Iratus: Lord of the Dead

 PC
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 68 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 44 out of 68
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 68
  3. Negative: 8 out of 68

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  1. theirrelephants
    May 20, 2020
    8
    I haven't played Darkest Dungeon so I have no comparison like all the other reviews, but this was a fun, simple way to kill a dozen hours.

    You put together a handful of troops (4 max from about ~15) and go into combat against another 4 guys. You're the titular Iratus but your undead troops do the fighting for you. Combat kind of reminded me of older wizardry rpgs, though thats a bad    I haven't played Darkest Dungeon so I have no comparison like all the other reviews, but this was a fun, simple way to kill a dozen hours.

    You put together a handful of troops (4 max from about ~15) and go into combat against another 4 guys. You're the titular Iratus but your undead troops do the fighting for you. Combat kind of reminded me of older wizardry rpgs, though thats a bad comparison.

    People who enjoy pain will probably enjoy the harder modes.    … Expand
  2. Caste
    Apr 27, 2020
    9
    I have to admit that my first impressions weren't great, but after 2-3 combats I was fully into it.

    Some mechanics could be clearer, and the checkpoint system is not great (saves from floor to floor only, where its main reference Darkest Dungeon saves 'every second' so you can drop out and get back in not losing progress).
    But apart from the above, a super solid turn based game.
  3. Halikhan
    May 7, 2020
    9
    Всё что могу написать она шикарна во всём! В отличии от Darkest Dungeon не мучает гриндом!
  4. falmavar
    Sep 23, 2020
    10
    Very good clone of Darkest Dungeon where you play for 'bad guys' and without grind. Very impressive.
  5. Ilya_Markelov
    Aug 19, 2020
    9
    Годная игруха. Нет напрягающего гринда, всё довольно скрупулезно продуманно, чувствуется, что в игру вложили душу. Минус один - мало контента. Хочется больше, больше и БОЛЬШЕЕЕ.
    Что примечательно - максимальная сложность самая легкая, т.к. насыпают очень много ресурсов и вы быстро можете выстроить свой билд, развить базу и упаковать несколько групп персов, к концу игры все будут    Годная игруха. Нет напрягающего гринда, всё довольно скрупулезно продуманно, чувствуется, что в игру вложили душу. Минус один - мало контента. Хочется больше, больше и БОЛЬШЕЕЕ.
    Что примечательно - максимальная сложность самая легкая, т.к. насыпают очень много ресурсов и вы быстро можете выстроить свой билд, развить базу и упаковать несколько групп персов, к концу игры все будут фиолетовые и макс уровней.    … Expand
  6. Grobeu
    May 16, 2020
    1
    Darkest Dungeon's ugly, inbred little brother. A game that tries to be slay the spire, DD and dungeon keeper yet fails miserably. This game just doesn't work, is half broken and half finished. If the devs cared, the only way to explain its mediocrity is the devs where bad in the first place. The pace drags on, the battles are too long, the maps are too long, you have to invest a lot moreDarkest Dungeon's ugly, inbred little brother. A game that tries to be slay the spire, DD and dungeon keeper yet fails miserably. This game just doesn't work, is half broken and half finished. If the devs cared, the only way to explain its mediocrity is the devs where bad in the first place. The pace drags on, the battles are too long, the maps are too long, you have to invest a lot more time than in DD only to be randomly crushed once you walk in the 2nd level. Tutorial misses half of the mechanics and lets you figure it out by yourself. The game mechanics are grindy, unrewarding and repetitive (nowhere near the subtlety of DD). The UI is absolutely unintuitive, quickly annoying, incompetent and seems like it's not been tested at all (2 clicks to create a character, sure).
    You literally start the game with a character that is as useful as a doormat (dark knight, basically a 2ft tall chaos warrior in heavy armour that is weaker than your basic skeleton, IN EVERY WAY, go figure) and the only thing you can do with it is sacrify it the first chance you get and never use it again, EVER.
    All the characters have 6 skills but you'll only use 2 or 3 at best because the others are useless. The characters are so bad anyways you'll get murdered in the first 3 batlles, even dirt cheap enemies hurt you like hell. You start with peashooters, and have to play at least 30mns (and go through a ton of unintuitive UI micromanagement) to start having efficient warriors (which will get easily wiped out later on wether at lvl 10 or not). First game i ever played where the armies of the undead are bloody ****
    The buffs are indicated by a green square, but you have no idea what buff you are currently using because it's indicated NOWHERE. You might as well have 3 active buffs and you have no idea what's going on, as far as you know, you have A buff, period.
    I don't know how long the devs worked on this but so far, it feels undercooked, unbalanced, and just not well made. The ideas are there but the implementations...the devs might as well start again from 0 and understand what they are trying to do this time.
    "as good as darkest dungeon" I don't think so. The only thing this game got from darkest dungeon is RNG so unfair at some times you better have a plan B, C and D or else you just lose the 4 hours you've been playing.
    Upgrading your troops is essential but nothing is automated and you lose them very fast so you quickly spend hours increasing random stats that don't really change much in overall gameplay.
    Yeah 4 hours, because the pace is SLOW AF (no way you can have quick play sessions like in StP or DD, which were part of the appeal of the games), and this game amounts to using the same troops and same tactics all of the time until you get annihilated by over OP enemies that come out of nowhere once you pass the first boss (difficulty jumps from too easy to too hard with no steps in between).
    I just spent the 3 last days playing 6 hours a day to figure out how this game works.
    Verdict : this game works not. It's uningaging, boring, repetitive and unbalanced, and lacks work and investment from the devs. And has the nerves to compare itself to DD.
    Skip this one, don't even buy it on sale. Utter waste of time. Gets so annoying you'll feel like uninstalling it 30 hours in. Unfinished, half-baked, broken, boring garbage.
    You thought the RNG was all over the place in Slay the Spire (and it is)? Wait till you play this one.
    The devs don't get the difference between a hard game and a broken game.
    I've spent 300hrs on DD and I'm still playing it. 250hrs hours on Slay the Spire and still playing it. 1500hrs+ on Binding of Isaac and still playing it. This one I got fed up with in 30 hours.
    Skip it!    … Expand
  7. DukeBalek
    Aug 24, 2020
    4
    if you ever played DD you cant play this one... so boring and bad designed, i dont know who are the devs but it's not good at all
  8. thedstrat
    Jun 22, 2020
    1
    I hate to write a bad review for an indie game, but this really had a lot of potential and did not live up to expectations at all. First, the graphics are very dark and unpleasant. I understand this is a stylistic choice, but it is not executed well at all. Darkest Dungeon for example is the same style, but way more polished. Most importantly, the gameplay is not intuitive and veryI hate to write a bad review for an indie game, but this really had a lot of potential and did not live up to expectations at all. First, the graphics are very dark and unpleasant. I understand this is a stylistic choice, but it is not executed well at all. Darkest Dungeon for example is the same style, but way more polished. Most importantly, the gameplay is not intuitive and very complicated. Slay the spire and other successful roguelite rpgs are very simple to pickup and have a lot of depth. This was just complicated and intimidating.… Expand
  9. iseeall
    Dec 31, 2020
    7
    A pretty good TBS somewhat similar to Darkest Dungeon but lacking its taste and style.

