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Hack, Slash, Loot
By OddballDave | Released Jan 22, 2012
There are dark places in the world inhabited by evil denizens. Places filled with danger and foreboding where no ordinary man would dare to journey. However, there are a few who are willing to risk death in the name of good, in the name of justice, in the name of.. valuable loot! Hack, Slash, Loot(HSL) is a single-player turn-based dungeon crawler for Windows, MacOS, and Linux. Take control of a lone hero and explore sprawling dungeons, fight dangerous monsters, and most importantly, plunder valuable treasures. HSL features thousands of items, monsters, and dungeon features, and with a new dungeon created every game you can be sure that no two plays will ever be the same. Boasting easy to master controls you'll be adventuring in no time, but there is still enough depth to challenge the most hardened of adventurers.
akaito says
Feb 4th, 2012 4 people agree 0 people don't
I love Rogue-likes, and was excited to see one with a nice graphical style. The simple interface also makes this game more approachable than most games in that genre.
However, what I enjoy about Rogue-likes is their complexity of interaction. This game is closer to the complete lack of complexity of "Gauntlet." Which is perfectly fine if that's what one enjoys.
"Hack, Slash, Loot" has the classic "NetHack" keys available for movement and attacking. But this just makes it feel like that much more of a betrayal of style, when you realize that some information can only be gained through use of the mouse.
Unlike the very well-matured "Nethack," "Hack, Slash, Loot" also feels entirely unbalanced. In my decent handful of attempts at enjoying the game, I was killed (seemingly without option of escape) within the first 10 monster encounters. Granted that Rogue-likes are supposed to be very difficult. However, while trying only to "grind" on the weakest of monsters, I was still slain quite quickly.
WiseWarrior says
Feb 26th, 2012 3 people agree 0 people don't
No shops, no towns, no inventory, lacking alot of feature which could have made this game a major time killer. Wasted potential gets it a 3 from me
Jekado says
Apr 9th, 2012 2 people agree 0 people don't
No strategy, all random, pretty much you can play dice and expect more startegy.
tbewick says
Apr 10th, 2012 1 person agrees 0 people don't
This game has a lot of potential to be a really good game but it isn't there yet. If the player had more than just a single attack (like multiple spells/special abilities). It would add a lot to the game.
Cardinal Quest is a good example of a game that does that well.
pjh777 says
Apr 7th, 2012 1 person agrees 0 people don't
rubbish = random luck - seems to entirely miss the point of rpg and roguelikes.
ssokolow says
Apr 6th, 2012 1 person agrees 0 people don't
First, let me be clear that I got this game when I bought an IndieRoyale bundle for some of the other games in it. I'm not "butthurt" because I wasted my money. That aside, let's review.
I mostly like to explore but I'm also generally OK with well-balanced roguelikes which lack an exploration mode... but this is neither. I've never gotten past the first few rooms without dying.
...which brings me to the next problem. The documentation is terrible. The built-in "online help" button doesn't work and the "how to play" link on the website is pretty much just a glorified keyboard reference and overview of what the different in-game icons mean... plus a link saying "see forums for more help". (I was looking for the apparently nonexistant "regain health so you can survive beyond the third room" mechanic)
When installed on Linux, it's installed non-executable, so Desura silently fails to start it unless you go into the install directory and explicitly set the binary as executable.
The game claims to default to using ALSA, but I use ALSA dmix for my audio support (PulseAudio is too buggy) and, out of 75 games and at least a dozen more applications, only Voxatron joins it in silence.
The keyboard interface is poor. Even reading the reference and experimenting, I couldn't figure out how to preview a dropped piece of equipment. I will admit that the mouse interface is very nicely polished, but that's overshadowed by the other flaws.
For example, there's no inventory, so I can't save items for later without leaving them lying on the ground and, according to the forums, you have to do that AND avoid killing some of the monsters if you want to have enough health to survive the later levels.
If you want a nice, simplified roguelike which is available on all platforms, download Brogue (free, textual but uses unicode and colors beautifully). If you want a fun, graphical rogue-like which is available on all platforms, buy Dungeons of Dredmor.
unaccounted4 says
May 11th, 2012 0 people agree 0 people don't
How can something so simple and so retro-looking be so addictive?! It's uncanny and I'm in love with it!
With a Multiplayer mode and some actual strategy instead of the full on random outcome, it might just get the perfect score.
2048Terrabit says
Apr 23rd, 2012 0 people agree 0 people don't
Interesting oldstyle dungeon crawler with good music and graphics, unique stats system and quests.
If you like old RPGs this game is for you.
thepalmtoptiger says
Apr 16th, 2012 0 people agree 0 people don't
This rogue-like has a crushing difficulty, no save function, and no respawns. I've only played a handful of games that were harder which makes me love this one that much more. If you're a fan of hard as nails games and are tired of being babied in modern games then give Hack, Slash, Loot a whirl.
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