Ziggurat

Ziggurat is a fast-paced first-person shooter in a fantasy gaming world. The action is non-stop, and overall the game is just plain fun to play. Your character has studied long and hard to join the mystical group of sorcerers who protect and defend your world. Now the time has come to take the final test by entering the Ziggurat and defeating whatever monsters, traps, etc., that lie in wait for you. The graphics are just a little cartoony, which adds to the overall charm of the game. Gameplay is simple and allows you to upgrade your character as you go through the different levels of the Ziggurat. A single playthrough doesn't last more than about an hour, and the replay value of the game is actually very good (which is something I don't say about many games). Overall I give this a 4/5. I'd like to see this one expanded; if Ziggurat and Legend of Grimrock got together and had a baby, the result would be a supermodel. :)

I purchased Ziggurat on an uninformed whim, and I'm glad I did! It looks great (even on my dated gaming specs), the music - while sparse - is atmospheric, and the level generator is still surprising me with new room layouts, even after 40 attempts at the tower. Like some other reviews have mentioned the game does get repetitive, and the AI requires little more than circle-strafe, though I felt the game provided enough challenge on 'normal' difficulty. Despite this, the game retains that addictive 'just one more level/room/floor' quality that keeps me coming back. One thing that helps maintain interest is the constant unlocking of 'perks' (skill and stat boosts, combat modifiers), new weapons, and new characters - all of whom have some gameplay element unique to them to distinguish themselves from one another. One thing I hope for in a future update is that the main quest had more floors before it was over - 5 floors on easy and normal, 6 on hard, though there is an 'unlimited' mode once you beat the game on 'normal'. The only caveat I will give is that the game has crashed on me two or three times, losing my progress as a result. From reading the forums, it seems other users have reported the game crashing as well. Not the end of the world (two or three times out of 40-ish I can forgive); just a heads up. Overall, I am having a lot of fun with Ziggurat. I'm still playing after several run-throughs, and I hope to see a sequel that takes the core concept and expands on it. Recommended.

First things first, the framerate of this game is not locked to 30. The field of view is adjustable from 60 to 100, which is insufficient, hence one star gone from an otherwise perfect score. So what we have here is a singleplayer-only shooter with some inspiration drawn from Hexen2. However, there's no elaborate hub level design, but a procedually generated dungeon. You enter a room enemies spawn, you kill everything, then advance to the next room. You can dodge every shot, so getting hit and ultimately killed is almost always your fault. Aside from your basic weapon - a wand, you can have a staff equipped, a spellbook and an alchemical weapon. You are also guaranteed to find a weapon at the beginning of each level, of which there are five. After killing sufficient enemies you level up and have to choose between two random perks, from which you will keep one. Aside from that, there's of course some random stuff and risk-reward areas thrown into your way and at the end of each level a bossfight is waiting. Ziggurat is a fantasy shooter which takes the best mechanics from 1st person shooters and rogue lites, resulting in a mix that is easily one of the best in both genres, with a high replay value. The number of availible perk and weapons is excellent, enemy variety is good. The game has been regulary updated since release about a year ago. Also one thing is to note, which is at least important to me, Ziggurat is fantasy, but it's no fauna-slaughterer. You are not killing wolfs, bats, rats and spiders because the devs lack creativity. All in all an excellent game. There is one and only one complaint I have about the game and that's the much to low FOV, so I have to play it in 4:3.

I love Serious Sam. I love Ziggurat. Coincidence? If you enjoy classic PC FPS style action and also enjoy challenging roguelite games like Spelunky, this game was probably made for you. Though it probably wasn't, since I'm almost positive it was made for me. Either way you should play this.