. You can smell the humid air of the cave, the smoke of the campfire. II got the game after the explore mode was available, and I feel like my review would have been very different if I had to go trough the original difficulty. This game is an absolute gem. It has a sound design on the level of hyper light drifter(!), with an ambiance so thick it seeps out of the screen and into your room. You can smell the humid air of the cave, the smoke of the campfire. I am very glad the devs allowed us less hardcore gamer to enjoy this piece of art with an explore mode. The difficulty is still there, at least for me, and dying is still devastating, but i joyfully jump back into the darkness every time.… Expand
  6. Wolfhead
    Dec 4, 2022
    9
    good game for burning a slow one on the midnight oil. it surrounds itself in mystery as you descend into madness attempting to put the pieces together. mechanics are easy to grasp if you're not a five-year-old. everything is clear and easy to understand what's going on in the game unless you have a giant tv then it gets a little weird. I'm playing 1920x1080 on a 55 inch with rtx3080 tigood game for burning a slow one on the midnight oil. it surrounds itself in mystery as you descend into madness attempting to put the pieces together. mechanics are easy to grasp if you're not a five-year-old. everything is clear and easy to understand what's going on in the game unless you have a giant tv then it gets a little weird. I'm playing 1920x1080 on a 55 inch with rtx3080 ti graphics card. beautiful artwork throughout the game. the bow is a little jank since you have to put the enemy exactly on your crosshair otherwise you'll just shoot over them. all in all very good game.… Expand
  7. Hamboy
    Jan 16, 2023
    10
    One of my favorite games of all time. 100% completed, the atmosphere, music and visuals are so strong that I couldn't keep away even though it was a hard and harsh task to finish. Extremely satisfying and memorable
  8. robomartion
    Dec 15, 2018
    7
    Beautiful, boring, mysterious.

    There's a sense of wonder and exploration in Below you don't get anywhere else. It's mysterious, foreboding, and it really is a world of its own. It's beautiful, the music is gorgeous and it creates a real atmosphere, especially when you're out in the rain, exploring the island for the first time. This atmosphere extends into the depths as you go down, and    Beautiful, boring, mysterious.

    There's a sense of wonder and exploration in Below you don't get anywhere else. It's mysterious, foreboding, and it really is a world of its own. It's beautiful, the music is gorgeous and it creates a real atmosphere, especially when you're out in the rain, exploring the island for the first time. This atmosphere extends into the depths as you go down, and then fills you with wonder when you find a short-cut connecting you to a previously visited area, or a secret-passage that opens to a beach, where tens of ship-wrecks lie still in the water. You will feel clever when you catch a fish with your spear, feel conflicted when you kill a harmless fox for your own survival. You will, however, feel an unrelenting and unavoidable sense of boredom dawn upon you as you pick up every stick, rock and piece of string, make your sixty-eighth band-aid, your fiftieth torch, find your coveted lantern, only to step on a trap immediately after, teleport backwards and forwards and up-and-down between each campfire, walk down the same set of steps for the sixteenth time, swing your sword, or fire your unwieldy bow at the same enemy, in the same room over and over, picking up the remains of every single one, as you descend again and again. You will be compelled however to continue, for your curiosity cannot be quenched, and the allure of revelation - the telling of just another secret is too rich a prize, and however hard the slog, however seemingly distant and intangible the reward; however down-right tedious the trek, you will be drawn back down Below.    … Expand
  9. babak_relic
    Dec 18, 2018
    5
    just good music i think , confusing map , no information , when you die you must start at the first that show there is no story and just a survival video game .
  10. timkrueger
    Dec 14, 2018
    9
    The game is definitely worth the wait. It has a lot going on for it in terms of graphics, sound and overall atmosphere. The combat and machinics are easy to learn, but hard to master. If you like that, give it a try!
  11. MysticalNinja
    Dec 15, 2018
    10
    Beautiful, haunting, deep, atmospheric, intelligent are just some of the ways I can describe my first 30 minutes with this gem. I never played anything quite like this before and I look forward to many more sessions with this mysterious game.

