It’s very odd that in an era of ever more powerful consoles and gaming PCs that there appears to be a resurgence of interest in producing games which are reminiscent of the 1970’s, with seemingly 16 bit low res looking images. It may be that the success of Minecraft opened up an acceptance of less than smooth textures or that a generation of gamers is getting bored with games which look stunning but ultimately only offer a shallow experience.

Deep Dungeons of Doom (Bossa Studios) is another RPG, which goes for a retro feel and look, in which you play a sturdy knight who has to traverse a series of dungeons defeating whatever pixilated horror lurks there. The game originally appeared for the phone and tablet market, but has now been released on the PC.

Although the game play is pleasantly balanced and is broken up into a series of smaller encounters I do feel that the repetitive nature of the game was probably more suited to the pick up and play model so often used for phone games. The controls are probably the most compact I have seen in a game as you only need two to play, you can either attack or defend, although timing your moves will impact on their success and the game play.

If you successfully traverse the dungeons then buffs and treasure awaits you to strengthen and enhance your character. There is a limitation on how much equipment or magic you can carry so you have to choose wisely. Each of your possible characters (a warrior, witch or a mercenary), have their differing strengths and weaknesses, so there is replay value in trying to beat the game with all three classes.

To try and break up the repetition, each dungeon has a different theme, but therein lays a problem, the simple game mechanics mean that once mastered, each room will respond in exactly the same way, which rather defeats the purpose of returning to them.

While games like this do remind me of my youth there is some troubling emotional discontinuity in playing a game which could have come out on the Commodore 64. Still, there is some fun to be had for a reasonable price.

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Charles Packer