UnderMine

Genre: Top-Down Action-RPG / Roguelike

Players: 1

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Review:

UnderMine, released on PC and Xbox One in 2020 and ported to PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in 2021, is a Top-Down Action-RPG with strong Roguelike elements that has players delving down into a randomized series of caves rescuing trapped miners, hunting for treasure, and searching for the cause of mysterious earthquakes. And I’ll cut to the chase right now – this game is a lot like The Binding of Isaac with melee attacks instead of projectiles, with only half the charm and a third of the variety.

To be clear, saying this game only has half the charm isn’t meant to say that this is a bland experience – this game has some fun characters, particularly the slime-like Pilfers who gleefully steal anything of value you leave lying on the ground for more than a few seconds, and the NPC characters who all seem at best only mildly concerned with the prospect of your character dying and being replaced by the next in a long line of expendable protagonists. However, while none of this is boring, it doesn’t hold a candle to Isaac’s screwed-up religious symbolism and extreme irreverence.

Anyway, Undermine’s presentation is very good, but nothing that truly stands out, featuring decent pixel art visuals, repetitive locales with a lot of browns and greys, and a nice but not especially noteworthy soundtrack that underlines the fantasy-esque “adventure” tone of the game.

The gameplay, also, seems “very good, but nothing that truly stands out”. All of the elements that made Binding of Isaac a success are all here, including randomized upgrades, bombs and keys that players hoard to gain access to otherwise inaccessible rooms and chests, risky choices where players trade off life points for other bonuses. And UnderMine even adds Roguelite elements that allow players to purchase permanent upgrades in between runs.

Unfortunately, each of these elements is just a tad underwhelming. The melee combat is stiff, slow, and not especially fun. The Roguelike elements do little to shake up the gameplay like it does in Isaac. And the Roguelite elements have some pretty slow progression that keeps that from being a truly compelling part of the game.

To be clear, UnderMine is still quite fun, and it mostly does a good job of pulling from Binding of Isaac’s formula to be engaging while still providing something different enough to be unique. But it’s hard to play this game after Binding of Isaac and not notice plenty of little ways this game could be better. Still, if you’re a fan of action-packed Roguelikes, UnderMine will likely be worth a look – its positive qualities far outweigh its negatives.

tl;dr – UnderMine is an Action-RPG with Roguelike elements where players fight through hordes of enemies in a randomized mine, hunting for treasure and gradually building up their expendable succession of adventurers. It’s a solid Roguelike, but it can’t hold a candle to the likes of games like The Binding of Isaac, which it stands in the shadow of. Still, if you’re a fan of the genre, it should be worth a look.

Grade: B

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