City of Brass Review

"Sands of the Dungeon"

Campaign

City of Brass is a 3D brawling dungeon crawler set within a sprawling sandy city. While playing you're attempting to gather better supplies and survive the challenges within. It's a procedurally generating experience and they do an amazing job of making every single playthrough unique. There's something about the high quality level design here that makes it look good, and distinct every time. There's a good amount of difficulty within the world, but that can be completely altered based on what benefits you turn on at the start of each run.

The general goal is to make it through each level, battle a boss every few of them and then unlock a checkpoint. There's a permadeath system at play, but you do get some sense of progression when you make it far enough. The bosses are never too hard, but the way they're setup provides a challenge at each point to you come across a different one. Mystical elements are present too aside from enemies, there are special stations where you can spend coins on better gear of perks to assist in your survival.

Gameplay

I was very impressed with the visuals, especially on Xbox One X with the 4k resolution and HDR support. It runs smooth, looks incredible and plays well. It's simple in that you're slashing away to eliminate enemies yet complex in coming up with the right times to strike. You'll often get complacent walking into traps while dealing with enemies.

There are some levels of verticality present and your trusty whip helps with that. It's a neat tool as you can collect items with it, knock weapons out of hands and swing from it. There are many traps present that find new ways to harm you and the world is always changing. As you progress the entire area changes and it's really well setup in a balanced way that gives a true sense of progression.

The Conclusion

City of Brass is a really well put together experience that's always fresh no matter how many times you enter the gauntlet. The procedural generation is handled well, and it really does feel distinct with each playthrough. The combat is simple, yet there's complexity in how the game challenges you.

There's a good selection of enemies that all look fantastic. The visuals are a treat with it looking smooth, playing fluidly and being filled with particle effects. I felt a decent sense of progression and it was nice to feel like you accomplished something by hitting the next point of the chain. There isn't a ton too it as you work through a set amount of levels, yet it was purely enjoyable to work through.

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City of Brass Review on Xbox One X
Review Code Provided by Stride PR

Rating Overall: 8.0