Hades review: a devilishly good time

Einstein famously defined insanity as doing the same thing again and again but expecting a different result each time. Quite would he made of ‘roguelikes', then, is anybody’s guess.

The increasingly popular - and prevalent - game design trope tasks players with repeating procedurally-generated ‘runs’ ad infinitum, usually with character progress or resources carried over to increase incrementally the chance of success on each subsequent attempt.

Hades applies the formula expertly to an equally polished isometric action RPG brawler, creating sadistic assault courses from strings of standalone rooms populated by an amusing menagerie of netherworldly creations, dastardly traps and melodramatic deities drawn from Greek mythology.

Combat is crisp, chaotic and perfectly pitched on just the right side of frustrating. West Coast developers Supergiant Games - creators of quirky but celebrated indie hits Bastion, Transistor, and Pyre - conjure a surprising amount of tactical depth from half a dozen weapon types and a deceptively simple moveset comprising standard, heavy and ranged attacks; a rechargeable super; and a dash.

The magic is provided by boons - quite literally gifts from the gods your character Prince Zagreus randomly encounters on each run and which completely transform his attempt to ascend from Hades to Mount Olympus . Zeus imbues your attacks with lighting damage which can jump from foe to foe; Dionysus add a hangover effect which damages enemies over time; and Aphrodite allows you to charm enemies, who then fight by your side.

Hades was in ‘early access’ (ie released and then iterated upon on the fly) on PC for almost two years and the sheer volume of variables in this ‘finished’, fully-featured 1.0 release (also available on Nintendo Switch) is mind-boggling - and initially a little confusing. There’s around eight different forms of in-game currency alone, and enough upgrades and modifiers to give even Euclid a headache trying to track all the variables. However once you fall under Hades’ spell after a couple of runs the near limitless combinations of character builds becomes bewitching.

That rich seam of conglomerated content also extends to the game’s surprisingly engaging over-arching narrative. Each run starts in the House of Hades, a gloriously gauche mansion populated by the big and the bad of the Underworld, and who carry on like the cast of a reality show. I'm a Demigod, Get Me out of Here, perhaps.

Unusually for the sub genre there’s plot and dialogue to spare, the large cast of classical characters delivering chunks of mythologically accurate exposition between (and often during) runs via an astonishing amount of nearly always entertaining dialogue. It’s a welcome amuse bouche before the main courses of mayhem to come, and helps establish Hades not just as a superior roguelike, but also a superb game in its own right.

If anything, Hades might actually be too engaging. Once under its thrall it boasts as much of that ‘one more go...’ factor as any game released this generation, and the chances of a quick end of evening session stretching into the early hours of the following morning are ruinously high.

There’s every chance Hades might will end up driving you insane, then - but at least you’ll have a devilishly good time along the way.