SKULL HORDE
- Hubert Spala
- 16 hours ago
- 4 min read
After getting SKULL HORDE on a whim, I had pretty much no expectations. It was cheap, it looked fun but also struck me as a derivate title with little new to offer. A possible distraction for a few hours. And I am happy to report that it is a much better title than I initially anticipated, while still being a game that doesn’t really aim to be a big shaker of the genre. Just a competently made roguelite with banger tunes, simple premise and high-energy gameplay!
And frankly, that’s okay. Not every title needs to be a groundbreaking innovation, not every game should be a cult classic in the making. Decent games are the backbone on which we can burn our time in search for entertainment! SKULL HORDE isn’t anything new as far as I could say. It has genes of games I already enjoyed – BONERISER MINIONS comes to mind first and foremost, with similar concept and premise. Being a necromancer guiding your horde of undead minions that do their own business of fighting around you? Yeah, been there, done that!
But I wouldn’t be honest if I said that SKULL HORDE doesn’t have its own flavour to it. First of all, it feels very high octane. Metal tunes guide you through the tight, claustrophobic dungeons. Tension rises constantly and rapidly, forcing you to have a rather brisk pace of exploring, collecting and fighting. It is a constant race to the portal, to not get bogged down, as every minute you spent dallying raises the challenge and make the next area so much more demanding. That’s a fun system, one that keeps the game buzzing with electric tension.
Then, there is the variety. I mention that multiple times in my reviews, but for me a good rogue-structured game live or dies on the depth of its build options. If the runs become too samey too quickly, that is where the game loses me completely. I do not mind the grind, if the grind is varied due to possible combos and synergies I can enjoy! Initially I was sceptical about this title density. Each necromantic head we play has access to same roster of units. The roster seemed a little rachitic at first… But that was just an illusion. The game opens lovingly, letting you unlock new minions left and right, with variety of systems making sure you have many ways to influence your playstyle.
There are Oaths you can scrounge up to polish your combat approach. Hefty number of passive items to narrow your strategy. Units merge into stronger veteran and then powerful champions. You can easily go tall, with having just a few empowered Champions, or you can go wide, ramping up you respawn rate and flooding the stage with lower levels hordes of skeletal minions. You can focus on explosive burst of damage; powerful melee sweeps or ranged combat. You can formulate a strategy about crits and inflicting statuses or trust in high armour and beefy upfront damage to see you through. Trust me, there are multitude of ways to beat the area boss, cross the finish line and get some extra upgrade points to keep going on and on.
Another thing that made SKULL HORDE feel lovely to play – other than its nice selection of build options and kinetic tempo – are the events. See, I mentioned before that you must be speeding through each dungeon as much as possible to not let the growing difficulty catch you with your skeletal pants down. But at the same time you cannot just beeline to the exit! You need to amass currencies to buy new stuff, get stronger items, beef up your team of rattleboys. And other than shops, you can find plenty of little events promising boons and boosts, that also demand your time and attention. Raise the flag when fighting hordes of enemies. Make a powerful threat spawn, following you forever to get a legendary item. Enter a sub-dungeon full of nasties to get a big golden chest with a powerful boon. Challenge yourself to restart a previous level with the current threat rating, if you feel your horde has enough calcium to survive the ordeal. There are things to do here other than just navigating the throngs of enemies and watching numbers go up!
So yeah, SKULL HORDE is… good. It’s the best word I can use to describe it succinctly. It did not make me go “Wow, this is amazing!”. It did not boggle my mind with some innovative mechanics or fantastic, out of this world concepts. It is an auto-battler roguelite borrowing from plenty of existing games, crafted with competence, clear vision and well-handled execution of the concept. And so, if you’re looking for a fun romp with your skeledudes horde to bash against endless waves of fleshy enemies, you really won’t be disappointed here.
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