Everything except the Gameplay is exceptional.

User Rating: 8 | Dwarfs!? PC
By Heptometre | Review Date:
'Dwarfs!?' is an indie game made by 'Power of 2 Games' and published by the good people at 'Tripwire'. The game is inspired by titles such as 'The Lemmings' and 'Dwarf Fortress'. It has multiple game-modes which would provide hours of fun, if it were not for the lack of variety of Dwarfs, monsters and overall game content. There are 2 main modes, campaign and arcade. Campaign teaches you about the game mechanics, controls and how to prevent or control situations and scenarios which could endanger your dwarfs. Arcade is a timed game, in which your goal is to score as many points that you can by killing, mining and exploding your way through the map.

There are also 4 other modes which are called the 'Bonus Modes'. The bonus modes include Sandbox, in which you can spawn monsters, create caverns and much more all at your control. Rush-mode, where dwarfs spawn all the time endlessly, and you can only let 200 of them die at one given time. Rush-mode takes an extensive amount of skill and control. There is endless, which is Arcade mode, except with an unlimited time duration, and last but not least, there is Dark Mode, in which undiscovered caverns and caves are hidden on the map.

The in-game options and content does not stop there, with a codex, giving you explanations and details about different tiles, e.g. dirt, grass, rock, monsters e.g. Shamans, Spiders. The codex also has a great embedded video selection for the techniques and game modes. Codex also holds option details, for an indie game it has a great, in-depth guide to the game. 'Dwarfs' also include stats and rankings, which range from global, to local. They give you stats on the amount you've dug and mined. The rankings go from Arcade mode 5 minutes, to Endless Mode.

The controls and hot keys in the gameplay are very useful and convenient, and after an hour of playing your hands will naturally default to the hotkeys when needed.

Later on in the games life, after the campaign, it starts to get extremely boring, with nothing to do except try to get a higher score. The repetitive gameplay is what really derails this potentially amazing game.

Overall 'Dwarfs!?' is a satisfactory indie game, and for its price is worth buying, though that is a matter of opinion. The content of the game, and the ideas have been let down overall, with it lacking in content in actual gameplay.
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