Sights & Sounds
- Look, I'm not going to sit here and try to convince you that Halls of Torment is a good looking game. It isn't. It has a color palette that doesn't deviate much from greige, except for the occasional hints of red-greige and blue-greige. That said, it has that late 90s look that can really only be described as "sludgy". The Diablo influence is unmistakable in the design
- It's not a surprise that the music would also sound right at home in Diablo 1 or 2. Not my cup of tea, personally, but I know those soundtracks have their fans
- If you had told me that this game came out in 1997, I would have been tempted to believe you
Story & Vibes
- Maybe there's a story here? I was never able to find any lore. The game is still in early access, so I'll be interested to see if they slip in a narrative at some point
- The vibes are very chill, honestly. Halls of Torment is nowhere near as in-your-face as a lot of these bullet heaven games are. I'd almost be tempted to call this game subdued
Playability & Replayability
- Those who typically avoid games like these due to the lack of interactivity or active gameplay may want to give this game a closer look. During my first run as the swordsman (your only option for your initial descent into the Halls of Torment), I was immediately struck by how much more this game felt like a twin-stick shooter. Unlocking the archer as the next playable character enhanced that impression
- As you might expect, each of these playable characters, currently 9 in total, plays a little differently. In principal, each character fits into a physical/magical melee/ranged Punnett square, but there are enough wrinkles to keep each character feeling somewhat unique. Some heroes (swordsman, warlock) feel somewhat underpowered compared to others (cleric, sorceress)
- Each run you attempt will see you trying to say alive through constant waves of enemies and occasional bosses for 30 minutes, after which the "Lord" of that map will drop in for a fight. Victory will net you additional gold and unlocks
- Currently, there are only 4 maps that cover what feels like a pretty wide range of difficulties. As the game continues to be developed, I'd hope to see future maps fill in the difficulty gaps between the existing ones
- The other system I'm hoping to see more out of is the home base and the quests that unlock NPCs. As it stands, you get an armor seller (sells you armor you can recover via a well during each run) and a potion maker (for rerolls/banishments when you level up)
- I think the armor unlocking, character quest, and and level up/skill systems are all right about where they need to be. I hope they don't mess with these too much going forward, unless they make it possible to recover multiple armor pieces per run somehow
- I'll definitely be back to continue playing once the game hits full release, but in its current state, it's well worth playing if you're a fan of this genre
Overall Impressions & Performance
- Halls of Torment may still be in Steam's early access program, but the juice is already worth the squeeze. If they manage to add some interesting lore while fleshing out the maps, quests, and camp, this has the potential to be an early highpoint of this fledgeling bullet heaven genre
- This is an ideal Steam Deck game due to the 30 minute run limit and low spec requirements. Very easy on the battery
Final Verdict
- 7.5/10. It's already a good game and a worthwhile purchase, but a bit more development in the right directions could make Halls of Torment truly memorable
- Look, I'm not going to sit here and try to convince you that Halls of Torment is a good looking game. It isn't. It has a color palette that doesn't deviate much from greige, except for the occasional hints of red-greige and blue-greige. That said, it has that late 90s look that can really only be described as "sludgy". The Diablo influence is unmistakable in the design
- It's not a surprise that the music would also sound right at home in Diablo 1 or 2. Not my cup of tea, personally, but I know those soundtracks have their fans
- If you had told me that this game came out in 1997, I would have been tempted to believe you
Story & Vibes
- Maybe there's a story here? I was never able to find any lore. The game is still in early access, so I'll be interested to see if they slip in a narrative at some point
- The vibes are very chill, honestly. Halls of Torment is nowhere near as in-your-face as a lot of these bullet heaven games are. I'd almost be tempted to call this game subdued
Playability & Replayability
- Those who typically avoid games like these due to the lack of interactivity or active gameplay may want to give this game a closer look. During my first run as the swordsman (your only option for your initial descent into the Halls of Torment), I was immediately struck by how much more this game felt like a twin-stick shooter. Unlocking the archer as the next playable character enhanced that impression
- As you might expect, each of these playable characters, currently 9 in total, plays a little differently. In principal, each character fits into a physical/magical melee/ranged Punnett square, but there are enough wrinkles to keep each character feeling somewhat unique. Some heroes (swordsman, warlock) feel somewhat underpowered compared to others (cleric, sorceress)
- Each run you attempt will see you trying to say alive through constant waves of enemies and occasional bosses for 30 minutes, after which the "Lord" of that map will drop in for a fight. Victory will net you additional gold and unlocks
- Currently, there are only 4 maps that cover what feels like a pretty wide range of difficulties. As the game continues to be developed, I'd hope to see future maps fill in the difficulty gaps between the existing ones
- The other system I'm hoping to see more out of is the home base and the quests that unlock NPCs. As it stands, you get an armor seller (sells you armor you can recover via a well during each run) and a potion maker (for rerolls/banishments when you level up)
- I think the armor unlocking, character quest, and and level up/skill systems are all right about where they need to be. I hope they don't mess with these too much going forward, unless they make it possible to recover multiple armor pieces per run somehow
- I'll definitely be back to continue playing once the game hits full release, but in its current state, it's well worth playing if you're a fan of this genre
Overall Impressions & Performance
- Halls of Torment may still be in Steam's early access program, but the juice is already worth the squeeze. If they manage to add some interesting lore while fleshing out the maps, quests, and camp, this has the potential to be an early highpoint of this fledgeling bullet heaven genre
- This is an ideal Steam Deck game due to the 30 minute run limit and low spec requirements. Very easy on the battery
Final Verdict
- 7.5/10. It's already a good game and a worthwhile purchase, but a bit more development in the right directions could make Halls of Torment truly memorable