Have you ever wanted to manage your own little dungeon full of evil creatures that you can slap around? Well, then the Dungeons series is the your best option! (If you ignore the original Dungeon Keeper games) The 4th entry in the series is coming out next month, and we took a look at the demo available during Steam Next Fest. Will this Dungeons game be a keeper, or will it fail to reach the levels of its predecessors? Let's find out! 

A Dark Tale, Not to be Taken Seriously

This is a story about a man named Stanley. Stanley is the protagonist of the aptly named "The Stanley Parable", a game that has absolutely zero bearing on this one aside from both being narrated by Kevan Brighting, who also provided narration for Dungeons II and III. Stanley is only here because the author of this article thinks he's very clever by making this reference. He's not. With his purpose fulfilled, Stanley went home and the article continued as normal.

Er-hem. The story of Dungeons 4 focuses on The Absolute Evil and its first lieutenant, the Dark Elf Thalya. The story is a continuation of Dungeons III, with characters being motivated by actions Thalya performed in the previous game. That said, the story does not take itself seriously at all, with multiple characters constantly making jokes even when the moment would call for a more serious tone.


Thalya, the Dark Elf, sitting on her majestic throne.

This is the point where I'd mention the breaking of the 4th wall, but that would imply there was one there in the first place. During the demo, Thalya would constantly get into arguments with the narrator itself, even getting crucial information from him. