I liked this game right from go. A little buggy? Sure. Go back and play Altered Beast and tell me that felt finished. After everybody and their dog whined and complained about how their FOURTEEN DOLLAR GAME wasn't perfect, the developers went back to it, and made something that is absolutely awesome. Best game I've played since Ninja Gaiden 2.
Totally sweet.

Achievement in 'Slain: Back from Hell‘
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Several months after the initial release you can definitely say that 'Slain: Back from Hell‘ has gone a very interesting path: back in march critics totally 'slayed‘ the game, branding it as a bug-ridden mess with bulky gameplay and a massive lack of variation that was overall more a lame attempt on side-scrolling-arcade-games from the 80’s and 90’s than a great memorial.

However the game provided one aspect that even a lot of bigger and better games miss: a team of developers that was willing to see bad decisions and did their best to improve the game. They started releasing lots of updates and fixes to improve nearly every aspect of the game and listened to the (small) community: the gameplay was improved and the fights became more diversified, they re-wrote the mostly 'meh‘ dialogues, eliminated most of the bugs and added some more content to improve the games‘ overall length (e.g. additional bosses).

At least once a week there was a new update and now in August they re-released the game as 'Slain: Back from Hell‘ (and even handed out a gift key copy for persons who already bought it). And to cut a long story short: their work was not in vain, Slain has improved massively over the last months.
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One thing that can be seen easily is that the graphic style and the design definitely looks beautiful. It‘s not only colorful and dark at the same time but it also fits the overall metal-gore style perfectly. In combination with the (mostly badass) metal Soundtrack Slain is definitely an interesting retro-arcade-adventure for ears and eyes.
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Take your sword and start slicing skeletons, witches and other demonic beings into little bits while trying not to be killed by their weapons, spells or some nasty traps. Every now and then you're confronted with a jumping passage or a boss fight to bring some diversity to the way you die.

The battle system comes with charged attacks, blocking, riposte and some charged mana attacks and you will definitely need their help to get further in this hellish realms. At first some timings and hitboxes seem a bit weird but you get used to it pretty fast and then the system feels easy and comfortable – there’s not much to complain about though I’d have liked some more depth and additional weapons (the metal sword, the fire blade and the ice axe feel quite alike).

As the difficulty is set pretty high you will see the 'You have been SLAIN‘ screen a lot. Everything (aside from probably one or two NPC) wants to kill you and the enemies and traps are quite capable of doing so. You’ll die a lot and if you plan to get all of the achievements you can say goodbye to your nerves and patience - the menu option 'Restarting from Checkpoint‘ will become your best friend when trying to beat some nasty bosses without taking damage (...yeah, I'm talking about you Mother Beholder).

The overall length of the game is approximately around five or six hours. Sadly there’s not much replay value aside from some hidden talisman parts and the achievements. Some more hidden rooms and stuff to explore would have been an interesting addition to the game.
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As already mentioned the levels are quite linear and there’s nearly nothing to explore. That'S a shame as they look very interesting and have a bit of lore there would have been a nice potential for additional paths, rooms and secrets. Moreover there are some annoyingly hard passages due to spamming mobs or difficult ambushes. This can be very frustrating and even if you're used to challenging titles and tough sequences, you will probably end in hating the game or at least some areas as much as you like other parts.

In addition the game comes with some achievements that are real nightmares as well. One example here is to finish the whole game without loosing a life. Sure…
...I love challenges but that sounds like a total nope.
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Slain is a great example to show what happens when developers care about their game. After their failure with the initial launch of the game (they released it early due to internal problems) they accepted their mistakes and made lots of patches. Now the game is very different compared to the first release and it’s finally the game it should have been from the start: a nice little homage to oldschool arcade-action adventures.

Maybe the Metascore of 44 was deserved during the first release, however now the game is a lot of fun, the developers care about their product and still continue to support it. Now I’d give the game at least an 7.5 out of 10. Because I bloody love gory-retro-hellish-viking-styled fantasy-metal-monster-slayers (...even with some flaws and a lack of depth).

By the way: your character is able to headbang to celebrate the victorious slaying of a boss and his hair is definitely fabulous. Metal as f*ck.

This endorsement was approved by The Reviewers' Union, providing better standards for reviews and reviewers.

This game is metal as ♥♥♥♥. If you're metal. Try this ♥♥♥♥ out.

Its really good now. Reminds me of classics like altered beast/shadow of the beast.

If u played SotN back in the day and loved it...If u r still playing it...Then BUY this one!

I wasn't around when the game originally released, so I have no idea why it was broken back then, and why it received so many terrible reviews.

All I can say is that this game is an awesome action platformer that is very similar to Volgar the Viking.
It doesn't do anything groundbreaking, but what it does it does very well.
The pixel art is gorgeous, the soundtrack is amazing, the controls are spot on, the level design is good but nothing special and the bossfights are fun and challenging.

This game gets a solid 7/10 from me, and more people should play it.
The game isn't very lengthy but it more than makes up for that in terms of difficulty and pricing.

If you're not easily frustrated with difficult games, go ahead and buy it!

Slain had a rough release, but, unlike other games, the developers worked day and night to improve the game. In a few weeks, it was fixed and the recent reviews reflect the job well done

This game resembles SNES games - simple to play, no tutorial ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥t, straight to action, no difficulty options. Speaking of difficulty, this game is hard. The traps and enemies were carefully placed to give you challenge, and learning how to balance defense and offense is the only way to overcome some of the monsters

The pixel graphics are amazing. The character, monsters, stages and effects look impressive, and everything blends well. And the metal theme adds extra flavor to it (the soundtrack is pretty good)

The boss fights are all about learning the patterns and striking in the moments of opportunity, a la Dark Souls. Timing your dodges and parries is an important key to victory

There are several weapons, and each of them is strong against a certain kind of enemy. Magic is balanced just right - it's neither too strong nor too weak

The only con I can come up with is the length of the game. It has a few stages only, and no replayability

The price is just right, and don't hesitate to buy it during a sale

Slain is a nice and difficult jump&run with super atmospheric and detailed pixel art.

!!!ATTENTION: Former issues with the controls were patched out, along with other bugfixes so the earlier reviews are not up-to date!!!

Please give Slain a chance if you like a challenge and like tactical combat.
You will die a lot but the game is always fair and you have a chance to adapt your strategies. The checkpoints are somewhat balanced, too.

The Atmosphere is good, too with it's gritty and dark bloody themes.

The pixel-art is absolutely GORGEOUS!

You should definately check this out if you like these side scrolling games, with a little more focus on the combat-system.

This game is cocaine......

This game made me write my first review, look at that!!!

Why you should buy it:

-Great pixel art(Just this by itself is enough to buy this game)
-Cool soundtrack
-Nice level design, not too hard and not too easy, enjoyable
-Solid mechanic and fun to play( Bought it after patch released and it is really good!)

Why you shouldn't buy it:
- You are into high end triple A games and you don't want to support cool indie developers.


Support them so we will see the sequel.
\m/