The Unliving

The Unliving is and action RPG with roguelike elements. Game was developed by independent team RocketBrush Studio and was published by Team17.

Plot

The Unliving takes us on a journey to the dark fantasy world. We play as necromancer who after death returns to the world of the living to lead the army of his resurrected undead and spread chaos and destruction. As you progress, the protagonist regains his lost memories and gradually learns the nature of his immortality and the dark truth about the Church that rules the land he ravages.

Game mechanics

In The Unliving we observe the action from a top-down view. Moving through various locations, among which we can find quiet settlements, mighty fortresses or gloomy swamps, we eliminate hordes of enemies.

As befits a true necromancer, the protagonist is able to resurrect defeated enemies and recruit them into his growing army. Battles, in which dozens of units take part, are very dynamic, and the key to success is not only to unleash hordes of undead soldiers on the opponents, but also to make good use of powerful spells and other combat abilities of the protagonist and his subordinates. Villagers are just the usual cannon fodder, but warriors are excellent in close combat, in turn, for example, resurrected priests can cast curses on enemies. In addition, each undead has an individual skill, to which we gain access after his sacrifice. The road to victory is often bumpy and requires regular weakening of our army. In addition to regular opponents, which are present here in mass quantities, on our way there are various bosses, which can be defeated by discovering their weak points. It's worth remembering that the more difficult an opponent is to defeat while alive, the more effective an ally he'll turn out to be after death (and resurrection).

As we progress, we develop our necromancer and get better equipment (led by artifacts that provide us with various combat abilities). Nevertheless, our enemies are not stupid, they can hold formations or use magic. In short - the enemies do everything to kill us... and sooner or later they succeed. After death we are reborn in a cave and although we lose most of the equipment gained during the previous escapade, we retain some resources that can be exchanged for new upgrades. As a result, even though we frequently die, we grow stronger as we progress. As the locations are procedurally generated, the land is transformed after each of our deaths. All this makes the subsequent journeys look different from the previous ones.

Technical aspects

Graphics in The Unliving is in colorful, pixelart style.