Source Of Madness Preview (Steam Early Access)

by Jim Smale · December 21, 2021

Our Source of Madness preview shows off this side-scrolling dark action rogue-lite set in a twisted Lovecraftian-inspired world powered by procedural generation and AI machine learning. Take on the role of a new Acolyte as they embark on a nightmarish odyssey.

Source Of Madness Preview Pros:

Beautiful graphics.
2.02GB download size.
Steam achievements.
Controller support.
Graphics – resolution, quality slider, camera shake slider, UI scale slider, and full screen.
Can rebind controls for both keyboard and the controller buttons.
3 save slots.
Really good voicework.
Powerful soundtrack.
Can skip cutscenes.
Dark gritty style with Lovecraftian style enemies and Gothic architecture.
Button prompts are shown on the screen.
Adventure RPG gameplay.
Has a whiff of Darkest Dungeon about it.
The camera will pan in and out with dramatic effect.
The main hub is where you can spend blood points on the skill tree, talk with NPCs, and select levels.
Every run you get a choice of random cultists to play as each has unique stats and abilities equipped.
Anything unlocked on the skill tree is permanent.
A lot of ranged-based combat.
Fantastic enemy explosions upon death.
Eerie whisperings will play.
Dark game making it hard to see what is what and who is going to kill you.
Uses Dark Souls for a lot of inspiration like the combat style and how locations pop up and the general flow of the game.
Book of the Dead in the hub will show previous cultists you were and shows the date they died.
Monsters can and are huge, you can even cut off limbs to mess them up.
Blood points carry over from run to run.
Gets quite addictive.
Even though locations are set in stone, the layout of them is randomized every run.
Coins drop from enemies and can be used in shops. You can buy and sell equipment.

Source Of Madness Preview Cons:

Doesn’t explain a lot of the mechanics.
The first hour is a lot of trial and error, the hub is a lot of walking around.
Very dark in-game and has no brightness slider.
Never sure if you are making progress.
Takes a long time to build up your skills/upgrades.
You won’t know what or how good abilities are for a long time.
The camera feels sporadic at times and makes simple traversal a pain in the eyes.
The atmosphere can be broken pretty quickly when the monsters start flailing around and ragdolling to a comical effect.

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