Dungeon Nightmares II

Dungeon Nightmares II, a horror game that’s almost too good to be an indie title, and yet it is. K Monkey might as well have struck gold with this one because even though it’s still in development, it’s totally great.

In short, it’s a horror game that’s played from a first-person perspective, it features procedurally generated levels and an uber creepy atmosphere. You play the role of a woman who finds herself in a loophole of horror as she wakes up every night screaming and terrified. What happened is up for you to find out.

Waking up in an almost pitch black room, exiting to a long and dark hallway that’s drenched in an unsettling silence, yeah, Dungeon Nightmares II is extra creepy from the first seconds of gameplay. And the best part is yet to follow because it’s that kind of game in which the tension constantly builds up as you play.

Dungeon Nightmares II uses all the right stuff to immerse you into an unsettling environment. Visually, the lighting is very good, world design and details are well crafted but most of the scare factor is given by the near flawless audio. This game builds a tense atmosphere using some of the best sound effects you can find in an indie game and even a triple A title gets a run for its money.

The creek in the metal doors as they open, the thumps, the swinging chains, the voices, every little sound is crisp, clear, wonderfully engineered to raise the hair on your back. Not playing this game with headphones would be sacrilege to the genre.

From the moment you leave your small room, Dungeon Nightmares II takes over your senses and converts most of them to fear. It sounds like it’s a bit over the top to say so but give it a few minutes, you won’t be able to argue.

Horror games generally use darkness and the unknown to get your imagination to work against you and that’s also the case in Dungeon Nightmares II. Scares are delivered when you least expect it and since every time you start the game, the levels are procedurally generated, the element of surprise is an unfortunate (but great) constant.

There are also plenty of details that can creep you out, like pictures with eyes that follow your movement in the dark, sacrificial and torture tools, and more. However, the skeletons don’t look all that great, they seem a bit too glowy, but they make up for that with how they kill you. If you want to see what I mean, spark your lighter when you’re near them. You’re welcome.

On a closing note, Dungeon Nightmares II is excellent from nearly all perspectives. Visually it could use some improvement in certain aspects but it makes up greatly with gameplay and atmosphere. It’s still in the works and it has come a long way since its early days.

The good news is that it has been Greenlit by the Steam community and it’s a big step forward. Visit the Dungeon Nightmares II Greenlight page to find out more.