City of Brass is all about greed. Naturally, you love pilfering shiny and sparkling trinkets, but just how close will you tread into the unknown to sate your desire for wealth? Will your avarice help break an age-old curse and claim limitless riches, or condemn you to an eternity of torment? It's an intriguing premise, and one that fits the oft-used roguelike template like a freshly-stolen glove. City of Brass takes that tantalising prospect, wraps into a mythical Arabian shell and leaves it for the taking on Nintendo Switch.
While its sand-swept streets and shining towers may remind you of musical numbers and cartoon flying carpets, we can guarantee this is no Disney-themed adventure. The titular city is a nightmarish metropolis filled with treasure, traps and monsters in equal measure. With only a Castlevania-style whip and a bladed weapon to your name (and an unhealthy thirst for silverware), this first-person roguelike sets you a simple task: reach the centre of the city. Any riches you find on the way are yours... if you can survive long enough to spend them.
Every time you enter one of its districts, the layout is randomly changed so you're always on the back foot. Should you die – and you will, more often than not – you'll keep your XP (accrued from defeating enemies and collecting treasure) but lose all your coinage. The key is to know when and where to spend your cursed cash. Scattered throughout the city's courtyards, corridors and dungeons you'll find lamps and the genies that lurk within. Each one offers a select number of buffs to buy, if you have the coin to trade.
Each one – complete with their own unique honorific moniker – functions in a similar fashion to the vending machines from the BioShock games. Some will grant you an extra heart of life, others will increase your speed and some might even outfit you with some nasty implements of death-dealing destruction. Augmentation and experimentation play a big part of City of Brass’ gameplay loop, with randomised bottles imbuing you all manner of powers and transformations. One might freeze all enemies in the vicinity – ideal for making quick progress to the end of that district – while another might turn you into a defenceless chicken.
You can even select a number of Burdens and Blessings from the main menu in order to adjust the difficulty of each procedurally-generated run. Enemies can be made less aggressive, your own damage output increased or the number of traps reduced. Inversely, you can halve the time limit ticking away in the background, activate enemy respawns or plunge the city into perpetual night (making traps and foes far harder to see when entering a new area). Doing so will force you to forgo an entry on the leaderboard with your time and gold haul, but it does add in some considerable replay value for those looking to make a playthrough easier, or far more challenging.
If the first-person perspective, danger-filled labyrinthine maps and setting depicting a utopia fallen into ruin wasn’t enough of a clue, it probably won’t surprise you to learn the studio behind this plucky indie, Uppercut Games, has filled its ranks with developers with experience on both BioShock and BioShock 2. And while the titular metropolis doesn’t come close to imitating the atmospheric grandeur of Rapture, City of Brass makes up for it with the sheer creativity you can unleash when traversing its map, and in combat. This is where the real fun begins.
Your whip (which comes in multiple, collectable varieties) can set off traps from a distance or smash vases, boarded up doorways and other sun-baked detritus. It can even be used to pull items towards you with a press of ‘L’. In combat, you can flick your whip and take an enemy’s legs out from underneath them, slap away their weapon or crack them in the face to temporarily daze them. You can pull enemies into floor traps, whip nearby fire braziers or lamps to cause them to explode, and more. There’s even the option to briefly swap your sword for an explosive vase for some makeshift firework action. It’s reminiscent of Bulletstorm’s rewarding push/pull mechanic, and makes combat as fun as it is intense.
Those procedurally-generated maps can sometimes be hit-and-miss, as with all games that rely on a randomised element. More often than not, you’ll get a map that’s filled with hidden chambers laden with traps or open courtyards with enough cover to take out fire-launching archers, but you’re going to have to contend with some that seem determined to kill you with unblockable dervishes or meagre treasure drop rates. Still, grabbing all that loot will take you back to the good old days of Thief (although a little more overt support for stealth wouldn’t have gone amiss).
Conclusion
While some of its procedural generation can sometimes make for an unnecessarily challenging experience, City of Brass more than makes up for it with the sheer creativity you can have exploring its Arabian Nights-themed maps. With genii to imbue you with wacky powers and the ever-tantalising need to collect more gold (as well the option to compete with others via the leaderboards), Uppercut Games has produced one of the most entertaining roguelikes to swing onto Nintendo Switch. And you can throw ghost chickens. What more do you need?
Comments 37
Kudos. It's not every day you get a game that's arabian themed.
This game gets amazingly varied scores from both review sites and users. I want to try it now to see why it's so polarising!
I find the references to other games in this review very helpful and am pleased that they weren't ommited due to them not being released on Nintendo platforms
Been watching this one. Great to hear a good review, to begin. I'm waiting for more reviews, before I pick it up.
I'm not sold on this one, particularly with how its reviewed on other platforms, but I'll put it on the watch list for now.
@misterMike Switch is the best thing in the whole universe.
