There are worse things in life than working for Death itself, as you will be doing in Undead Horde 2: Necropolis. Stepping into the rotten shoes of the Undead King, you will raise minions from the dead and command them against the hordes of the despicable and untrustworthy living beings, from humans to elves. We all know the living can’t be trusted, so it’s time to rebuild the Necropolis back from the ashes and rule the land in this action RPG with a hint of real-time strategy. It’s as if Dungeon Keeper and Overlord had an evil and vengeance-prone baby, and it doesn’t take any prisoners.

The Dead Can Die

A sequel to the 2019 game, Undead Horde 2 doesn’t mess around with a formula that worked; instead, it adds content and polish to make it the definite version of what the developers originally envisioned.

Slowly but surely, the Necromancer in you will join Death in a bid to rebuild the Necropolis. Devastated by the attacks of the living, your aim is to rise again and spread the grasp of the undead as you cleanse land after land, restore building after building, and expand your army to more than 100 followers at a time, out of a pool of 20 different units.

The Undead King is the character that you control directly, running across the land and zooming around faster when out of combat for a few seconds. You have access to many different weapons, from swords to daggers, staffs, hammers, and much more, being capable of carrying two different weapons simultaneously, one melee and one ranged. You also get a couple of active skills that give you a nice boost of various kinds, courtesy of the runes system.

Naturally, fighting alone isn’t as exciting or effective as having an army of skeletons, ghouls, and banshees willing to sacrifice their lives for you – yes, the dead can indeed die, but the Necromancer has this extremely handy power of raising the undead. From the bones of the fallen warriors or graves scattered across the land, this ability is vital to keep a significant number of followers around. There is a short cooldown after each raising session, but you can do it even in the middle of a battle if your timing is right.

Undead Horde 2 would be extremely easy if you could raise an infinite number of troops to aid you; however, there is a limit to the horde you get to order around, called the command cap, which you can increase as you progress, and even double with the help of a very handy book. You must also be aware that after a certain time your summoned fiends will gradually vanish, requiring you to raise a new batch of creatures regularly.

There’s an interesting twist that will make you consider your choices carefully, as unit hierarchy plays a crucial role here. You can have a larger number of inferior units such as skeleton warriors, but when you recruit a stronger unit such as a banshee, it will take more space from the command gauge, which means you get to take less units. The rule here is simple: more weaker units or less stronger units. A neat compromise between numbers and strength is what you need to be successful, but the great thing about this system is that you can take the approach you desire before tackling each one of the many regions.

City of the Dead

Clearing regions of enemies and buildings will reward you with one soul that you can bring back to the Necropolis. These souls, also known as commoners, can be assigned to houses of different units to give you a specific boost, not to mention that your city will see its structures restored and given a brand-new but still slightly ghoulish look.

Other times, you will find effigies of varied undead creatures that you use in the Shrine of Effigies, allowing you to raise them while adventuring, up to five different types. A handy scroll function lets you pick the desired unit when you are about to raise the undead, so choose wisely.

The Necropolis is a resourceful hub for everything undead, including a merchant that will gladly sell you weapons and staffs for the right amount of gold. If you’re feeling encumbered and don’t want to sell some of your arsenal and items, a handy stash is available to keep everything safe for later.

Each time you level up by completing quests, you are introduced to a selection of three different cards. You can pick one of them after carefully considering their pros and cons, from adding more health, additional melee damage, or increasing your command cap, among others.

When fighting your way in the Omnirealm, where the action unfolds, your Undead King has a couple of simple orders to his minions: attack and return. It’s not uncommon for some of the units to become lost while trying to circle an obstacle, but this is an early access version and things may improve in this area.

What’s more concerning is the somewhat clunky and unrewarding feeling of using our melee weapon. The attacks are slow-paced, even with a weapon with decent stats, and the hit detection is flimsy, as if it fails to register some of your swings. Sadly, this means that your intervention during the battles isn’t as exciting as it should be, almost too mechanical to be enjoyed in a sense that this hack and slash part of the game is where you’ll be spending most of your time. Hopefully there will be some changes leading up to the official launch in 2023.

Be Quick or Be Dead

An interesting melting pot of ideas, Undead Horde 2: Necropolis is an appealing take on the still uncommon dark side of the good versus evil fight. While the combat mechanics leave something to be desired and the regions may feel somewhat lackluster in terms of graphical bells and whistles, this is nonetheless a well-rounded, appealing offer that improves as you unlock more and more options.

If being bad is your thing, give Undead Horde 2: Necropolis a go and rejoice on the prospect of having an endless army of monsters ready to die for you, like the loyal rotten subjects they are.

Pros

• Summoning undead minions is a rare treat
• Appealing mix of city building, RPG, and hack’n’slash

Cons

• Melee combat is somewhat basic
• Graphics are mostly average

Rating: 7/10