    Good: - many unit types, with many abilities - as others mentioned, there is no grind. You can't replay completed battles, but also you're free to create new minions at will (no need to wait for recruits) So-so: - art - it's functional and is highly detailed, but overall the game just lacks    A pretty good TBS somewhat similar to Darkest Dungeon but lacking its taste and style.

    Good:
    - many unit types, with many abilities
    - as others mentioned, there is no grind. You can't replay completed battles, but also you're free to create new minions at will (no need to wait for recruits)

    So-so:
    - art - it's functional and is highly detailed, but overall the game just lacks personality. It even feels somewhat like a mobile port (hidden object game?) due its almost casual palette. It's especially noticeable when one compares it to Darkest Dungeon: there art was a significant part of the game's appeal and character. But here it's generic an adds to the feel of it being a mediocre clone of Darkest Dungeon (which it's not)
    - the Dungeon Keeper-style narrative of expanding the kingdom of an evil master, killing humans and converting their corpses into undead armies. I guess the idea is just not fresh anymore. Also, Dungeon Keeper had a lot of dark humor, and the evil master was intentionally over the top. But this game stays serious all the time. And one quickly notices that this narrative just doesn't offer enough motivation to proceed.
    - music is rather generic as well

    Bad:
    - I found English localization pretty shaky, with misuse of words in some places - which makes understanding the game's rules harder at times

