As soon as I saw the Diablo-inspired visuals, I was on the hook. Halls of Torment is an action-RPG that draws heavy inspiration from Blizzard’s classic dungeon crawler, and as such I was eager to see how it played based purely on that first impression.
I wasn’t disappointed.
Despite the fact that Halls of Torment has, until now, languished in the pits of Early Access, I have always found it to be a consistently engaging examination of the Vampire Survivors formula. However, with the game finally escaping the purgatory of active development and standing ready for examination, it seemed like the right time to take stock of what it has become.
Halls of Torment and its Diablo-inspired style
The retro aesthetic works ever so well here. There’s just enough quality in the pixel-art for it to feel like a lost classic, as if once upon a time it was at the bleeding edge of game design. This feeling is upheld by the archaic UI and the antiquated fonts. Personally, I love the way it has been presented.
In the vein of many an old school CRPG, Halls of Torment is an isometric fantasy RPG about fighting demons with an array of powers and sharp weapons at your disposal.
As you progress, magic flames and other elemental effects come to dominate the screen alongside huge hordes of enemy minions. These halls are overflowing with skeletal soldiers, demonic dogs, giant bosses, and even flying beasties for good measure. At times the screen can fill with swarms of monsters. Waves of nasties lurch this way and that, edging ever closer, each according to their own predetermined behaviours.
The RPG part of the Diablo experience makes an appearance here, too. You can grab the XP and gold that drops from your enemies as they die, and then spend your credit on the fly and between battles – but always in order to power your character forward. Both the real-time character development that happens while you play and the overarching meta-progression feels slow and steady. However, there are missions on hand if you need a bit of guidance beyond the basic challenge of staying alive until the end.
Combat is less reverent to the old gods, and the bullet heaven gameplay keeps Halls of Torment on the right side of history. To that end, you can toggle on auto-aim and auto-fire, streamlining things to your personal tastes. Either way, you’ll be dancing around huge groups of enemies, thinning the crowd as and when you can, and staying alive while you wait for the next interesting decision to be presented to you.
There are seven playable characters to unlock and each one is fundamentally different. At first I tried the melee-focused Swordsman a few times, and the Shieldmaiden later on, but things really clicked for me when I switched to the Archer. Naturally, things also moved along in the background as I invested gold into the meta-progression, boosting my health, regen, and attack speed.
Flames in the darkness
I prefered the ranged attacks of the Archer, and so the Exterminator and their flamethrower let me take things to another level in terms of pure destruction. I was able to start dishing out serious damage once I’d levelled up my core skills and supported that with fiery armour and gear. I was even able to support my builds with fire-based specials for a bit of extra heat.
There are different types of elemental damage, but I was definitely drawn to the flames. I think the pixels look great and I looked to upgrade the special abilities that gave me extra fire attacks, just so I could watch everything burn. You typically get the elemental powers from scrolls dropped by beaten mini-bosses, who are huge and appear semi-frequently. Once earned, abilities are selected from a trio of options, and then once chosen you can upgrade them alongside your passive stats.
I’ve really enjoyed playing around with the different abilities, and adapting each attempt to the gear I’m dealt. That said, it’s always tempting to sacrifice the best gear you find to the well system; stash an item in a well during play and you can then buy it from a vendor who has another well back at base. Once he has extorted you for gold to buy back your own stuff, you can use it again and again in future attempts, so it is worth doing despite the exploitation. These items include armour pieces, naturally, but also magic jewelry to boost your critical chances or summon creatures to fight for you.
There is loads to discover and unlock in Halls of Torment, but the thing that will keep you coming back for more is the compulsive gameplay loop and the sense of growth it manages to convey. Developer Chasing Carrots has baked in just the right amount of chaos to keep things dynamic and engaging for several hours and beyond. Of course, it helps that the game’s replayable roguelite structure makes each run feel fresh, even if that stands in juxtaposition to the retro-aesthetic, which does its best to trick you into thinking that you’re revisiting an old favourite from back in the day.
Halls of Torment is out now on Steam PC after just over a year in Early Access, and funnily enough I wrote about recently in this article about the best bullet heavens and games like Vampire Survivors.
