One of the best things about this generation of Xbox games is that we no longer have to worry about region restrictions with physical discs. It used to be, especially with the 360, if you had a Japanese or European only game, then here in the states you were out of luck to play these games. But with the Xbox One, that changed. As long as you could get your hands on a copy, you could play it (minus any language complications). I imported my first Xbox One game over the last month, Ziggurat. It had been released here in the states but only digitally. So this felt like the right opportunity to get a game with high marks in disc form. I’m so very glad I made that decision.
Information
Game Rating: Everyone 10+
Size: 1.18GB
Release date: 3/20/2015 (Digital) 2/16/2016 (Physical)
Developer: Milkstone Studios
Publisher: Milkstone Studios (Digital) Soedesco (Physical)
In Ziggurat, you are a young apprentice mage (female or male) who is on a very special test by order of the senior mages. The test is the Ziggurat, an ancient building containing a labyrinth of five levels that the player must conquer. The test changes for each new apprentice mage and no two are ever the same. If you survive all of the levels, you have passed the test. Fail, and suffer a fate worse than death (them bones, them bones).
Graphics
Before we proceed, take a good look at the size of the game. 1.1, 1.2 gigabytes. Pretty darn small right? One would think that the actual game would probably look like an depressing 8 or 16 bit affair full of pixilation, maybe something akin to the first PlayStation era. That could not be further from the truth.
We actually get a very detailed and good looking game. Since everything is procedurally and randomly generated, we get a lot interesting looking rooms with detailed graphics. Intricate walls, breakaway columns, and intimidating monsters are all present and accentuated by the strength of the graphics.
There are a few flaws that do show occasionally though. When the action gets fast and furious with monsters flying at you from all angles, the screen tends to tear every once in a while. Perhaps it can be attributed to the game being faster than what the engine can handle, I’m not sure. It’s not super annoying, but I would be a liar if I didn’t say it ended a game or two for me. I am past my controller throwing days, but I could easily see somebody taking that direction.
Sound
Atmosphere is so very important when it comes to a game thrown in a dungeon. It has to sound right, and it has to feel like there is danger around every corner. Boss battles need to feel epic and raise your adrenaline levels so that you deliver that fatal blow with a deafening sound of execution. Ziggurat‘s music is pretty spot on and really feels as if this mage has been put in the most desolate dark corner as possible.
The only thing lacking here is that the sound effects could use some work. The weapon sounds are satisfying enough, and I do love a good witches’ scream which this game delivers on. However, more often than not the rest of the enemies tend to make fairly generic sounds. A carrot doesn’t sound all that different from a fungi. They are not bad or anything, just hardly distinguishable.
In a rare feat, the soundtrack to this game is actually downloadable at the developer’s website. Click here to download the soundtrack.
Gameplay
Once the Ziggurat loads up, your character finds themselves on the first floor. Everything is quiet, you are armed with your trusty wand which automatically regenerates mana but is very weak to use. A random power up (spell, weapon or staff) appears and then it is time to pick a passage way which could be in any direction.
From there, you walk into your first room and the doors close behind you. Like every room you encounter from here on, it could be anything. It could be a room filled with traps, or a challenge room where you have to open a chest way across the room or it could be a treasure room if you are very lucky. There are even secret rooms if you look hard enough (cracked walls are your friend). Of course, it could be the most common type of room as well which is a Minions room. Destroy all of the minions, and the doors open up again allowing you to continue your journey.
The minions can be just about anything. You have your standard skeletons, orcs, witches and demons. But there are stranger creatures in the Ziggurat. Mushrooms (fun-guys), Cockatrices, and angry carrots are also commonly found on these levels. Most of them are super fast, require cunning and a quick shot especially when it comes to the Cockatrices. I rather see one hundred carrots than five Cockatrices. They throw themselves at you with reckless abandon and the mage does everything they can to fend them off.
Enemies can drop potions, mana crystals (to refill your spells, staffs and weapons depending on color), and the almighty experience crystals. Gain enough experience and you gain a level which replenishes some health and gives you an option to pick from two random perks.
Eventually you will find a room with a portal key which you will be able to take with you to the boss summoning room. This will lead to you guessed it, a random boss (except for the fifth floor which is the same boss every time) that you will have to defeat. Defeat the boss and then you can move on to the next floor. The next floor will naturally be harder than the last.
