ThePlexusPlays

In okhlos, you are a philosopher controlling the mob against the gods. Telling the mob when to attack, defend, scatter, or collapse into itself is the only way you can fight against the gods. The mob itself consists of citizens ( the balanced unit), Athenian soldiers (the defensively minded unit), spartans (the offensive minded unit), slaves (can carry items), philosophers (control the mob), animals (useless), and heroes. Heroes are a bit different compared to the other unit classes. They are the only unit class that will add passive buffs (with some having a negative buff as well), increase the mob size, do some special ability. The game isn’t hard to pick up. You point to where you want the mob to move and click to get them to attack or defend. But as I played okhlos more and more, I found that the game mechanics allowed for a deeper experience. I began to figure out how i wanted my mob to be distributed (unit wise), what heroes would benefit me more, how I should fight enemies, timing of animations, and much more. Items became much more important as I continued as well. There are only 4 basic items that the game offers: A bomb, a shield (provides invulnerability), meat (for healing), and a ghost helmet (which spawns ghost units to fight in your mob). When and how these items get used became more important and sometimes meant the difference between continuing a run and dying. The level design of Okhlos also has a level of complexity that adds depth to an otherwise simple design. You progress through the level by defeating the enemies in a subset of the level. These “rooms” are randomized to a degree. There won’t be a set number of enemies or types of enemies in a specific “room”, but you can pick up on trends that a level will **** levels eventually began to dictate how I controlled my mob. Early levels consisted of simple challenges: avoid the giant bear traps, don’t get **** into a whirlpool, etc…. The later levels challenges could be a border of lava surrounding each “room”, making me have tighter control of my mob, or water coming from the river styx that would discourage my mob. The main meat of any level are the enemies and the boss. The enemies provide a decent amount of variety, but after 2-3 runs I felt like I had each enemy figured out. Now what kept me on my toes was the combination of enemies that the game can throw at you. Particularly in the later levels, the game begins to mix up some deadly combos. Despite this, I still wish the game had more variety in the end. Bosses provided a similar experience to the enemies of the game. The initial encounter was interesting, but for the most part you figure out how to deal with them quickly. Usually the bosses wouldn’t cause me to stumble but rather the number of enemies that fought with the boss. Even then, I never got the sense that I was in any immediate danger unless the “room” was filled to the brim (over 30+ enemies and the boss). The boss variety comes from seeing how they incorporated battle mechanics based on the different personalities of the gods. For instance, Aphrodite passively attacks by taking control of units (by shooting hearts) and summoning monsters to fight for her. While hermes uses quick teleportation to navigate the “room” while using quick attacks. Secret bosses are also available in Okhlos. Just like the bosses, these are themed very well and show some great variety, but ultimately became stale as they became predictable. What made the gameplay satisfying and easy to just pick up another round was the mob management. I could create an excellent starting team, but would never know how it would look by the end of my run. The large amount of different heroes really makes the player look at what kind of mob can extend the run. Not only that, heroes can be purchased with units beings the currency. The player has to constantly question, “Is giving up these spartans really worth a hero? Is my balance thrown off by getting this hero? Do I give the units up for other units? Will the ability really help me out?” This dilemma kept me coming back run after run. The soundtrack by "a shell in the pit" was also a fantastic addition. The music drove me forward to cause carnage on the city. Each song is unique and easily distinguishable yet keeps a consistent sound across the whole game. I really enjoyed listening to it throughout the game. Although you will be hearing it a lot as the songs are replayed every time you start a new run. Overall, Okhlos was a fun experience. The runs can last from 15 minutes to an hour and a half. In about the 6 hours that I’ve played so far, I’ve fought most of the bosses, fought all the enemies, found about half the secret bosses. The game really relies on the sheer number of heroes for different experiences each run. Despite finding/fighting a lot in a short time, I still feel like I can play more without it being a slog.