A Game To Watch: It Lurks Below

The newest game by Greybeard Games, founded by Diablo 1 and 2 creator David Brevik, is more than a little influenced by the likes of Terraria and Minecraft. Taking the form of a 2D survival game with strong action-RPG elements, the game itself is a charming and suitably dark-fantasy experience, with plenty of satisfying action and compelling, addictive gameplay.

On first glance, It Lurks Below has a lot in common with Terraria. Source: In-game screenshot.

The first thing gamers will notice upon booting up It Lurks Below and dropping into the world is its striking similiarity to the likes of Terraria and Starbound; that much is deliberate, the creator himself describes the game as a tribute to the survival genre. But soon, It Lurks Below’s unique identity begins to stamp itself on the player and they will quickly find themselves addicted to the joy of exploring ever-deeper with ever-bigger guns.

Exploring deeper is rewarding, terrifying and intriguing. Source: In-game screenshot.

There is a sense that It Lurks Below has somehow recaptured the joy of playing the survival genre in its heyday. There is something so addictive from learning the ways the game works, from crafting tools to delving down below to face off against demonic hordes. On top of an impactful combat system that is every bit as exciting as the games for which its creator is famed, It Lurks Below’s survival mechanics become intoxicating, and the player feels a sense of growing more powerful by the second, especially as they get to fire off their growing arsenal into the demons.

Another thing interesting about It Lurks Below is its graphical choices. The colour scheme of the game is undeniably demonic, with plenty of reds and browns. Its pixelated characters are reminiscent of many nostalgia-throwback survival games of Terraria’s ilk, but carries enough of its own personality to set itself apart, being in fact more 8-bit styled than 16 bit. Parallax backgrounds make an appearance, as, interestingly, do voxels; look toward the edges of blocks in It Lurks Below and you will find that they are actually rendered in 3D rather than as 2D sprites. The result is visually striking and pleasing, and does a lot to setting the game apart graphically. If only some item textures stuck out more from the drab backgrounds, as sometimes resources like tough grass can be hard to pick out and right click.

As with any survival game, chopping trees is a major part of It Lurks Below. Source: In-game screenshot.

It Lurks Below may be Terraria-like in its execution of the gameplay, but there is plenty right now to set it apart from other games wishing to cash in on the survival bandwagon. Currently, the biggest thing that stands this game out is its combat; in the game, fighting is done by magic ‘wands’ that are actually closer to guns in appearance and in use. But what is truly satisfying about laying waste to demons in It Lurks Below is the impact of the combat; every shot feels powerful and every hit landed feels strong. There is something so satisfying about the way the bullets smack against an enemy that has seldom been matched in other survival games. Diablo 1 and 2 come to mind here, as the two games brought a combat focus to an RPG genre in a way that felt fresh and visceral, and It Lurks Below attempts to do the same here.

Cutting down trees is exciting, as they now have a real felling animation, unlike many survival contemporaries. Source: In-game screenshot.

Perhaps more typical of the genre is It Lurks Below’s current status as a beta game. Currently in closed beta, it remains to be seen whether the game will open itself up as an Early Access experience or if it will go for a tighter development cycle. Either way, the game is compelling enough to be well worth playing, and will be very much worth keeping a close eye on, especially with its developer’s strong, undeniable pedigree in gaming history. It Lurks Below stands poised to bring renewal to a genre accused of being stagnant, and it is all the more important as a result.