Harkening memories of grinding through Borderlands dungeons with friends, MythForce is a first-person co-operative dungeon crawling FPS game with roguelike elements. As if that wasn’t already enough to sell the game to a massive player base, MythForce uses the unique presentation of a 1980s Saturday morning action cartoon to further sell its unique and engaging experience. Teaming up with up to three players, you’ll find further to be a challenging, addicting, and fulfilling game to play either solo or with friends.
Like any Saturday morning fantasy action cartoon of the He-Man and G.I. Joe era, MythForce presents a ragtag team of would-be heroes brought together to defeat an evil lord ruling from a dark and foreboding castle on the horizon. These heroes are presented as four playable characters and classes to take into the various procedurally generated dungeons of MythForce’s campaign. Each character has unique abilities, such as a quick escape teleport on the starter mage and a stealthy assassination move on our villain-turned-antihero Rico. I can honestly say that these abilities felt fun to use and impactful on each of the characters I played, offering enough variety to dramatically change up your playstyle depending on who you picked without any character feeling significantly weaker or less fun to play than others.
Characters all start with different weapons, with alternate load-outs being able to be purchased after enough time in the dungeons. Powerful spellbooks are paired with bows and dual swords to switch up how you cut your way through evil minions. Each weapon also receives unique augments in dungeon runs, so playing two matches in a row with the same weapon won’t feel the same.
The roguelike elements are executed phenomenally well and make each level feel unique even after multiple playthroughs, as any good roguelike should. Each level is procedurally generated, so you really won’t be playing the same level twice even if you fail. Unlike a lot of roguelikes though you’re not expected to begin at the start of a vast campaign after dying, with each level being an increasingly difficult stage of 10 or more rooms and a few boss fights that can be challenged independently each time.
Each room in these stages offers the chance for a weapon augment or special perk to mix up how you challenge enemies, typical of many roguelike games. I found the variety to be a little bit lacking and the effects a bit underwhelming compared to some of the whacky abilities of other roguelikes, but they certainly get the job done and you can still make some interesting builds with them. The game also offers ability augmentations and pieces of gear with strong buffs that change how you approach the level or even effect the boons dropped at the end of each stage.
In a typical level you’ll face two bosses, each thematically relevant with the last boss of the stage being a minion of the big bad who offers a neat little monologue before facing.
Inter-level progression is done through character levels. Gaining xp on a character will eventually level them up — leading to a little celebration in their character portrait — which permanently increases their stats. Leveling is a great reason to take your favorite character back to previous stages, helping newer players clear early parts of the game giving you valuable xp that can help you take on later areas.
In addition to leveling, the home screen provides you with a number of ways to buff your characters and increase the drop rates or effects you find in dungeons. This is done with a currency that you find in levels and again adds to the replayability of the game.
I found the challenging nature of the game really rewarding, with each level getting progressively more difficult with more and more waves of enemies with stronger attacks to take on. This is counterbalanced with stronger and rarer perks dropping, to give you a fighting chance against the ever increasing horde. While the game can be played solo, you’ll definitely appreciate having one or two party members in the more difficult stages where the numbers can help quite a bit.
My two biggest gripes with the game are the time it takes to revive your allies and the length of spawn times for foes. I understand death should be stressful, but the ten seconds you have to spend standing still to revive a friend feels a little too punishing to be fun. As levels get longer and more and more enemies begin to spawn in a single room, the long time it takes for foes to get the memo and actually enter the ring can lead to a lot of downtime and waiting around. I would prefer the enemies come out a bit faster to keep the pacing of the game exciting and fast.
What can be said about the characters and art direction of MythForce that you haven’t already thought for yourself looking at these screenshots? The game is gorgeous, with its unique art direction beautifully translated into its graphics and world design. The characters are phenomenal as well, though on occasion you may hear the same interaction between two characters two, three, or four times in a row — as if they’re making absolutely sure you caught wind of that interesting lore.
Probably the most powerful tool MythForce has at its disposal is its near-infinite horizon. The game has as much room for future expansions, updates, levels and characters as a classic action cartoon does, where almost anything can be made up and implemented with ease. With the game’s non-linear, roguelike design and replayability, and the fact that all cosmetics and upgrades are earned in-game and without microtransactions, the game not only has a ton of room for future content — be it costumes, new characters, new levels or weapons — but is actually set up to execute on new updates perfectly. I would be shocked if there isn’t a ton of content on this game’s horizon to keep fans playing for a very long time.
The Final Word
MythForce is a truly unique and exceptionally fun co-op game that I’ll be logging a ton of playtime into in the near future. The clever combination of cooperative shooter and roguelike mechanics paired with a super unique presentation make for a game that is as memorable and interesting as it is fun to play. With near-infinite possibilities for future expansion and no microtransactions, MythForce is a game that could be a staple in your library for years to come.
9.5
Try Hard Guides was provided with a PC review copy of this game. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles in the Game Reviews section of our website! MythForce is available on Steam, Epic Games, Nintendo Switch, Xbox and Playstation.