If you have not guessed it already, everything is in this game is absurdly random (think Rogue-like). Monsters, perks, weapons, right down to the rooms themselves is random in nature. There is a procedure to it so you will always get some power-ups, a portal key and a boss, but that’s about it. One can only hope that the next room they walk into isn’t some crazy amount of enemies waiting to slaughter you.
As a result, your character will die many, many times. Even on easy, most games will probably end on the third or fourth level (or worse especially early on). Then everything you have earned during the game resets to zero. But yet the game encourages death since by dying you can unlock new perks or perhaps you shot enough carrots to gain access to a new starting character. So, you play again.
Quick tip to make things a little bit easier: there is a slider in settings called POV (or Point of View). In its default form it is set at 75. That means you only get to see 75% of the screen which would probably be okay if the enemies didn’t move so fast. Switch that sucker to 100% and those minions won’t be able to move out of your line of vision so fast.
Replay
Assuming you are god’s gift to Ziggurat, you can theoretically finish the game in 45 minutes to an hour. After all, it’s only five levels and each floor isn’t overly huge. But getting to that point is a huge and daunting task. As mentioned above, the game invites you to try and try again. Just one more try you tell yourself. One try becomes two, two becomes five and five becomes a massive headache because you were so darn close last time.
Even if you conquer the game the first time (which is a huge accomplishment), it certainly does not mean that you should trade the game in. Chances are after that first taste of victory, one will probably fail the next nine times before maybe experiencing victory again. Maybe. Maybe, an angry carrot horde will take my wand and shove it right up my Ziggurat if you know what I mean.
Since games are short and dying can literally happen at a moment’s notice, this game is a true pick up and play with tremendous replay value. (Imagine my surprise the first time I made it to a boss only for him to spawn right in front of me and lay me out with one blow.) Even if you get really good at the hellacious random nature of the game, there are still achievements to contend with.
There are 37 achievements for the usual 1,000 points in Ziggurat. The list is incredibly varied and if you are willing to dedicate some time to it can reap a lot of well deserved points. It starts out easy with achievements for leveling up (level 2,5,10,15), finding a secret, or killing a specific number of enemies (5,000/10,000). Completing a challenge room or getting ambushed in a treasure room will net you easy achievements as well.
Then moving on there are the much harder achievements. Finishing a game is daunting enough, but finishing it in hard will require many sleepless nights (and an extra floor to fight on). Or perhaps you want to finish it with each and every character. One can also put handicaps on themselves for achievements by getting to the third level with only the magic wand (apprentice only) or getting to the second level after taking no damage. Want to get really specific, how about finishing the game in less than 45 minutes with Argo on Normal Difficulty? There is an achievement for that too.
The most entertaining of all the achievements have to be the death achievements. Since this game encourages dying to open up new perks and other items, the achievements do as well. Dying 10 times, 25 times and even 50 times will net you achievements. How about dying in a danger room or getting killed on the same floor after you kill a boss? Yep, achievements. There is even one for dying against the final boss. Suffice to say that even if you are trying to avoid dying, you might offer up a few souls for a few achievement points along the way.
Summary
As the industry tries to move to all digital, I think most publishers and fans alike start to forget why physical copies exist especially when the cost is higher and the return on per copy basis is lower. In the case of many digital games, the answer is simple, it gets lost in the crowd. Not every game can live on word of mouth and sometimes no matter how good a game is, people have no idea it even exists because the marketplace is so crowded. Ziggurat is a game I would have never heard of had I not seen news articles telling me it was coming out in Europe (where physical copies are still fairly common).
The game really shines and has an addictive personality not unlike many puzzle games where you must pick it up one more time to perhaps progress a little further. The graphics are very good and this game has a great soundtrack that really shines. The difficulty will frustrate a lot of players but hopefully they will stick around for a few more games. By the way, for those here in the states who don’t want to import, you can get it digitally or I do have it on good authority that this will be getting a domestic physical copy in the upcoming months. Enjoy your time in the Ziggurat, may you make it out alive.
Disclaimer: The reviewer bought a physical copy from an UK Ebay supplier and had it sent way across the pond to his home in Texas. He played it for nearly eight hours which included killing about a hundred carrots, not nearly enough Cockatrices and himself on numerous occasions. Unfortunately he did not survive the Ziggurat but he is willing to try again. He also managed to gain 11 of 37 achievements.
| Graphics: |  (7.5 / 10) |
| Sound: |  (8.0 / 10) |
| Gameplay: | (7.5 / 10) |
| Replay: |  (9.0 / 10) |
| Overall: | (8.0 / 10) |
