It seems to me that the general idea which dictates that righteousness must always eventually triumph over evil has become an increasingly overused cliche over time. That’s one reason why I’ve always found myself drawn to games which give the forces of evil a level playing field in which they can (and often do) defeat their supposedly-noble adversaries.

If memory serves, the considerably-popular Dungeon Keeper games of yesteryear played a pivotal role in introducing and popularizing the idea that “it’s good to be bad.” On that note, I’m quite pleased to report that I recently discovered a game which I personally think embodies the entire concept that “evil is good.” To my delight, this particular game goes about expressing that sentiment in a manner which I’ve found exceptionally enjoyable thus far.

I’m referring to a game by the name of Iratus: Lord of the Dead, developed by Unfrozen and published by Daedalic Entertainment. I was initially made aware of the game’s existence because Steam’s “friend activity” tab informed me that one of my colleagues here at Phenixx Gaming had expressed interest in it.

I proceeded to investigate the game further as a result of that, and soon arrived at the conclusion that I wanted to get my hands on it as soon as I could. Doing so would allow me to share my experiences with Iratus and perhaps draw more attention to it.

I primarily want to discuss the game today simply because I strongly feel that it deserves some time in the spotlight. I fully intend to explain why I believe that in an appropriate amount of detail throughout this preview.

As fate would have it, I recently unexpectedly received a coupon in my Steam inventory which offered me a 25% discount on Iratus because I happen to own a certain other, likely tangentially-related game whose title escapes me. Based on the various screenshots of Iratus that I had seen on its Steam store page and what I’d heard about it from other outlets, I interpreted this as a sign and used that coupon to purchase the game immediately.

Before I truly begin this preview, there’s a specific minor, yet important point that I’m obligated to establish. As you’ve likely gathered by now, Iratus: Lord of the Dead is currently part of Steam’s Early Access system.

This means that regardless of how polished the game may appear to be in the screenshots I include throughout this article, the game’s current state isn’t necessarily representative of the content present within it whenever it’s ready for a full, non-Early Access release. With that out of the way, let’s begin.

If you happen to have read certain reviews I’ve written for Phenixx Gaming in the past, you might know I hold a certain game in very high regard which happens to be quite similar to Iratus in several respects. The game in question is none other than Red Hook Studios’ 2016 release known as Darkest Dungeon.

If you’re unfamiliar with Darkest Dungeon or any of the various gameplay mechanics present therein which bear some degree of similarity to gameplay within Iratus, not to worry. You see, I reviewed Darkest Dungeon a few months ago so that I could explain my adoration for it in what I considered to be an appropriate amount of detail.

I suggest reading that review at your earliest convenience if you so desire. I offer that suggestion primarily because that article will theoretically provide you with a basic understanding of Darkest Dungeon’s gameplay and mechanics. I suspect this knowledge will help to more clearly illustrate various aspects of everything Iratus brings to the table.

If you’d rather not do that, though, I will do my best to illustrate the reasons why I hold both Iratus and Darkest Dungeon in such high regard. To begin, I’d like to establish a bit of basic background knowledge as a baseline meant both for those among our audience who haven’t played either of the games in question, as well as those who have at least some experience with games such as these.

You see, both games revolve around the presence of unspeakable evil forces battling against those who would seek to eradicate them for significantly different reasons. Within Darkest Dungeon, your primary task is to hire and strengthen groups of unique mercenaries whom you instruct to slay the monstrosities which infest your ancestral home; your ultimate end goal in doing so is to cleanse your birthright of these antediluvian abominations.

Essentially, Iratus’ gameplay offers a different experience by reversing the roles I’ve just described. That is, rather than playing as the righteous crusaders (if hired mercenaries can accurately be labeled as such) battling against the forces of darkness, you are those forces of darkness. Thus, your ultimate objective is to purge the world of every living being, especially those who actively seek to oppose your unholy agenda.

The game’s titular character is the most powerful necromancer the in-game world has ever known, hence his “Lord of the Dead” moniker. In order to carry out his plans to exterminate life the world over, Iratus will have to put his dark talents to the ultimate test.

According to the game’s opening cinematic, Iratus was slain by those who sought to put an end to his dark magic a millennium before the game’s events. A necromancer as powerful as Iratus doesn’t remain dead for eternity, however; he goes on to explain within this cinematic that dying in battle means nothing more than a period of boredom to someone who has mastered death itself.

Iratus is eventually liberated from his tomb prison, presumably by either unsuspecting explorers or those who seek to serve the Lord of the Dead. Once he’s freed, Iratus immediately resumes planning to eradicate the living. That’s essentially where your tasks begin.

Before I begin to discuss anything about Iratus’ gameplay beyond the gist of the game’s plot that I’ve just established, there’s a certain point I feel compelled to express as clearly and directly as I can. You see, dear reader, Darkest Dungeon and Iratus: Lord of the Dead are eerily similar to one another in quite a few ways beyond what I’ve taken to calling the “role reversal” aspect I mentioned earlier.

