Death lurks everywhere – review of the game “Dead Cells” in the Android version

One of the best independent platformers in recent years has recently hit mobile devices. Is this a good opportunity to see the work of Motion Twin?

The convenience of the genre

All sorts of croissants seem to be made for playing on the go. These games are usually distinguished by frequent and permanent death of the character (meaning reset of progress), which makes them ideal for short sessions, e.g. while driving a tram. It is no different with Dead Cells by Motion Twin. For a long time, only owners of Nintendo Switch consoles had the option of portable games. Over time, however, the production also appeared on iPads, and recently the title hit Android devices, thus opening up to a huge number of potential users, and it is this version that I wanted to focus on today. At the beginning, I must admit that the creators faced a real challenge, because Dead Cells belongs to the games that put a lot of emphasis on the dexterity of the player and it was certainly not easy to transfer the formula to the touch screens of smartphones and tablets without any problems.

Everything we know

However, the team working on the mobile version did surprisingly well. In terms of content, we are dealing with exactly the same game as for computers and consoles. So the sensational and engaging loop of the game has not changed. The player starts the game in a prison cell as an animated, slightly slimy cluster of cells. Objective: get out and go through a series of boards typical for platformers. It sounds easy and fun, but it’s quite the opposite. Dead Cells adds elements characteristic of soulslike RPGs to the platform formula. So a lot of emphasis was placed on dynamic and demanding combat. Effective attacking requires appropriate dexterity and knowledge of opponents’ behavior, and the character controlled by the player is not particularly durable. In addition, as I mentioned earlier, we are dealing with a croissant, so death (which is very easy to get) forces you to start the game from the beginning (although it’s not really the end, but more on that later). In principle, a simple development system, in which cells dropped from enemies, buys a number of permanent upgrades (e.g. more available health potions, new weapons to obtain). Hook? To spend cells, you must reach the end of the stage, and death takes all goods accumulated but not used. 

A port without being out of breath

The greatest doubts were raised by the adaptation of the controls, which in such a dynamic title is a very important factor affecting the comfort of the game. Fortunately, there is nothing to complain about in this regard. For purists, probably the best option will be to use an external Bluetooth controller (for example, the Xbox One S pad will work), then the experience is basically no different from the “large” version. What is quite surprising, however, is that the touch control turns out to be very convenient. Despite the rather high density of buttons, it is easy to get used to and I did not feel that I was dying through no fault of my own. For less experienced players, there is also a mode in which the basic attack is performed automatically after approaching the opponent at an appropriate distance. At the same time, it does not that the game begins to pass by itself, because the skillful use of the entire range of moves, especially dodging, is still a very important element of the game, without which you can not move. A natural advantage is, of course, the expressive pixelart setting, which in addition means that we should not have problems with smoothly running the game on most modern mobile devices. The interface itself, thanks to a kind of minimalism, works even on smaller screens.

Die on the go

The mobile edition of Dead Cells is a fantastic proposition not only for existing fans of Motion Twin, but simply for all players who spend a lot of time on smartphones and tablets. The mechanics of the game were relatively painlessly adapted to touch screens, and the dynamic formula of roguelite perfectly fits short sessions during breaks or journeys by collective communication. Only the price of around PLN 35 may seem quite high for mobile production, but it is still less than half the amount you need to spend to enjoy the standard version.