Halls of Torment review

I resisted the pull of the Survivor-like for quite a while. Partly because simply watching the genre played doesn’t do it justice. It was hard to understand the appeal until I actually took the plunge with Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor and Pathfinder: Gallowspire Survivors and realised there was way, way more to the gameplay than just avoiding damage. God of Weapons is another that become a firm favourite for a while. But recently, most of my time has been spent with Halls of Torment from Chasing Carrots, a fantasy Survivor-like with a distinctly Diablo-esque appearance.

And we’re not talking recent Diablo, either; we’re going back to 1996 here, with a game that apes the look and feel of Blizzard’s seminal dungeon-crawler. You can choose to have your heroes auto-attack, or play with a controller, but honestly, it’s so nostalgic clicking away like mad on hordes of janky skeletons that it became my preferred way to play when not on the Steam Deck.

There’s a surprising depth to Halls of Torment, though. Each run is essentially a 30-minute endurance test, as you run around increasingly hostile maps, slashing away at enemies and collecting gems to level up. You soon begin to feel stronger and faster, and will unlock up to two randomly dropped abilities to add to your repertoire, which auto-cast on short cooldowns.

You collect gear reminiscent of Diablo, which is stored in a chest at the hub. This allows you to select any of the 11 unlockable characters and outfit them with gear that steers towards certain build characteristics like crit chance or survivability. Entering each new run already kitted out and armed with a few tricks makes a real difference to your longevity, but you’ll need it for the boss fights. These almost feel like bullet hell at times, although you’re often so tough when you reach them that they feel like battles of attrition, with neither of you giving much ground until the final swing.

Eventually you’ll unlock Agony Mode, which almost feels like the true game. This mode is tougher and not time-restricted, and you’ll receive more loot and upgrades to help you deal with the increased danger and mob density. There’s quite a staggering number of character traits to unlock as you progress, too, with the final number not being far shy of 1000 if you count all the multiple upgrade tiers.

Chasing Carrots have just done a really solid job of making Halls of Torment a game you want to go back to. The animation is smooth and swift, the environments dripping with atmosphere. Each of the eleven characters fits an archetypal role, though some kind of blur and overlap a little in terms of their abilities and gameplay.

If you never got the bug for Survivor games, Halls of Torment might not change your mind, but if you have even a passing interest I’d urge you to check it out (it costs about a fiver), as it makes an ideal time-killer when you have half an hour to spare. It runs perfectly on Steam Deck, offers tons of replayability with minimal fuss, and is just challenging enough to keep you engaged for every moment.