Mad King Redemption Preview

Mad King Redemption is a dark fantasy beat-‘em-up title mixed with roguelite progression. Developed by SECRET MISSION, a team of only three members, you are thrown into a 2.5D world where you are tasked with saving the kingdom, which has fallen to the Mad King. While trying to bring the queen back to life, the king was corrupted by trying to use Forbidden Magic causing him to lose his sanity.

The title is in Early Access, so only four of the eight characters are available to play as, all of whom are looking to redeem themselves. Each hero has unique Attack, Defence, and Agility stats In addition to a unique weapon to fight with. No matter which character you select, you can swap between five different colour palettes for each to find the option you like best.

Valraven, the Swordmaster. The former Master of Swords for the army, Valraven, betrayed the queen to gain power, causing her death.

Branok, the Wrestler. A huge fighter who was the bodyguard for the king. When the corruption spread from the king’s use of forbidden magic, he ran. 

Darkblade, the Assassin. She was the queen's elite guard, but when the queen was betrayed, she didn't protect her.

Elowen, the Sorcerer. A dark mage who joined the forbidden cult using the corrupt magic before the king did… 

The first run has you starting in the Noob Room, where you play through a short tutorial to learn how to control your warrior so you stand a chance against the waves of evil creatures using combos and your special attacks. Each of the attacks looks great, and it was very satisfying to take down the monsters coming at you. Besides these base moves, there is one other attack that you can use, but there is a price to use it. 

After the tutorial is complete, you are cleared to play the main game by completing runs and trying to get to the end. You start at the Brotherhood Camp before you start your next run, but first, you can speak to the other heroes that are helping you on your quest, like Kael the Master Mage and Brogan the Blacksmith. Kael sells you upgrades for your character, but when you buy one, all the heroes will have it, so you don’t need to repurchase the same thing multiple times. You can also get refunds on any of these upgrades at any time if you find something more useful. Brogan is there to sell you axes, hammers, knives, daggers, and armour to strengthen your protagonist.

Before starting, you have to speak with the Mad King first, and he offers you the choice between two Forbidden Attacks. However, gifts from the Mad King come with a price; each one has a Corruption Gain every time you use it. For example, the Bloomscar and the Rosariam both inflict 24.5 corruption points; these are considered Forbidden Magic. Whenever you use them, it fills the Corruption Bar. Once it is full, you will become powerful against the enemy, but it deals damage to you as well, causing you to vomit and taking away 50% of your health!

Each time you play, you travel to a random location for the run to start; sometimes it’s a place like the Dark Corridor, and other times it could be the Catacombs. This change of scenery keeps the game feeling fresh since you aren't constantly playing the same thing. Each area has a variety of corrupt enemies attacking you, trying to stop you from progressing. Some of the most annoying ones are the skeletons that are carrying shields; they can block a lot of your attacks, and it is difficult to see the moves being telegraphed when they run right into you, knocking you back. 

When you die, you see a Run Recap that tells you how long you survived, the amount of gold you gained, the biome you died in, how many objects you destroyed, and other fun stats. You will start back at the Brotherhood Camp, but here you spend the gold you earned on your run for new upgrades and weapons to upgrade your hero for the next attempt. With every run I played, I felt like I was stronger and making progress.

Mad King Redemption has great pixelated graphics and good lighting effects. The heroes all look really cool, and the environments have a dark and creepy feel to them. The soundtrack mirrors this vibe with mysterious and foreboding music that is full of angry grunts and screams from the hordes of incoming foes, especially when you are attacking them with your mount that looks like a dinosaur!

I’ve been having a fun time playing Mad King Redemption; the only things I had issues with are that it is tricky to block the enemy attacks and avoid taking damage, in addition to the camera that likes to zoom in and out a lot. You can adjust it a bit, but as soon as your character moves, the game takes over the camera control. I think a slightly wider view might work better than constantly switching. 

I can’t wait to see what Mad King Redemption is like when it is fully released. Right now it’s a lot of fun, and with a couple of tweaks it will be great. I look forward to trying to redeem my character's sins by relieving the king of his madness!