Developer: Chipsonsteroids Publisher: Pixel Heart SAS Release: 03/21/25 Genre: Action
Also on: Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series
The spectrum of indie games that reference many of the legendary titles we grew up with is wide. There are legions of Contra clones, 2d beat em ups, and even Mega Man is starting to inspire many an action platformer. But there are few that pattern themselves after Ghouls ‘n Ghosts. To an extent I can kind of see why. That style of action game requires a huge amount of patience that I do not think many have today. Gladmort is the poster child for this. Gladmort nails the gameplay it was going for. The question is the game worth the frustration?
Gladmort takes place in a kingdom under siege. The Red Plague has infected the population, raising the dead and creating undead monsters. They band together under the Lord of Darkness and terrorize the world for months. In a last ditch effort the king uses a relic to summon the black knight Gladmort to save them. However he is just as evil as the monsters and does not have the best of intentions. Is the cure worse than the disease?
Gladmort was designed as if Ghouls ‘n Ghosts were created for the Neo Geo. Its technical limitations were designed around that platform making it as authentic as possible. From its brief tutorial to its aesthetic it will instantly remind you of Arthur’s brutal adventures. In fact its initial release was limited to 300 copies for the Neo Geo before eventually being ported to the Dreamcast and Steam. Truly some of the strangest platform choices you can imagine. It is now available on modern platforms so it is more readily available. But you might want to read up about it first…..
Mechanically the game takes after Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts heavily. Gladmort is wearing armor he loses when hit and can only take two hits before death. He can double jump and attack in four directions as well. There are no hidden chests in the environment like that game however; all chests are out in the open. If you have armor already rather than an upgrade instead you will potentially receive a new weapon. It is here where the game begins to differ.
There are six weapons in Gladmort: throwing axes, a spear, the flail, shuriken, arrows, and a hatchet. Once you acquire a weapon it is a permanent part of your inventory you can switch at any time. This is cool as each weapon has strengths and weaknesses. The axe is the default and is large but slow. You can only fire a single arrow at a time but they can pierce multiple enemies. The hatchet is a melee weapon and offsets its range by being the most powerful. Acquiring weapons is the issue. You must have armor when you find a chest and it is random. It is entirely possible to receive a weapon you already have which sucks. The luck of the draw also means you might have to make do with a terrible load out, which in a game this challenging makes an already difficult journey that much harder.
The name of the game is killing you as fast as possible. Initially Gladmort makes a good first impression. The pace is measured, checkpoints are spaced properly, and in general it is a little predictable. But by stage three it shifts and begins to stumble. This overly long stage starts out with an auto scrolling sequence that has blind jumps and an awful pace that will lead to cheap deaths. Its second half features respawning demons and bad enemy placement aplenty. The last two levels increase these factors significantly and it feels like brutality for the sake of it. The drop in quality is noticeable and any evidence of the thoughtful design of the intro evaporates. What the hell happened?
If there is one thing Gladmort has taught me it is that my patience for this style of platforming is at an all-time low. This formula is one of the hardest to get right. Capcom’s famous series works because even though it is cruel you can see where you failed and how to correct it. Gladmort, with its myriad leaps of faith, respawning enemies, and lackluster level design does not hit that mark. The game is overly fond of gotcha moments to an insane degree. Trial and error is a part of the game but it is not enjoyable when it is this frustrating. It is a damn shame too as they nail the boss battles, too bad the journey to these encounters is fraught with aggravation.
In Closing
Gladmort tries hard to be the Neo Geo Ghosts ‘n Goblins sequel we never received but misses the mark. It has the look and feel but lacks the nuance that makes that series great. With a little more polish it could have been solid. As it is this is a classic case of good ideas, bad execution.
