Developer: Uppercut Games
Publisher: Uppercut Games
Platform: PC, Xbox One, Switch, PS4
Tested on: Switch
City of Brass (Switch) – Review
The Arabian Nights have been an inspiration to many movies, stories, and games. City of Brass now also is included in the list that used the stories as inspiration. Other than the Arabian Nights, people that play might also be reminded of another game; BioShock. Even though the settings of both games are nowhere near each other you can still see similarities. This is because the developers of City of Brass also worked on BioShock a long time ago. City of Brass is Developed and Published by Uppercut Games and we got a chance to test the game out.
Story
The people that lived in the city of brass gathered treasures all around. The brass towers shone bright and everyone was wealthy. They, however, started to question, if everyone was wealthy; who were going to be the servants. So, blinded by their wealth and pride they decided to force the diabolical genies to be their servants. That, however, wasn’t the end of idiotic decisions, the greed for ultimate power blinded the rulers. They decided in order to try and make the city immortal they would imprison three genies at the center of the city.
The amount of diabolical magic didn’t lure in people, it was quite the opposite, it scared people away. All the cities’ allies fled and refused to return. Nobody wanted to trade with the city anymore, so they only had their treasure left. Without food, the people started to starve. People started to go mad, power and greed started to twist their minds.
Everybody started to lay down traps to protect their treasures. From who exactly they were protecting it, they didn’t even know. Nobody wanted to even visit such a cursed city. As the madness overtook those in the city, they started to turn on each other. However, since the people from the city couldn’t actually die, the city started to fill up with the undead. After a while, the city sank beneath the sand with the people just waiting for someone to break the curse. However only fools came, in search of treasure but nobody ever leaves. In the end, they all become cursed themselves.
This is the story behind the City of Brass. You get this story during the tutorial. Other than that, you don’t really get that much story during the gameplay itself anymore. You do however get more explanations about enemies and items in the city itself. There is also a bit of a connection between the characters that you can choose to play. It’s nice to know the background of the city and even though there isn’t any story further on, it isn’t necessary.
Graphics
City of Brass looks pretty good. The developers used The Arabian Nights as inspiration which you can definitely see in the game. There is also a sort of nod to BioShock as the developers from City of Brass are people that have also worked on BioShock. The atmosphere from the game is also similar to the Prince of Persia games. This might be mostly because of a similar setting.
The environment is designed very well, looking really pretty but a bit creepy and abandoned at the same time, which is the perfect look for a cursed city. Most of the enemies are skeletons and even though you see the same ones pretty often, they vary enough in the same level to not let you get tired of the design. It’s also really nice that when they notice you, a sort of “inner flame” starts burning. It makes it easier to tell if they have seen you or not.
Sound
The music in City of Brass is more atmospheric. These tracks mixed with the environment sounds make you have a sort of “on edge” feeling, as if something might appear right around the corner, which does actually sometimes happen.
Sound effects in City of Brass are a bit more noticeable since the music isn’t overtaking them. Everything has a logical sound attached to it. One of the most helpful sound effects is the sort of roar an enemy does when they see you, as well as coughs and other noises that they randomly make. This alerts you of the enemies their presence. When treasure is close it also gives like a glistering sound which makes you notice it better when it’s for example buried under some rubble.
Gameplay
City of Brass is an Action First person game where you try to collect as much treasure as you can while also getting to the center of the city alive. You start out with the advice of playing the tutorial first. In the tutorial the controls get explained, the backstory of the city gets told and you also learn a few tricks you could implement. There are two starter characters that you can pick between after you finish the tutorial and go on to play the actual game. There are however five characters in total. Both already unlocked characters have a sword and a whip. With the whip, you can pick up treasure and break things like vases. You can also use it to stun enemies by hitting them in the head as well as make them trip by hitting them in the legs. The game shows an icon if you hover over the head or legs to help to aim.
With another button, you can also pull enemies towards you. The game recommends you pulling them in their own traps, you can also push them into one with another button. Both options will kill the enemy when they hit the trap. The sword is used to regularly attack like you would expect a sword too. Enemies hit pretty hard and fast, so the best strategy is always to trip or stun them first before attacking. There are a few special enemies that you best keep a distance from. For example, there is an enemy that just sort of “spits” at you as an attack. This spit attack does a lot of damage, so it’s best to quickly stun from a distance, attack and then back away again.
Throughout the levels, there are random vases with a genie. Most of these genies will sell you different kind of power-ups. You can pay for these power-ups with the treasure that you collected. Sometimes you might not be able to buy anything yet, but you could go back if you found some big treasure not far off. There is no way to know what the power-ups do unless you’ve bought them once before. The only hint you get is the icon for the power up and the name. Sometimes there will also be genies that can heal you once or a genie that lets you summon a companion that fights with you. The companion sometimes likes fighting a bit too much and will run towards enemies before you even saw them and gets himself killed before you get there. Usually, it’s really nice to have someone to watch your back though.
City of Brass has a timer each level, meaning you’ll have to reach the door, by following the arrow, before the timer runs out. Of course, you also have a set amount of health, so you can’t lose all your hearts and die either. Both dying and time up will give you a game over, however, you’ll still keep your knowledge of the power-ups and enemies. There is also a way, when you pick a character, to make it easier for yourself. Divine Blessings will give you a power-up. There is for example: one that increases your strength, gives you more health as well as one that turns off the timer and more. If you turn all of them on you could make it so much easier. However, it might ruin the fun of a challenge a bit. So, you could try it without first and then turn one or two on depending on what you are struggling with. There are also Burdens that you can unlock which do the exact opposite of the Divine Blessings; they make the game harder.
Conclusion
City of Brass is a fun and challenging game. It has a great atmosphere that keeps you on the edge of your seat. People who are a fan of The Arabian Nights and Prince of Persia kind of settings for sure will like City of Brass. The game is definitely a challenge and worth checking out on the Nintendo Switch or any of the other platforms it is available on. We know that we for sure enjoyed testing it.
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