Mad King Redemption Game Pass review: three devs, two biomes, one gorgeous brawler
First off, i love fresh indie teams in a world of overpriced AAA slop. So when Mad King Redemption came on my radar, i thought, sure, let’s give it a try. (i needed to hit 250k Gamerscore, so the more the merrier.) Secret Mission are a self-funded team of three industry veterans based in Berlin, and this is their debut, which makes what they’ve pulled off here all the more impressive.
“Secret Mission are a self-funded team of three industry veterans based in Berlin”
Worth knowing before we go any further: Mad King Redemption is in Early Access, on Xbox and Game Pass as well as Steam. Two of its four regions are live, the Mad King himself isn’t fightable yet, and the full release is targeted for early 2027, with the rest of the kingdom and four more heroes arriving as free updates. So everything below is a verdict on what’s here now.
To begin, the game is gorgeous. It has that old school Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, Altered Beast pixel side scroller look, set against pre-rendered backgrounds straight out of Diablo 2. The team really nailed it. i can’t stress how nice this game looks, the 2.5D map layouts, the destruction physics that appear rotoscoped, the eerie glow of acid. Chef’s kiss.
“i can’t stress how nice this game looks”
The setup is a classic. The kingdom of Aldermere has fallen after its King turned to forbidden magic to bring his dead queen back to life, and lost his mind in the process. You play one of the Brotherhood, four heroes each carrying a sin of their own, and the twist is you’re not there to slay him. You’re there to redeem him, and yourselves. Hence the name.
You start off by picking a character: Valraven the Swordmaster, Branok the Wrestler, Darkblade the Assassin or Elowen the Sorcerer. i went for Darkblade, as in games like these i tend to prefer agility builds, evading damage and dishing out fast attacks with quicker recovery. Though it does seem the game is weighted in favour of Branok, who has mid range agility but great defence and attack.
Gameplay wise, it’s your classic side scrolling brawler, Streets of Rage, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles type stuff, so nothing really new there. But the retro arcade vibe is exactly what they were going for, they’re not trying to reinvent the wheel. And in true arcade fashion there’s local two-player co-op, though online is still on the roadmap, so your partner in crime will need to be on the sofa.
“Gameplay wise, it’s your classic side scrolling brawler, Streets of Rage, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles type stuff”
That being said, the abilities have a little twist. The powerful ones, courtesy of the Mad King himself, don’t pull from a pool of mana. They cause corruption instead, with a bar tracking how corrupted your character is that decays over time. When it fills, you enter a Corrupted Phase with huge power and speed boosts… at a cost. When it ends, you crash, stunned and taking a chunk of damage.
After each round, stage and area you also gain buffs and abilities that change every run, allowing for different combos and playstyles, much like other games in the genre, ranging from food buffs to run speed and jump skills. You can also find mounts to use as temporary battle buddies.
During your dungeon runs there are some cool little mechanics that break up the punch, punch, move monotony side scrolling roguelikes fall prey to. Evading an ever-rising pool of glowing acid before it envelops you, for example. Fighting off enough waves of enemies before the ceiling comes down and crushes you. And of course, elevators, because elevators always mean waves of enemies dropping from the sky.
Then there’s the camp, the Brotherhood’s hall, a staple of roguelites and games of a similar making. Here you chat to NPCs (unlocked through quests, from a blacksmith to a gambler) for gradual lore and story drops, while improving spells, buying items and passive buffs, and swapping characters if you fancy.
“The story is literally unfinished. This one could well improve by 1.0”
Writing wise, the game is rather cheesy, and a bit disjointed, but the art and combat are what people are here for. It’s just worth knowing the story doesn’t quite hit Hollow Knight or Absolum levels of clarity, twists and writing. In fairness, each hero’s arc unlocks biome by biome and half the biomes aren’t in yet, so the story is literally unfinished. This one could well improve by 1.0.
Is it worth it?
Admittedly, Mad King Redemption has dropped at an unfortunate time, with similar roguelikes flooding Game Pass and Steam right now. It seems the only games being released these days are roguelikes or survival games. But i wholeheartedly recommend it for roguelike lovers who mainly play the genre, for that frankly gorgeous art style, and to support indie devs. Secret Mission have made a fun little game. It just happens to be a roguelike at a time when everything is. And on Game Pass, trying it costs you nothing but an evening.
Reviewed on Xbox Series X. ~3 hours played. Early Access build. Played via Xbox Game Pass subscription