    Thank you Capy for making something this great! You guys are an inspiration!
  12. Bertopia
    Dec 20, 2018
    9
    So far I am loving this game, I died once due to my first in counter of a trap. Since then I haven’t died at all. As long as you bandage yourself and craft/eat plenty of soup and drink water you’ll be fine. I love exploring this game, it’s so pretty and the atmosphere is perfect. I haven’t reach any real tough creatures though, hopefully there’s a mini boss or something the puzzlesSo far I am loving this game, I died once due to my first in counter of a trap. Since then I haven’t died at all. As long as you bandage yourself and craft/eat plenty of soup and drink water you’ll be fine. I love exploring this game, it’s so pretty and the atmosphere is perfect. I haven’t reach any real tough creatures though, hopefully there’s a mini boss or something the puzzles don’t seem to difficult which is kind of disappointing but never seems boring. The combat is fun and feels a lot like Zelda and the game does get more challenging in the later levels, thankfully the enemies get tougher as well. However the fun of discovery still remains. I only have one tip for you, when in doubt use your lantern, it will make this game a whole lot more enjoyable. if you like exploring your going to really enjoy this great game.… Expand
  13. thebestguy
    Dec 18, 2018
    9
    At least I played 6 hours, and the game did not disappoint me. As I've been waiting for, the main theme of the game is to explore the path through the cave, discover the history behind and survive. The most important thing is to survive.
    It's a difficult game, but bad, not at all.
    Excellent music, atmospheric and exciting.
    The wait was worth it.
  14. LesPaul
    Dec 27, 2019
    6
    I thought that this game would fill the niche for a light, easily-accessible time-filler. The graphics looked simple but appealing, but discovered thru gameplay that objects are a bit too small to enjoy: the great majority of my screen was often black. The game mechanics and sound were as I had hoped, but I eventually lost interest nonetheless.
  15. Dedlet
    Dec 23, 2018
    0
    This game is **** I had to drop it down to 720p just to be able to read the font. The game inflates the difficulty by locking you into a view that makes it hard to pick out details. A zoom feature would be **** nice so I don't have to sit 3 feet from my TV. The death mechanic is basically "let's make a dark souls game without being sued or mocked for making a dark souls game."This game is **** I had to drop it down to 720p just to be able to read the font. The game inflates the difficulty by locking you into a view that makes it hard to pick out details. A zoom feature would be **** nice so I don't have to sit 3 feet from my TV. The death mechanic is basically "let's make a dark souls game without being sued or mocked for making a dark souls game." Garbage. On my xbox I realized I could restart the game offline to start over rather than having to go through the frustration of having to retrieve corpses. That's how invested the developer is to their hardcore mechanic, you can't delete your profile from the Xbox cloud! And the game is so hard without the lantern it's easier to start over than to attempt to retrieve your body without a dependable light source. The limited use campfire transportation system also adds to the frustration. The music and soundtrack is great but that's the only compliment I can pay this game.
    If you play games to relax then get Dark Souls or even give The Surge a try. If your only sense of achievement in life is completing hard games then this is your game.    … Expand
  16. Teverion
    Dec 26, 2018
    3
    Procedural sometimes works like SH*T and you are forced to die. We would talk about the dark zone? with the **** billion tentacles everywhere? Again, you are forced to run otherwise you die. 5 years for what? to play like this? no thanks

Awards & Rankings

99
#99 Most Shared PC Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
67

Mixed or average reviews - based on 24 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 24
  3. Negative: 1 out of 24
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Apr 4, 2019
    20
    Deep under the ground an atmospheric game was born, which was ruined by incomprehensible mistakes. The game frustrates with malicious difficulty, poor controls and during the bird-view you can´t distinguish good from evil. [Issue#293]
  2. Worth Playing
    Apr 4, 2019
    65
    Below is divisive. Few will argue about the bleak beauty of the game, but everything else sets it up as a title you'll either love or hate, with few reservations. From the lack of instructions to the slow pace and the combat and survival mechanics, there are things that seem to conflict with one another but work fine at the same time. It is a game that asks you to stick with it for a while, and you'll be rewarded with an atmosphere that allows you to interpret things your way. Given some of the game's shortcomings, not everyone will have the commitment to playing until they encounter that "Eureka!" moment. As such, Below gets a cautious recommendation if you weren't already sold on the idea.
    Read full review
  3. The Overpowered Noobs
    Feb 4, 2019
    60
    For a majority of what BELOW sets out to accomplish, it does well. However, there are aspects which might deter: the potential monotony and a lack of a clear incentive to proceed further and see this story through.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »