Dwarf Legacy turns Tolkien's sturdy miners into bullet hell mountaineers - don't mythril the demo

Remember successful The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers erstwhile Gandalf falls down the large chasm with the Balrog, smacking the sawdust retired of it portion plummeting towards the waters of the underworld? Well, springiness Gandalf a gun, play that series successful reverse, and swap the Balrog for a flock of Space Invaders, and you are playing thing similar the demo for Dwarf Legacy – a “bullet-hell precision platformer” from Wulo Games astir a dwarf clambering up the wrong of a mountain.

Oh wait, Gandalf needs to beryllium listening to crunchy dancefloor euphony to implicit the analogy. Also, helium needs to halt periodically to bargain amended guns from a blacksmith. I’m beauteous definite this is inactive wrong Peter Jackson’s budget.

“Bullet-hell precision platformer” is simply a verbal fondue calculated to springiness you palpitations, truthful it’s alarming that Dwarf Legacy feels precise easy, to statesman with. Your leap is insanely floaty, and you tin instrumentality to walls without worrying astir stamina. This isn’t precisely your classic, slow-moving, hard-wearing Dwarven miner. Even Legolas wasn’t this speedy connected his pins.

The likelihood soon steepen, however. The gun, erstwhile acquired, tin lone beryllium changeable successful fixed directions – vertically, if you’re jumping oregon lasting connected the floor, oregon horizontally, if you’re hanging from a wall. Upgrade the weapon to occurrence an other slug per shot, and the further rounds sprout retired parallel oregon astatine 45 grade diagonals, arsenic with multishot upgrades successful shmups.

Those constraints are each good and dandy erstwhile you’re lone warring a fistful of foes, and person country to manoeuvre. But erstwhile you’re dogfighting with a assemblage successful cramped confines, portion avoiding spinning leaf traps and spikes… yes, this is simply a trial of Dawi mettle indeed. Fortunately, enemies instrumentality harm from traps, and person deliberately brainless pathfinding - immoderate gauntlet runs promote you to lure them to their destruction.

Between clambers, you’ll instrumentality to and gradually populate a cave colony of upgrade-peddling NPCs. There’s immoderate mildly diverting writing, similar the botanist who’s ecstatic astatine the accidental to turn vegetables successful transportation darkness. Another dweller offers optional challenges to promote replay of completed areas, connected apical of the bonuses you'll gain from a higher completion score.

The afloat mentation of Dwarf Legacy is retired aboriginal this year, and volition connection a fewer twelve levels crossed respective chiseled chunks of upland strata. Oh, I forgot to notation a mates of Neat things. Firstly, erstwhile you drawback a aboveground your quality automatically plants a torch, lighting the level successful an integrated way.

Secondly, erstwhile you instrumentality damage, it dings your helmet disconnected alternatively than sidesplitting you. You tin reclaim your helmet to reconstruct that diegetic 2nd accidental mechanic. I’d astir beaten the 10th level successful the demo, but past immoderate stinkbug bonked my chapeau disconnected a precipice and I chased it astir each the mode to the bottom. Fun! It occurs to maine that Gandalf mislaid his chapeau during the Balrog descent, and someway reached the bottommost unscathed – truly, helium is the, er, Dwarf Legacy of wizards.