Before you ask; yes, my introduction to Hand of Doom was due to the Burning Wizard meme. That was more than enough to sell me on the general vibe of this FMV-themed dungeon crawler, but after playing it for a while? This is genuinely one of the coolest games I’ve ever gotten to experience, and I can’t wait to dive even deeper into it. I just need to take a minute and talk about it before booting it up again.
I Feel Just Like the Burning Wizard When I Play ‘Hand of Doom’, To Be Honest
So, a little history lesson on Hand of Doom. Starting off as a playable teaser, or P.T., if you will, Hand of Doom was part of a game jam bundle called the Dread X Collection. Many talented developers got together. Threw together the horror game of their dreams in a week. And released the bundle on Steam. It seems like Hand of Doom must have made more of an impact than originally anticipated, though. Developer Torple Dook went to work making a full game out of this teaser. And I’m beyond glad that they did because Hand of Doom is so rad, that it’s not even funny.
After finally jumping into this game, I was hooked. The FMV-inspired aesthetic immediately sings and gives the game such an uncanny vibe. Dorky and charming dialogue makes every Wizard that I encounter along my journey memorable, even if Jerk Wizard is… well, a Jerk. And the idea of needing to learn incantations and cast them with actual button presses and chants instead of just holding a fire button is so rad. I don’t know if Torple Dook meant to make one of the coolest games of all time, but they succeeded greatly in their attempt.
Late last year, I found myself obsessed with dungeon crawlers, particularly thanks to the impressive debut title Dungeons of Blood and Dream. While Hand of Doom is particularly more old-school in its approach to its graphical design and gameplay, it’s just another one of those games that I’m going to end up hyper-fixating about for months on end.
Who Needs a Key When You Can Just Hit That Tal Eth Ist Ort, Though?
Hand of Doom is a dungeon crawler in every aspect of the word. Hand of Doom is a slower experience, one that deserves to be soaked in. The environments have a surreal beauty to them, and I want to lose myself for countless hours here. Genuinely, every area that I’ve gotten to explore so far has just been incredibly well-designed. The vibes are impeccable.
While my adventures in Hand of Doom are still early, I’m very excited to see where the rest of this journey goes. I just needed to take a few moments and shout from the rooftop about how much I’m already digging this game. I’ve never played anything like it. And I doubt you have either, so do yourself a favor and pick this one up. It’s $9.99 on Steam and deserves every eye on it possible.
The post ‘Hand of Doom’ Is ’90s FMV Bliss, and It’s the Coolest Shit I’ve Ever Seen appeared first on VICE.
