Necromancer: Adapt or Die… Again.
By Charlotte “Charlie” Humphries
Necromancer is giving you the chance to control your own legion of the undead. You have successfully ensured that the zombie apocalypse has happened; now you must defend yourself from the good guys. So throw on some robes, dim the lights, and get summoning. Currently in development by the England-based, tiny three-person studio Other Worlds Software, Necromancer is in development for Android and PC – and features co-op!
Your objective is to defend your mausoleum by killing the heroes who dare trespass against you. The creatures available to you range from zombies to mummies, and each type has different strengths and weaknesses, and two different attacks. For example, the Lich has a standard range attack but also an area effect attack. This drains the life from your enemies and transfers it to your minions within a certain radius. However, Necromancer is not just about throwing hundreds of bodies at your enemies. You also get a hand in the form of boons and curses, spells that you can cast on your creatures or enemies. Snare opponents so your army can wail on them at their leisure, or increase your creatures’ buffs. These boons and curses are not free, though, so use them wisely.
When you have successfully killed your opponents, you get points to spend on upgrades. You can purchase new zombie types, increase existing creatures’ health and defence. While this will create breathing room for you early on next level, the heroes gain their own experience points for each zombie they kill. A race, then, between you and the heroes to see who can upgrade the quickest.
Your enemies come in many guises. Each character is armed with two different weapons, so you have to think on your toes and adapt your tactics on the fly. However, the simple click mechanic means that you won’t be flailing your arms in frustration, trying to find the correct keyboard shortcut. You select the creature, click on the ground and boom! Zombies. The same applies to your inventory of spells too. This frees up brain space to plot your next move.
The maps available at the moment have each been crafted to provide not only excellent, modern-day aesthetics, but different drop points for resources and spells. The final game will have five locations for you to master, and over fifty levels to play.
Necromancer is shaping up to be a challenging game, an enjoyable experience that will force you out of your comfort zone. Veterans of real-time strategy will relish a new challenge and those of you new to the genre will learn vital tricks of the trade. This is a time-sink worthy of your enthusiasm. Check out the Kickstarter page for more information and updates.
The Kickstarter campaign for Necromancer runs until April 16th, and has a funding goal of $8,000.
The artwork in Necromancer is courtesy of Many Worlds and Dark Anatomy.
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[facebook][tweet][Google][pinterest][follow id=”Cliqist” size=”large” count=”true” ] [author image=”http://cliqist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/charlotte.jpg”] Some say that Charlotte can smell incorrect spelling from three miles away. It is actually four and a half, but let’s not split hairs. When she isn’t proof-reading or playing games, Charlotte spends her days at community events cosplaying as Deadpool, or cat herding. Her favourite video game character is Patricia Tannis. If you want to read more of her ramblings, head over to http://www.humphriesck.wordpress.com.[/author]
