Dead Cells is a 2D side-scrolling Medtroidvania pixel art hack and slash...

And it is largely a pretty and performant title. In Dead Cells you play as The Beheaded, an immortal blob with the ability to control and reanimate corpses to get around the island. A dreadful sickness called the Malaise has infected the living, either leaving them seriously ill before death or turning them into undead monsters. In order to seek answers and change the outcome of the contaminated island, it hunts the King. Travel through colourful and intricate environments, use various weapons like swords and crossbows to defeat enemies, gain money for upgrading your gear and certain mutations can be picked to grant buffs. Cells collected from killing enemies can be used to unlock weapons and outfits permanently across runs. (I have only played the mobile version as of yet, which is a port of the same PC game with some optimisations and accessibility features like auto-hitting which makes gameplay easier on mobile).

Gameplay

The gameplay is frantic and fluid, rolling off ledges and slamming down on enemies seems like a dance when enacted. This game is a roguelite so each run will permit use of unlocked items from the previous runs, bought using Cells which are an important currency in the game. There are plenty of enemy types to go up against and sizeable maps, where you have the option to sprint through them or to engage foes methodically to preserve health. There is a lot of verticality where you can climb chains or platforms for downward smashes or dropping bombs. I like the huge variety of weapons and items to use, so you can build a loadout that feels fun and strong. A small minimap shows your location in a level and nearby teleporters which are a huge convenience for returning to certain places. I like the layout and distinct setting each level provides, and you have a small choice in the next map you want to play after beating a level. Some levels can be difficult due to exclusive mechanics like bouncing barrels or total darkness which I don't really enjoy. There's a bunch of interesting DLC content also but this makes in quite expensive for PC, console, or mobile.

Audio Visual

Scenery is crafted quite well in this game, from vistas to general background decorations, to the particle effects and lighting, this game is delightful to look at. Animations of The Beheaded and enemies are produced with an interesting technique - they are modelled and animated in 3D, and rendered and tweaked in 2D as sprites where shaders and VFX are added. This removes the necessity taken to draw sprites by hand. I like the soundtrack which sounds gothic, with plenty of vocals, and a mandolin I think. There are some secret rooms and lore snippets that are nice to come across, but the story is not told directly. Outfits can be changed and my favourite is the HEV outfit with a striking orange and black palette. Sometimes during fights the screen can be overpopulated with objects/ flashing effects, which can be distracting. It's good that enemies telegraph their attacks but some are incredibly short so you'd have to watch out. A nice touch is that you can change the appearance of healing items labelled 'diet' in the settings which is purely cosmetic but quite fun - choose between carnivore, vegetarian, monster, fruitarian, castlevaniesque, baguette, half-life, cheese.

Pros

• Great replayability
• Lots of items and weapons
• Beautiful visuals

Cons

• Some restrictive levels
• Game requires focus and timing (demanding)
• High difficulty curve (Boss Cells)

Conclusion

Dead Cells is an awesome Metroidvania hack and slash that is addictive and entrancing to play. I score it 8/10.

Information

• Release date: 2018
• Developer: Motion Twin
• Platforms: PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, Mobile