Review: Dungeons of Dredmor is a very fun adventure game

Dungeons of Dredmor is a great game if you find big title games such as Skyrim a bit to demanding on your time, wallet and computer. It's also great if, like me, you find the realistic graphics just a little too detailed in some of the more violent scenes. You'll still be wading through hordes of monsters on your way to killing the big bad guy Lord Dredmor, but it isn't quite so graphic.

Dredmore is available on Steam for the very acceptable price of £3.50. It's frequently discounted but really at this price there isn't much point hanging around. The system requirements are so low as to be nothing to worry about either. The minimum resolution of 1024 by 600 shouldn't exclude netbook owners either. We played it on a six year old notebook without any performance problems.

Starting a new game gives the opportunity to pick a difficulty and other options. You may want to deselect permadeath, at least at the beginning, if you plan on forming any kind of attachment to your characters. Because they will die, often and in many different horrible ways. Even in the tutorial. My shame at this was mitigated somewhat by a Steam achievement for just that feat.

Then choose the skills for your character. A certain amount of experimentation is needed here to find the best skills for your style as there is only a brief description is shown on this page. More detail can be found once you start playing and gaining levels. For example it doesn't explain that being a pirate starts with the plunder skill that increases the amount of gold found on monsters. Well the corpses of monsters.

Give your hero a name and you're ready to start.

If you've ever played the classic Rogue or any of its variations, Dredmor will be familiar as you move around the dungeons. You can control your character with the arrow keys, but mouse is best because it will stop you from accidentally walking on traps.

Different sections of dungeons have amusing names and there are shrines to help improve your equipment as well as shops and, improbably, vending machines.

One amusing bonus is Heroic Vandalism, an experience boost awarded for damaging statues of the evil Lord Dredmor.

It's not all good though as there are all kinds of monsters waiting to kill you in the dungeons. Getting familiar with them is vital as some can be deadly at range but weak close up.

Then, just when you think you've got the hang of things, Dredmor will often throw you into a Monster Zoo, an enormous room filled with monsters.

Death often follows, but it does make the victory of surviving all the sweeter.
If Steam achievements are important to you, there are no fewer than 108 to potentially add to your account. They range from easy such as dying in the tutorial to the very hard, defeating Dredmor at the highest difficulty settings.

It won't come as any surprise that we like Dungeons of Dredmor a lot. It's funny, easy to learn and a lot of fun. If you've ever enjoyed a variation of Rogue, you should buy this game.