    The game's complex battle mechanics deserved more dark humor and more character in the aesthetics. But it's a passable game if you've already completed Darkest Dungeon and wanted more of the same but with a bit different units and abilities.    … Expand
  10. KokoB00mba
    Aug 3, 2021
    10
    It's like Darkest Dungeon (minus all the annoying bits like stress, torches, etc) plus a little Slay the Spire mixed in. Considering those two classics, how can you go wrong? Easy to pick up and learn. Plus, you get to be the bad guys... :-)
  11. Kila-Selai
    Aug 1, 2020
    7
    Прошёл игру на одном дыхании. Правда на самом легком уровне сложности, но тем не менее игра заставила меня подумать.
    В бою действуют до 4 юнитов с твоей стороны и со стороны противника, у каждого юнита по 6 способностей, плюс заклинания самого некроманта, что делает каждую схватку тактической задачей. Darkest Dungeon тоже играл, игры очень похожи и в то же время впечатления от них    Прошёл игру на одном дыхании. Правда на самом легком уровне сложности, но тем не менее игра заставила меня подумать.
    В бою действуют до 4 юнитов с твоей стороны и со стороны противника, у каждого юнита по 6 способностей, плюс заклинания самого некроманта, что делает каждую схватку тактической задачей. Darkest Dungeon тоже играл, игры очень похожи и в то же время впечатления от них совершенно разные.    … Expand
  12. Oshiri_Maeda
    Nov 8, 2020
    6
    Darkest Dungeon-like game. Many ways to customize and adjust your minions and strategy. However, I found it to be too tedious with all of its many buttons, stats and upgrades. It SEEMS very diverse, but ends up quite repetitive, not engaging. Might be a gem if you like DD, otherwise - pass.
  13. CptJustice
    Sep 1, 2020
    7
    First of all, no it's not as good as darkest dungeon, but I dont understand the bad reviews saying it's too complicated or not finished... I think they just don't know how to use the characters properly. I did my first playthrough in 25 hours and i loved it. Yes, sometimes it is challenging, but changing your strategy and your party composition will often solve the problem. It is meantFirst of all, no it's not as good as darkest dungeon, but I dont understand the bad reviews saying it's too complicated or not finished... I think they just don't know how to use the characters properly. I did my first playthrough in 25 hours and i loved it. Yes, sometimes it is challenging, but changing your strategy and your party composition will often solve the problem. It is meant to be hard.. I gave a 7 because they could add more items and maybe balance some skills, but overall, very good game. Refreshing to bad the bad guy for once… Expand
  14. TheTownDrunk
    Jan 22, 2021
    7
    IRATUS: LORD OF THE DEAD is basically DARKEST DUNGEON but playing the bad guys. As such it lacks originality and also the superb art style of the "original". Red Hook Studios really created a masterpiece with DARKEST DUNGEON and I would suggest picking that one up first. A more recent clone is WARSAW which ditches fantasy altogether and is set in Poland's capital during World War IIIRATUS: LORD OF THE DEAD is basically DARKEST DUNGEON but playing the bad guys. As such it lacks originality and also the superb art style of the "original". Red Hook Studios really created a masterpiece with DARKEST DUNGEON and I would suggest picking that one up first. A more recent clone is WARSAW which ditches fantasy altogether and is set in Poland's capital during World War II fighting the Third Reich invaders as partisans.
    IRATUS: LORD OF THE DEAD is unique as you play Iratus, the necromancer who has been banished in the catacombs, but is now gathering an army of undead to fight his way out and - of course - take over the world. DARKEST DUNGEON drew its atmosphere from the superb narration by Wayne June (there are no other voice actors in the entire game and none are needed). IRATUS: LORD OF THE DEAD takes a similar approach (one could also say rip-off) and features none other than Stephan Weyte who voiced (another undead) Caleb in the 1990s BLOOD games. Needless to say Weyte delivers.
    What IRATUS does different is the superb way to build your army: you do not just "recruit" your minions from some tavern, no, you literally create them from components that you find in the dungeon or from fallen enemies (blood, brains, etc.). These components can also be used to upgrade these minions.
    Your minions are of course not the typical hero classes like knights or mages, but their undead counterparts like death knights, liches, ghouls, banshees, etc.
    Instead of the hamlet Iratus has a graveyard with buildings like a mortuary, a dead lake, an Iratus Statue (!) or a library.
    Iratus also can be leveled up and can partake in combat with various spells that buff minions, debuff enemies or do damage.
    It takes elements from DARKEST DUNGEON such as the automatic save system (your minions die, they're gone for good, no reloading) and the 2D graphics.
    Speaking of graphics, I did not care for the art style here too much. DARKEST DUNGEON had a unique art style, IRATUS only looks cheap.
    DARKEST DUNGEON was better balanced and the sanity system applied to your characters (instead of dealing sanity damage to your enemies) is more engaging.
    What IRATUS does better is the progression system: it's a true dungeon crawler, featuring several levels to traverse. You can see the events that lie ahead and choose your path accordingly. There is no backtracking however, but at branching paths you can take the direct path to the level exit or a longer route to experience more combat and get more loot.
    Personally I prefer DARKEST DUNGEON. IRATUS: LORD OF THE DEAD is more forgiving and overall easier as it lacks the sanity meter. It's GOOD ( 7 out of 10 ).    … Expand
  15. Vitalick
    Nov 1, 2022
    8
    El juego está bien entretenido, sabiendo a lo que vas y lo que vale no se le puede pedir mas. Para matar unas horas los que les guste los juegos por turnos y roguelikes.
  16. Wiezzel
    Apr 23, 2023
    9
    One of a kind game. I had a lot of negative thought going into it that quickly vanished.

