Review | Halls Of Torment - Sticks And Skeleton Bones
Deep down below in the depths, darkness surrounds you. The horrors of the night, an array of fearsome beasts have you outnumbered. Your only chance of survival lies with the weapon in your hands. This is Halls of Torment.
Halls of Torment is a fast paced survival game that rewards going at it again and again. You choose your character and you’re given 30 minutes to see how long you can survive level by level. You can fight back, run or do a combination of both.
For every monster you slay you get XP which levels up your character. Bit by bit you can increase your character’s stats from how much HP they can hold to how powerful their attacks are. This system keeps things flowing smoothly and ups your chances of surviving longer.
Then there’s the beasts themselves. There’s skeletons, imps, slimes, dead soldiers and hellhounds which I find especially creepy, all trying to end your life. They increase by level of difficulty as you do and just when you think it’s getting too quiet, another horde approaches. Being far from the most tactical person I could still weave my way around enemies occasionally even turning the tables to circle them.
Just when you think you’ve gotten a handle on things however, a mini boss will appear. If you try to run from these they’ll pop right back so now you have to balance their attacks and projectiles on top of the normal swarm. Some like the Imp Chieftain will even summon more enemies to make things spicier, so getting rid of them ASAP is the best way to go.
As you play you’ll come across two items, Magnets and Scrolls of Mastery.
The Scroll of Mastery gives you a choice between special abilities like lightning, the Astronomer’s Orb and more. These magical abilities give you a great helping hand alongside your main weapon and you have the chance to upgrade them too as you level up. Sometimes you’ll get an arrow leading you to them on the map or as a reward for killing a mini boss.
The magnets don’t appear often but this item can be very useful to draw all the droppables you’ve left behind towards you. I found it could be a balancing act deciding whether or not the damage I’d take was worth getting closer to the monsters for the drops so finding magnets was always a relief. The boost you get going up 4 or 5 levels in a row was amazing.
But for when you do inevitably bite the dust, gold is a fitting consolation prize. Depending on how long you make it you’re given a certain amount of the currency at the end of each playthrough. That plus the coins you find busting up boxes can be used to improve your base stats, giving you a better chance from the get go when you go down again.
The Shrine of Blessings lets you purchase upgrades to your base stats such as attack, defence, area of attack, movement speed and health regeneration. You can also get refunds if you want to put that money elsewhere which is a nice touch if you decide to change your main character.
Considering that you’re spending at least 30 minutes (not including the boss fight at the end) for each level the fun factor has to be well developed to keep you coming back and Halls of Torment does that excellently. I love the little details like the circle that appears when you level up pushing enemies away, giving you a bit of breathing room as an extra reward.
There’s an addictive arcade-like charm to this game. My WASD skills were a little rusty so it was a tough start. But the coins and the allure of getting further keep you coming back and by the time I beat the first level I was surprised at how much I’d improved in not much time.
The lore is thoughtfully plotted out as there are pages left behind on each level. These invest you more in the world of Halls of Torment and lead you in the right way to make progress and find allies who can help with potions and items to assist you on your journey.
The game also balances many parts perfectly to create a dark and haunting atmosphere. The pixelated retro style used throughout the game is a throwback to classic 90s adventure games. The glowing red orb that represents your HP is fittingly ancient and mystical.
The Medieval English inspired dialogue in the voice acting is charming and definitely adds to the feeling of you being a hero on a journey to dominate the kingdoms of hell. The sound design from the grunting noises the monstrosities make to the enduring rattling as you use your weapons mesh well with the visuals. When there’s hundreds of figures against you on your screen it really makes you feel overwhelmed but in a good way.
I really enjoy the music too. Each area has its own tune, which are all suitably ominous. The organs used create a gothic like sound that’s great for the game’s olden aesthetic. My favourite piece is the final boss music, it does a really good job of reflecting the anxiety you feel desperately wanting to make that last push to survive.
The characters all have distinct looks, play styles and colour schemes so it really feels like you’re getting something different even though you control them all the same way. I’ve tested a couple out and the Exterminator who uses a flamethrower is my current main. Burning demons has never been more satisfying.
You have a decent amount of customisation options if you want to change the keys. Auto shooting is also a must as it’s one less thing to worry about when you’re surrounded. You can even change your mouse in shape and colour to personalise your experience even more. It’s much more practical to see where you’re pointing when your mouse is highlighted blue or pink.
From an accessibility standpoint, these options alongside being able to make the text more clear to see are thoughtful additions to make sure as many people as possible can enjoy the game how they want.
Halls of Torment is a well rounded experience where you get from it what you put in. If you simply want to progress through the story or you want to stack up gold to max your stats as much as possible both are viable options. There are only five levels but for the amount of time you spend in each one, conquering them is super satisfying. It’s a small but mighty title anyone can sink their teeth into.
