Game Review: Undead Horde 2: Necropolis (Xbox Series X)

We had a lot of praise for 10Tons Ltd’s Undead Horde when we reviewed it in April 2022. Describing it as cross between the gameplay of Overlord and the gothic humour of Medievil. A hack and slash dungeon crawler with RPG elements, it showcased deeper gameplay than expected and was both fun and satisfying to play.

Undead Horde 2: Necropolis, smartly, keeps the core mechanic of the game and, for better or worse, the visuals. However, it adds in a number of new things that make it just as much fun to play, and it has even more content.

One such thing is the narrative, Undead Horde 2: Necropolis actually has one. A story that puts the Necromancer in a more ‘heroic’ role, woken from his slumber by Death to save the city of Necropolis. It seems as though the living, through magic, have found a way to capture the souls of the dead and that has caused the city to crumble and fall.

As the Necromancer, you must return to the lands of the living, rescue the souls of the dead, rebuild Necropolis, and punish the pesky living. All done with plenty of dark tongue in cheek humour.

Raise minions and command them to wipe the living out, all while completing quests, collecting treasure, upgrading yourself, your minions, and more. It will all be very familiar to those who played the original game.

Where Undead Horde 2: Necropolis steps out of its predecessor shadow is with the Necropolis angle.

The city serves as a hub, and as the game progresses with more souls saved, it will grow and grow. Townspeople can be assigned to specific minion buildings to enhance their abilities, nobles can be assigned to the townhall to enhance your overall stats, vendors, an anvil for creating special weapons, and even an arena where you can practice your skills and test your hordes out on waves of enemies. It alone adds a ton more depth to the game and actually makes it feel like a ‘living’ and ‘breathing’ world.

Alongside that, the sheer breath of weapons available and the increased number of minion types really allow you to vary up your style of gameplay. Which you’ll have to, as Undead Horde 2: Necropolis has even more levels, with even more unique enemy types and some challenging set-ups. It forces you to experiment with different weapon types, but more importantly, it forces you to switch up what minions you use and when.

Like the first game, the controls are simple and responsive enough. Players control the necromancer and can fight with two weapons, one of which is a magical staff. However, players are discouraged from fighting as the Necromancer can be defeated pretty easily. That’s what minions are for and with a simply press of a button they can be sent to war or recalled to your side with ease. Directing them is also simple enough, even if it doesn’t work quite as well as it should.

It’s always fun to see your horde washing over an army of the living with ease. However, later levels do test and it’s quite common for your progress to be constantly impeded as you need to return to the Necropolis to replenish your horde. Only making small steps forward in dismantling a level’s enemy camps before having to go back again. This can be quite frustrating, made worse if you’ve not unlocked the specific level’s fast travel location too.

It’s these minor complaints that stop Undead Horde 2: Necropolis being a brilliant game, but they’re not enough to ruin another dark and devilish experience.