Brimstone is a pleasurable gaming experience that combines action/adventure and dungeon crawling gameplay with distinct RPG features, played from a top down point of view. It molds all these varied aspects into one very enjoyable experience that provides very addictive gameplay and keeps players coming back for more.
The controls are simple to use. As just one example, traversing inventory contents and character statistics are pretty straightforward and feel standard.
The dungeons you’ll explore are dark and particularly eerie, which perfectly fits the tone of play. The background music in each level is the same uncanny mixture of cacophonous noises that leave you feeling on edge, never sure what’s going to happen next. At times it even goes silent, which further invokes a sense of dread. The music works extremely well with the game and leaves for nothing to be desired in the way of a soundtrack.
Brimstone uses randomly-generated dungeons. Each level has a different floor plan, and this system of random generation adds variety which ultimately increases replay value. In spite of this, if you are a gamer big on story, you will be replaying the same short tale repeatedly. Every time a player starts the game your character’s stats and attributes will remain the same but the “story” begins anew. However, the game has four different difficulty levels (including the recently-added “Heroes Might” content) which increases the level of the monsters you face throughout the dungeon-rummaging quest.
Brimstone battle
There are a considerable number of different foes for you to face and by no means will you take them on one at a time. Enemies in a room will swarm you immediately if that is their normal attack pattern. Trapping yourself in a corner and being easily overwhelmed is a sure fire way to die. Enemies vary in the manner in which they attack. There are short range attacking enemies and long range, with both physical and magical damage to deal out at your character. I took the Spartan approach and stood in the doorway when it was a mass of enemies I couldn’t run in and easily handle. They’ll come at you but cannot surround you, rendering their numbers useless. From there it’s all hack n’ slash satisfaction.
The game primarily consists of leveling up your character. This includes upgrading their stats and outfitting them with multiple armor pieces, weapons and charms. Therein is where the true addictive nature of the game resides. Punchbag Entertainment strategically formed the game where character development is completely your own. Each character is essentially a blank slate and you are free to upgrade them exactly how you see fit. You have the opportunity to upgrade Strength, Toughness, Dexterity and Magic. Each attribute has a different affect and your added and accumulated points in these attributes will dictate what weapons you can wield and the particular types of armor you can wear as well. So if being a mage is an uncontrollable fetish, you have total control of how many magic points you’ll bestow upon your character whenever you level up. The ability to mold your character into whatever you see fit creates a feel of intense immersion, which kept bringing me back to play.
Brimstone Inventory Screen
The weapon system seemed to be randomized, with thousands of different weapons to choose from. This makes the process of looting incredibly fun. Continuously searching for that next weapon or piece of armor that may only be slightly improving upon what you currently wield is every RPG fan’s obsession and provides an additional sense of enthusiasm while playing. The attributes provided by weapons also help character development in that they may add extra points to your attributes on top of what the base points are set at.
In the end, Brimstone: Heroes’ Might is a hybrid game of welded pieces that mesh together pleasantly by providing hours of character developing addictive gameplay and a large amount of content to boot. Not only can you embark on your heroes tale solo, but you can also link up with others on Xbox Live or direct link. Although the gameplay can eventually get a bit repetitive, I believe Punchbag Entertainment ultimately reached their goal of producing a solid action RPG that can be hard to put down. You can download the trial version of the game or purchase the full version on the Xbox Live marketplace.
Overall Rating: 
This game was reviewed using a copy provided by the developer for that purpose.
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Insightful review Mr. Robinson. I’m constantly looking for a co-op H&S/dungeon crawler with strong RPG aspects and Brimstone snatched my attention with an inventory screenshot. I like to support decent indie developer efforts. It appears that Brimstone will be next. Your review solidified my inclination after having downloaded the free trial. I got my BS at a CSU so here’s thanks from “Staaaaaate schoooool” (a favorite chant among UC students) grad.
…and good luck Jason.