Happily, Adorably, Darkly Disturbing
Cult of the Lamb is a rogue-lite resource management game from Massive Monster. And having played the demo, we can confirm that this game is three things: stupidly adorable, darkly disturbing, and bloody marvelous!
I Pledge Allegiance To This Lamb
The story goes that your character, a lowly little lamb, was prepared for sacrifice but offered their life back in the afterlife if they swear allegiance to a different god, fighting against all the others. A good god, for want of a more morally precise phrase.
Because it isn’t really a god, so much as a demon. A beneficent demon? Who knows, Cult Of the Lamb is hardly a morally fibrous game, so let’s leave morals aside, shall we?
Suffice to say that the story is clever, concise, creative, and a perfect backdrop to the gameplay. Everything feels coherent, dark, and fun.
Satanist Tree Friends
The world of Cult Of The Lamb is a beautifully crafted one, perfectly balancing the occultly macabre occult with the light-hearted and cute. Think Happy Tree Friends with a satanist theme, and you’re just about there.
This is an entertaining world to inhabit, and we can’t wait to delve deeper into this world on the game’s full release.
2D, 3D, Follow Me
The 2D hand-drawn-on-paper visuals look gorgeous in this 3D world. Cult of the Lamb has a distinctive aesthetic and style in how it is presented, which adds a lot to the enjoyment.
Combat Resources
Gameplay is divided between combat and resource gathering to build your follower base.
Combat is pretty standard fare for a rogue-lite and within the demo seems pretty basic. There is a simple attack, no block, and various special charged attacks.
However, combat always feels about as tight and snappy as an indestructible elastic band. So fighting off lesser demons and bosses always feels satisfying, despite it being pretty basic overall.
Plus, with more weapons and combos available as the game progresses, fighting will likely feel a lot more fresh as you charge forward into that demon-infested fray.
But if the combat lacks variety, the resource management certainly doesn’t. Choosing the color, species, and names of your followers, as well as their traits giving buffs and de-buffs, is surprisingly deep and fun. It really feels like you’re building your own little cult. Which… I guess that is kind of the point of the game!
Like the combat, chopping down trees or breaking down rocks feels enjoyable and meaningful. This is because the resource gathering is functional and well integrated amongst the other game dynamics. Even when in combat arenas, you’ll be carefully cutting grass to take back to the colony to use for building your thatched cottages.
Demonic Chorus
The soundtrack has a hard-to-place Asian influence and is spooky and dark while also being quite light-hearted. The musical score gives momentum to the game, enhancing combat experiences and adding a lot to the atmosphere.
Final Thoughts
Cult Of The Lamb is a title we have been looking forward to for a long time. And to see it finally so close to fruition is something for which we duly thank all dark gods and demons.
It’s great to see that it is not all combat, the story is solid, and there is a resource management aspect to the game to mix things up. It all looks like it’s coming together to make this a memorable, solid title.
And if you hear a goat bleating in the cold, dark air tonight, worry not, young follower. It is simply the sound of our gracious sacrifice, offering thanks to the dark gods. In the name of the Cult Of The Lamb.
Cult Of The Lamb is available Aug 11 on Steam, Xbox series X/S, Playstation 4 and Playstation 5, Nintendo Switch and macOS. Play the demo on Steam now!
