God of Weapons review

After making its debut on PC two years ago, God of Weapons brings its mighty armory of steely weaponry and injurious spellcraft onto Microsoft’s consoles. You’ve undoubtedly witnessed the Vampire Survivors–style action before. Like many of its bullet heaven peers, you move and dash across the playfield, while your arsenal can automatically target foes. The result is an experience that gradually escalates the intensity, enemy counts, and damage output, riding on the edge of total chaos the majority of the time.

But Hanoi-based developer Archmage Games adds an intriguing twist. Expectedly, you’ll get to select from several new weapons and helpful tools at the end of each timed stage. But you’ll also need to arrange these tetromino-shaped items on a gridded, Resident Evil-style inventory system. When that gimmick is paired with fast-paced combat, God of Weapons delivers runs that blend the sub-genres intense action with a much-needed injection of strategy.

Stout Skeletons and Gooey Blobs

Although God of Weapons visual style leans toward minimalistic, there’s still plenty of personality. Chibi characters, color-coded spell effects, and the inclusion of enemy movement warnings make it easy to follow the action even when the screen is filled with activity. Dungeons are a bit drab and cramped, but the game attempts to add some variation with elements like falling chandeliers, spike pits, and barrels that reveal benefits when busted open. Or they just might explode, with anything unlucky enough to be caught in their AOE-warning zone taking damage.

A few clever nuances elevate the typical dance of evasion, dashing, and crowd control. When a stage finishes, you’re taken back to the inventory screen to tweak the weapon placement in your backpack. Cleverly, each item has a footprint and interacts differently with its neighboring gear. The result is a continual revaluation of inventory space, adding a strategic component to what might be an otherwise straightforward roguelike effort. Coupled with different unlockable heroes and special weapons, a combination of planning and improvisation keeps the game from growing tedious across multiple runs.

No Schooling, Just Scaping

But for all its ingenuity, God of Weapons overlooks one of the fundamentals. Sadly, the game offers almost no tutorials, instructions, or even context for its multitude of systems. There’s an armory, but no explanation of how to make use of it. Similarly, there were times when I wanted to add a new weapon to my hero’s backpack. The game wouldn’t let me (I had the space and the cash) resulting in a bit of frustration. Was I overlooking some detail or breaking a rule? It wasn’t clear. Had the game been yet another Vampire Survivors clone, I would have tolerated the game’s taciturn approach. But since God of Weapons adds an ample amount of innovation to the basic formula, the lack of guidance can impair enjoyment, especially for the first few hours.

However, once you understand how the various systems work, God of Weapons becomes rewarding. The game’s fusion of bullet heaven pandemonium and loot arrangement helps it stand out in a crowded genre. If you’re a Vampire Survivors fan craving a bit of strategy and don’t mind learning things on your own, this is a dungeon that might be worth diving into.

God of Weapons was played on Xbox Series X with review code provided by the publisher.