Developer: Rake in Grass
Publisher: Rake in Grass
Platforms: PC
Tested on: PC
Rampage Knights – Review
We have seen many indies appear in 2015. Not all of them were quite as succesful as Rampage Knights though. The beat ’em up game has been getting a lot of attention, and truthfully it’s one of the better indie games we’ve played this year.
Story
Rampage Knights tells the story of a brave hero who is making his way through an enchanted forest and a dark castle, on a quest to reclaim his stolen treasure. Our hero starts his epic adventure at a base camp filled with remarkable characters, such as vampires and an alchemist.
The game has a rather linear storyline, players move from room to room as they make their way through the game world. Rampage Knights isn’t here to impress you with an innovative storyline though, if anything, the game wants you to simply have fun. Various game mechanisms and item descriptions focus on making the player laugh (try accidentally setting off a treasure chest’s trigger mechanism and blowing yourself up, your character will end up with a ‘treasure chest phobia’.)
Developer Rake in Grass did a great job creating Rampage Knights’ game world, making it easy to accept the story’s relatively simple premise. The game world feels coherent, and the story and characters could appeal to a diverse audience of all ages.
Graphics
A game as fun and lighthearted as Rampage Knights wouldn’t do well with a graphical style that takes itself too seriously. Instead, the game’s focus on bright colours as well as its bold character and level design work exceptionally well. Enemies are made to look like typical villains and monsters (think skeletons, bats, wizards, …), but the sheer variety and diversity between them keep the game interesting.
Rampage Knight’s level design is great and the randomisation works well; no two rooms are the same. Also interesting is the absence of invisible walls (with the exception of area limits); this provides an additional challenge as players can actually fall off the map. Whether or not this is a positive thing however… We fell off the map a couple more times than we’d like to admit.
Sound
One thing that comes to mind when reviewing this game is its coherence. Just like the graphical aspect of the game, the soundtrack to Rampage Knights is not pretentious or overly complicated. That does not mean that the composers didn’t deliver however. The music accompanying each level fits in perfectly with the fantastical atmosphere of the game.
Additionally, sound effects work great. The game isn’t voiced, text appears on the screen instead.
Gameplay
Rampage Knights is a beat-’em-up game with rogue like aspects. The rogue like character of the game becomes most obvious through its permadeath system and randomised dungeons. Dungeons are relatively well balanced, though we did run into a couple of very hard chambers after some very easy ones at times. Good to know however, is that the permadeath system can be disabled by lowering the difficulty level. Players who don’t find permanent death enough of a challenge then, can choose a higher difficulty setting. It is worth noting that playing the game with a friend makes it much easier than playing solo, mostly because of the revival function that becomes available in the multiplayer. Either way, the option to change the difficulty level of the game is very welcome and makes this a brawler that could be popular with all generations of gamers, as we can imagine that a younger audience could find Rampage Knights appealing also.
While relatively straightforward, the combat system works very well. Even on keyboard, it’s easy to control your character, and an adaptive AI keeps battles interesting. Rampage Knight’s combat system is entertaining in more than one way: battles aren’t just enjoyable, they’re also funny at times. We must admit we laughed the first time our character picked up an enemy only to swing him around like a dodgeball, and then use him as a projectile to take out other enemies. As you move through the game, you will find better gear and weapons, and will be able to use different items.
Overall, Rampage Knights is a very fun game with a large replay value. The campaign doesn’t take too long, but the randomised dungeon system makes for interesting playthroughs every time.
Conclusion
Sometimes small games become big very quickly, and Rampage Knights is a perfect example of a genuinely fun game produced by a small company that could appeal to a very large audience. With funny dialogue, an enjoyable combat system, and multiplayer opportunities, Rampage Knights definitely was a positive surprise.
Rampage Knights - Review,
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