Depths of Fear: Knossos is a very intriguing game, to say the least. Why? you might ask, well bear with me and I shall reveal all.
To beginDepths of Fear: Knossos is a very intriguing game, to say the least. Why? you might ask, well bear with me and I shall reveal all.
To begin with let’s talk about the overall gameplay. The game is more or a less a Greek themed, first person, stealth like game with several rogue-like elements thrown in as well. You take on the role of Theseus, a name many may recognize from the Greek story, Theseus and the Minotaur. DOF:K takes on a very similar premise to the story, being that you must fight your way through a labyrinth, or rather various ones in this case. There are eight different labyrinths altogether, all containing a variety of mythological Greek beasts, including manticores, gorgons, centaurs and Cerberus, to name just a few. You can either choose to fight these creatures, granted that you have a weapon which can be acquired once you have enough gold to afford one, or you can also avoid the creatures by using the, fairly simplistic, stealth mechanics the game provides. You can hide in the shadows, by turning off your torch or hide inside little cupboards, which are built into some of the walls. Once you’ve completed each of the labyrinth areas you have to battle against the boss of that area. The creature you have to fight is dependent on which doorway you went through to begin with. If there was a scorpion above the door, then it’s the manticore. If it was a snake, then it would be the hydra, and so on and so forth.
Once you’ve defeated the boss, one of the eight symbols on the door of the main room will light. You need to light up all eight in order to advance to the main labyrinth.
As previously mentioned there are a number of weapons that you can buy. However you will need to find gold, which is scattered around each labyrinth, in order to purchase them. You can get simple clubs, long swords, tridents and crossbow, alongside several other weapon too. These can be used to eliminate the dangerous creatures that inhabit the various labyrinths and defeat the bosses and the end.
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Graphically the game look fairly simplistic. Basic stony textures and checkerboard patterns cover the walls and floors of practically every stage in the game. The creatures themselves also are very basic in design, although it clear what sort of creature you’re facing, the models themselves aren’t all that textual or physically impressive. However their attack patterns and their animations all seem fairly unique.
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Mechanically the game feels fairly simple. The stealth mechanics, although basic, do work very well when trying to evade the creatures. Turning off the torch and hiding behind objects or inside cupboards, makes it feel tense, especially when facing a minotaur than can one hit kill you. Finding the key and escaping each labyrinth feels fairly rewarding, particularly if you were successful in evading the creatures. Then there’s the combat, which feels like one of the weakest points of the game. Although stealth is a probably one of the more key ways to play DOF:K, combat does play a large part when at the boss stages. You simply spam the attack key until either you kill the beast or you die. There’s no real strategy to it, other than to simple jump about and avoid getting hit.
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Overall though Depth of Fear: Knossos is an unusual rogue-like game. It fits the indie, rogue-like thematic well, much like The Binding of Issac and Eldritch, to name a couple. It does have a certain horror vibe to it and the general feeling you get when playing it is satisfying. The combat does let it down a bit, along with the graphics too, but those are more or less a couple of minor things that only affect the game a little bit. To end with, I’ll say that if you’re looking for a rogue-like game or something with a little bit of stealth, then DOF:K is a great buy. For the price though, it’s always worth having a look if you want something different to play or want something to pass the time. Good Day!… Expand