@misterMike You forgot the 9/10 average on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/301840/City_of_Brass/
@misterMike the Switch is exactly that! Anyway, I always find it amazing that people like you complain about review scores but keep visiting regularly. Because this is a reviews site first and foremost. If you come here for Nintendo news, wouldn't it be more convenient to stay with Gonintendo or Nintendo Everything, both of which provide more and faster news?
@Dom what about the graphics and the performance side of things? The music? Those are all important elements to me and you completely forgot to mention them. I know maybe it's your style and I respect it, Mitch Vogel's reviews are more linear perhaps, but they're still good to read and always talk about every relevant aspect of a game
@misterMike It has an average of 69 but the top score is a 100 and the bottom is a thirty. It's a divisive game. Doesn't mean NLs score is wrong.
I bought this on PC because of the theme and love it. I can see why it's not everybody's cup of tea, but it was fun for me. Even better, the devs actually listened to feedback and implemented "Divine Blessings" for those of us who had a hard time with the default balance of the game. There are also Divine Burdens for those who want a harder experience. It's very rare for devs to be so responsive these days, so I'll probably pick this up on Switch as well, just to support them.
To be fair those metascores reviewed the first version of the game.
This game is not a roguelike.
Maaaan, it's sad when INFORMATIVE sites don't know what a roguelike is.
@misterMike According to Metacritc there were 25 80%+ games released in the last three months, which is 2 per week. And that only includes the ones that actually have 4 scored reviews. Switch is indeed amazing.
@Captain_Toad Seriously! ...I’m getting some old Magic The Gathering vibes from this game. It’s appealing!
@misterMike If you feel that Metacritic averages are the only thing to trust, free to look up NL on Metacritic. You reference the sponsored ads as reasons not to trust NLs opinion for a Wargroove, Observer, and Smite but their scores are right in line with the score average shown on that site.
I'd prefer it if we didn't have review scores. Then people would stop moaning and actually talk about the review instead of an insignificant number at the bottom.
@misterMike I mean, if folks enjoy the games they’re playing, then Switch would be amazing to them. It takes more effort to comment on a review and respond to a bunch of folks about your opinion than it does to go play a video game you enjoy. 😁
C'mon peeps, there's an ignore function for a reason.
Don't read the troll.
Sliggy’s back. Hooray
@misterMike why do you hold scores so highly. Why do you hold the switch accountable for what many third party companies are producing. At the end of the day scoring a game, movie or whatever is subjective and should not be the only factor that determines your enjoyment. The switch has amazing games, the critically acclaimed ones, and the ones you enjoy because of who you are. Just like every other console out there.
I have been looking into this for a while now. Was initially put-off by reviews of this title's previous releases, but I love this style of game and the setting is giving me the PoP vibe. (Seriously, UBISOFT, where is our PoP Trilogy HD on Switch!?!?!) Will snag this when it goes on sale.
I really dislike this continual Indie fad of everything being procedural generation. But this otherwise looks pretty cool
@Fake-E-Lee
I completely agree. I looked at other reviews, but I have been excited for this game for awhile now also. I know I am not going to always agree with reviews, but I try to gauge who is reviewing it by remembering other games I have either agreed or disagreed with them on. It's all about taste.
@Mando44646
It's not so much a "fad" as it's an affordable option. I'm not a fan of it either
As much as I love first person games, this review didn't do much to convince me that I need this game in my life. I will have to think about this one for sure.
Well this game caught my attention.
@misterMike NL only has so much time to review games. That's why the short form Indie Roundup has become a thing. They have been saving longer reviews for games that are a bigger deal. If it turns out that those bigger games are actually good can NL be faulted for giving them good scores? The only game I can see on NL's review list in the last month or two that seemed undeserving of its score was that Dragon Rider game the other day.
I'm not saying that City of Brass is a 9, I haven't played it either. But look at Metacritic and in addition to IGNs 4 there is a perfect score listed for the game too. There are also multiple other scores in the 80s and several in the 50s. It's a "Your Mileage May Vary," kind of game. Out of curiosity, did you go to the site that gave it a 40 and accuse them of hating the developer?
Observer and Wargroove are right in line with other critics. That doesn't sound like bias.
@Tirza "This game is not a roguelike. ... Maaaan, it's sad when INFORMATIVE sites don't know what a roguelike is."
Like it or not, the term "roguelike" has changed over the years to mean any game with randomized content and a perma-death mechanic.
Surprised this got reviewed before Away
Go on sale and I will pick it up.
As soon as i read it was from the BioShock devs I was sold! Now if I can just get a chance to play it!! I’m sure the 9 is deserving!
I really, really want to like this game. I really want to believe the score. But I don't know. After watching some gameplay this morning, I found myself bored out of my mind. Maybe I need to watch a different video.
@misterMike Thumbs up for the Oprah reference. I agree with you. I enjoy this website as much as the next person but as of late I do not trust them when it comes to reviews. At all.
Before I get this I have to finish immortal redneck.
Roguelike 'lite just needs to die. It's so boring.
9/10? That’s extremely generous. I find the controls to be pretty janky. 7/10 at most imo.
@SetupDisk I got this and can confirm that Immortal Redneck is a far superior game.
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