Because the two games in question are so alike in such a wide variety of aspects, it has become increasingly apparent to me as I’ve played and written about Iratus that one could justifiably classify it as a “Darkest Dungeon clone” with a considerable degree of accuracy.

With that in mind, the point I wish to emphasize is that I’m well aware that the word “clone” has been known to carry significant negative connotations in contexts such as this. However, I wholeheartedly believe Iratus differentiates itself sufficiently enough that it can stand on its own merits.

Despite the existence of several glaring similarities shared by the two games in question, I honestly don’t believe Iratus is attempting to draw attention to itself by essentially being Darkest Dungeon with a different coat of paint, so to speak. I fully intend to explain my rationale for holding these beliefs as best I can throughout the remainder of this article. Having said all that, allow me to begin discussing a select few of Iratus’ various gameplay aspects.

Although you can technically control Iratus himself in certain respects which I’ll explain in further detail shortly, you’ll spend most of your in-game time controlling his various types of undead minions as they carry out their creator’s orders. An immensely-powerful necromancer isn’t much of a threat without a theoretically endless army at his beck and call, after all.

Before you can begin to wage war against the living, though, you’ll need to create any minions you wish to send into battle. Thankfully, this process is remarkably simple. The various minion types to which you gradually unlock access require certain components in order to be reanimated and prepared for battle.

For example, suppose you want to summon a zombie as part of a group of minions you plan to send into combat. You go about this by first accessing the minion creation menu and selecting the zombie from your list of available creations.

The four parts necessary to create a zombie are one unit of flesh, one unit of blood, one unit of armor, and one weapon. You need only to place these components in their appropriate slot in the creation menu and click the “craft” button to animate your zombie. This process is identical for creating any other type of minion, aside from the fact that most minions require different component combinations.

As you might have guessed, the Lord of the Dead has no need for petty valuables coveted by the living, such as currency or any other type of treasure. Therefore, after a victory in combat, you’ll retrieve various minion-crafting parts harvested from your fallen foes. These components include such things as bones, flesh, hearts, blood, ectoplasm, weapons, armor, and several other things of that nature.

As you progress further in the game’s campaign, you’ll occasionally collect higher-quality versions of the aforementioned minion components. Using these improved parts will, as you might expect, create more powerful minions and reduce the need to strengthen your creations via victories in battle.

In keeping with certain common RPG-like elements present in many games similar to Iratus, your minions will gain experience after proving victorious in battle, and subsequently level up when they’ve accumulated enough experience points. Combat isn’t the only way to train and strengthen your minions, however.

Occasionally, you’ll retrieve a brain as part of your component harvest after winning a given fight. Most minions you craft are initially equipped with a brain, though such brains are typically of rather low quality at the beginning of a campaign.

However, if you happen to harvest a brain which is a higher level than that which any of your minions initially possess, you can equip the higher-level brain in order to instantly level up a given minion accordingly. To clarify, suppose one of your minions is equipped with a level 1 brain, and you happen to acquire a new level 4 brain after a battle. Equipping the minion in question with said level 4 brain will immediately cause that minion to reach level 4.

As your creations gain levels and become more resilient in battle, you can choose to enhance their combat abilities through a talent tree of sorts. Interestingly, the process of becoming stronger and gaining new abilities via leveling up isn’t exclusive to your minions.

Iratus himself gains experience points alongside his minions with each victory over the forces of the living. Iratus also has his own unique talent tree through which he can learn new abilities and spells; that topic leads me to another important point.

As I hinted at earlier, you can technically control Iratus directly in a sense by allowing him to interfere in a battle in certain ways, provided you have the resources to do so. This can be especially helpful and convenient if you need to quickly turn the tide of a fight in your favor.

More specifically, Iratus can learn spells through his aforementioned talent tree which can be cast in combat. These spells typically either buff your minions or hinder your enemies in some way. In order to cast these spells, though, Iratus requires a sufficient amount of mana.

With that in mind, it’s important to note that Iratus generally doesn’t regain any spent mana after a fight unless certain circumstances are met; therefore, I’ve found that it’s often wise to use his spells sparingly if at all possible.

I’d like to conclude this preview by emphasizing once again that although Iratus is rather exceptionally similar to Darkest Dungeon, I believe that the former of these two games has successfully managed to put its own unique spin on the formula of a game of this nature.

This particular game may present itself to some portion of our audience as a “clone” of a game like Darkest Dungeon, but I’ve found that Iratus is still a quite enjoyable game in its own right as far as I’m concerned.

I readily admit that there exists a fairly long list of mechanics present within Iratus that I rather reluctantly elected not to cover in order to keep this preview as concise as possible. Considering that Iratus will apparently remain in Early Access until sometime in mid-2020 according to its developers, I’ve honestly found that the game is polished so well that it could conceivably be mistaken for a finished product.

I don’t get to say anything along those lines very often, so I hope the opinions I’ve expressed throughout this article might help convince you to give Iratus a chance. Personally, as a result of how much I’ve enjoyed my time in the realm of the Lord of the Dead, I’m quite excited to see how Iratus might evolve as its development continues.

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