We have been hearing some good things about the Xbox Indie Game Brimstone, so I spent a few hours with the game last night and found it very hard to put down.Brimstone is a top down view action adventure played in a roguelike dungeon crawler style, with some RPG elements added in. You start the game with a basic character who is tasked to explore the dungeons while taking on quests such as finding a person or killing an enemy. The dungeons are procedurally generated, meaning that every time you visit them or reach a new level you should not see the same layout twice. The levels are fairly large with plenty of rooms to explore, enemies to kill and loot to plunder.
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Instead of having to choose a class at the start, Brimstone cleverly leaves it up to you to create your own. Your character has a set of stats such as Strength, Dexterity and Magic. Killing enemies gains you experience and when you level up you get points to spend on these stats. If you want a warrior class you concentrate on Strength and for a magic class you concentrate on Magic. Your character has two methods of attack, physical and magical and enemies can have stronger defenses against either so it would be wise not to concentrate too much on one attack.
As mentioned there is plenty of loot to find around the levels, either through chests or dropped by dead enemies. Weapons come in three varieties, Regular, Uncommon and Imbued. The latter two giving bonuses such as extra stat points to your character. Some items found can be unidentified and while they can worn they may be cursed, using a scroll will identify everything in your inventory.
The controls work very well with a simple face the enemy and attack combat system, unlike Roguelike games the combat is in real time. On my brief adventure I came across a good variety of enemies that get tougher the deeper you explore. If you need some help you can play with up to 8 players locally or online, I have not had a chance to try this yet but I will be soon!
For only 80 :MSPoints: Brimstone appears to be packed full of content that should keep you busy for many hours. Add in the multiplayer, which is always fun with friends and this should be a must buy! You can download the trial or purchase the full version from the Xbox Marketplace.
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