Dungeons 4 Review (PlayStation 5)

by Jim Smale · November 17, 2023

For this Dungeons 4 Review, The Absolute Evil and its trusted *cough* servant, the Dark Elf Thalya, return to Dungeons 4 after the events of its fabulous predecessor to bring about their triumph over the forces of good once more. Build a cozy and comfortable Dungeon to suit your creatures’ needs and rule over them, then send them out into the Overworld to kindly remind the good people living there that the Absolute Evil rules over their lands.

Dungeons 4 Review Pros:

Decent graphics.
9.06GB download size.
Platinum trophy.
Strategy gameplay.
Graphics settings – brightness slider, resource effects, and blood splatter.
Voice settings – narrator talkativeness and evil laughter (blowfield/coldfinger/Dr now/Kerbal Khan/Scary Manga/La Chifee)
Four factions – Dungeon, horse, demons, and undead.
All creatures will earn exp from fighting and level up to increase stats, they may develop further by having needs in order to do new things.
Radical menu system.
Slap! You can slap a creature to get them to work faster for a short time but you damage them when you do it.
The full 3D world with camera control.
You play as the hand of terror and can pick up, drop, order, and slap your minions around.
Quickly grab as many minions as you want by holding down the grab button and moving around.
When setting an area up you highlight and move your cursor with it coming up saying what size you are doing before you OK it.
Evilness is what you are trying to earn from killing heroes to other tasks, evilness lets you unlock upgrades and new abilities.
Fascinating to watch rooms be created or your minions just running around with tasks.
The vault houses all gained gold and it’s only gold in here that you can spend.
Hideouts are needed in order to house and get more minions.
Excellent voice work especially the narrator.
Workshops can be built to create unit traps etc.
The narration is told almost like a story and is very reminiscent of Trine.
Quickly select troop types with the d-pad directions.
Plays like a dungeon keeper as in you create and defend treasure from adventurers.
You can see what route a hero/group of adventures would take.
Clicking the left stick will show everyone’s health bars.
Time management meets strategy game with a huge dollop of being a complete asshole.
A clear list of objectives down the side of the screen that ticks off as you do them.
The general loop of unlocks is you research something by spending evilness and gold in order to unlock the ability to build it, you upgrade the dungeon itself in order to get higher level unlocks or stronger new unlocks.
Each part (undead/goblins etc) has its own list of unlocks and research.
The game can in theory play itself in large chunks.
Other adventurers will build dwellings underground and you need to defend but also go out and destroy their place and in particular the big crystal in the middle.
Once you get in a flow the game gets very deep and rewarding, especially with the unlocks.
Save and load when you want.
In simple terms, this is the Command and Conquer dungeon edition.

Dungeons 4 Review Cons:

So much to take in.
A real slow starter as you begin to take it all in and work out so much.
Performance hitches in places.
There are so many radial menus to remember.
The camera is not ideal and it never seems to stay fixed despite picking the option in the menu.
No online modes.
Cannot rebind the controls or Invert the axis.
No Colourblind support.

Dungeons 4:

Official website.

Developer: Realmforge Studios

Publisher: Kalypso Media

Store Links –

PlayStation

8/10
Graphics - 8/10
8/10
Sound - 8/10
7/10
Accessibility - 7/10
8/10
Length - 8/10
8/10
Fun Factor - 8/10

7.8/10

Summary

Dungeons 4 is a strategy game that offers a unique blend of gameplay elements, making it an intriguing experience for players. The game has decent graphics and a manageable download size of 9.06GB. It also offers a platinum trophy for achievement hunters.

The game features four factions: Dungeon, Horse, Demons, and Undead. Each creature in these factions can earn experience from fighting, level up to increase stats and develop further by having needs in order to do new things. The game’s interface includes a radical menu system and a full 3D world with camera control. As the hand of terror, you can pick up, drop, order, and even slap your minions around to get them to work faster, although this damages them.

Dungeons 4 has a unique resource system. Evilness, which you earn from killing heroes and other tasks, lets you unlock upgrades and new abilities. The vault houses all gained gold, and it’s only gold in here that you can spend. Hideouts are needed in order to house and get more minions. Workshops can be built to create unit traps and more.

The game’s voice work, especially the narrator, is excellent. The narration is told almost like a story and is very reminiscent of Trine. You can quickly select troop types with the d-pad directions. However, the game is a slow starter as there is so much to take in and work out. There are some performance hitches in places and the camera is not ideal. It never seems to stay fixed despite picking the option in the menu. There are no online modes, and you cannot rebind the controls or invert the axis. There is also no colorblind support.

The game plays like a dungeon keeper as you create and defend treasure from adventurers. You can see what route a hero/group of adventures would take. The general loop of unlocks is you research something by spending evilness and gold in order to unlock the ability to build it. You upgrade the dungeon itself in order to get higher-level unlocks or stronger new unlocks.

The game can in theory play itself in large chunks. Other adventurers will build dwellings underground and you need to defend but also go out and destroy their place and in particular the big crystal in the middle. Once you get in a flow, the game gets very deep and rewarding, especially with the unlocks. You can save and load when you want. In simple terms, this is the Command and Conquer dungeon edition. It’s time management meets strategy game with a huge dollop of being a complete jerk. It’s fascinating to watch rooms being created or your minions just running around with tasks. It’s a clear list of objectives down the side of the screen that ticks off as you do them. Each part (undead/goblins etc) has its own list of unlocks and research.

Despite its shortcomings, Dungeons 4 offers a deep and rewarding gaming experience once you get into the flow of the game. It’s a must-try for fans of strategy games and those who enjoy playing the villain.