Warlocks vs Shadows – Preview

Warlocks vs. Shadows is a wave based action brawler that has you fighting through several different dimensions, each composed of several stages where you must defeat waves of enemies before a portal will open and you can progress to the next area. The game just entered Early Access so there is still a lot of room for polish, but what exactly is the current state of Warlocks vs Shadows, and are we eager for it's official release?
The first thing you'll most likely notice about Warlocks vs Shadows is the breathtaking pixel art style of the game. It's reminiscent of Risk of Rain, or the fantastic Superbrothers: Sword & Sorcery EP. Enemy designs are all shadow based and I was afraid that they'd be mostly be black blobs, but even with this restraint, developer Frozen District has done an excellent job distinguishing each enemy type. Spell effects are equally gorgeous, with some of them being real eye candy.

You control one of ten characters, called Warlocks, with half of them being available from the get-go. I unlocked my first character upon completion of world one, and the second on completion of world two, so it seems you will unlock a new character after each world. The different warlocks are more than just aesthetically diverse, with some of them being geared toward healing, some toward tanking and others toward DPS or control. In addition, if you hope to get anywhere in the game, you'll need to learn how best to combine your skills.

For instance, playing as Rainer you have a dashing slash that will hit all enemies in a line. This will damage enemies and mark them with a little pink icon above their heads. You can then use another spell to teleport to all marked enemies and damage them with a sword attack. Unfortunately you can actually take a lot of damage dashing through groups of enemies like this, so you also have a bubble that you can cast on yourself to prevent at least some damage. One of the most fun aspects of Warlocks vs Shadows, is figuring out how each power works in conjunction with your other powers.

In addition to leveling up your warlocks abilities, you can also collect equipable loot that increases certain attributes such as movement speed, armor and damage. Some items have more unique and interesting abilities, such as rooting enemies, or being cursed, which leads to the caster taking damage after each spell. Equipment and spell levels carry over between warlocks, so if you level up your second skill and then switch warlocks, the new warlock will have a leveled up second skill as well. This makes it very easy to swap warlocks between levels and test out new characters and styles.

I only got to try coop for a short amount of time so far, but it is much more challenging than single player. The enemies health increases and they seem to do more damage as well. I was dying left and right in the coop game, but hardly died at all in the single player in the same levels. We also experienced some lag issues, such as not seeing yourself take any damage and then suddenly being dead. And then there was a problem with my body disappearing after getting knocked out and my partner not being able to resurrect me because of it.

I've only spent a little over two hours with the game so far, but it has it's hooks in me. The gameplay is extremely fluid and fast, but with a tactically intense feeling as well. It keeps me wanting to load it up, taunting me that it would be so easy to ignore my responsibilities, but no, I must be strong! On offer is also a PVP mode, but I haven't gotten the chance to try it out yet. Hopefully the PVP will be great, and the coop will add some longevity, as there aren't that many worlds in the single player game and the wave based combat could get old after a while.

Overall I am very excited about where Warlocks vs Shadows is at right now, and extremely excited to see where it will go in the future. If they not only fix the bugs during the Early Access period, but also add more content, this could become one of 2015's indie success stories.

Are you as excited as we are to see more of Warlocks vs Shadows? If you've picked up the Early Access game, which Warlock is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below.

Author: Billy C
Game: Warlocks vs Shadows
Source: Preview copy provided to Twinstiq.com
Website: http://www.omlgames.com/

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