    Strategy and turn based, even vs AI only it will be very challenging. You need to keep up with a lot of different things that seem overwhelming at first but you have plenty of time to master them all and it is not complicated at all. The game is pretty straight forward. The game is re-playable a    One of a kind game. I had a lot of negative thought going into it that quickly vanished.

    Strategy and turn based, even vs AI only it will be very challenging.
    You need to keep up with a lot of different things that seem overwhelming at first but you have plenty of time to master them all and it is not complicated at all.
    The game is pretty straight forward.
    The game is re-playable a good amount of times, especially with its very challenging difficulty.

    The game is a 2D game with drawings that are slightly animated to make them seem alive. It offers bothers me but this game has it down to a good balance between looking good and not too much. I personally love the STYLE the game is made in and it adds a lot.
    It is not an easy game, yet anyone can have fun playing it.

    In a way it feels like you have 4 pokemons and you can craft the pokemons ( since they are zombies)
    They all have their set of ability and all play by turn ( all 4 and enemies then repeat)

    Overall a game that one must try during its gaming life, worth to buy it on sale or discount. Even full price if this is your kind of games. For those who have NEVER tried these kind, i highly recommend so they can discover something else to enjoy."

    The only thing I would add, is a coop or pvp mode that could add a lot as a bonus mode. Not necessary tho.    … Expand
  17. IndiPoss
    Sep 24, 2021
    10
    Nice dark humor, cool voice acting, playing for the bad guy aaand no grind!
  18. Kristiuush
    Sep 30, 2021
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!… Expand
  19. PorkyBorky
    Oct 15, 2021
    10
    Wow! I really like roguelike games, in addition its dark rpg, so cool project^^
  20. 5ombi3
    Nov 15, 2021
    10
    Excellent game! Can't recommend enough. Staggering visuals as well as interesting plot.
  21. Voldemort1337
    Apr 24, 2022
    2
    Unimaginative Darkest Dungeon clone where whole gameplay is boring grind.

    Played 6 hours and completed the game on "More Pain!", and about no fights were enjoyable. Game was not challenging at all and boring grind.
  22. myval2012
    Aug 27, 2023
    6
    Gameplay: I never played Darkest Dungeon or other similar games so i cann't compare. It's a very cool idea with solid execution. Problems started after around 15 hours when i was close to finishing it for the first time. It's extremely repetetive. Do you need to change your strategy? No, almost all enemies do the same thing. Sure theres like few very uniqe, but it's like one per floor. WowGameplay: I never played Darkest Dungeon or other similar games so i cann't compare. It's a very cool idea with solid execution. Problems started after around 15 hours when i was close to finishing it for the first time. It's extremely repetetive. Do you need to change your strategy? No, almost all enemies do the same thing. Sure theres like few very uniqe, but it's like one per floor. Wow thats a lot of soldiers and abilities... so tedious (they are all very similar), is this a game or a job? Funnies part is that clearing final boss requires completely different set of character than for normal clearing. Be ready do clear everything and then get destroyed by the final boss. 4/7,5

    Visuals: Could be more colorful. Yes it is a dark "horror" theme but that doesn't mean that you shrink your color pallet to grey, brown and red. The buildings and dungeons are ok, it's the chracters that could use some polish. 1,5/2,5

    Story: There isn't really a story here. A guy wants to conquer the world.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jul 23, 2020
    80
    A very pleasant surprise. The game maintains great gameplay and at the same time brings nice innovations. A Darkest Dungeon, where you play as the evil ones. Give it a chance! [Issue#303]
  2. Games.cz
    May 20, 2020
    60
    Iratus could have been a worthy successor to Darkest Dungeon, but is cast down into the swamps of mediocrity by its monotonous, boring battles.
    Read full review
  3. Riot Pixels
    May 18, 2020
    82
    While Darkest Dungeon has more layers of complexity, turn-based combat in Iratus is just as compelling. You have to pay attention to negative effects, preempt potential threats, exploit loopholes in the game’s sophisticated rulebook and build effective combos.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »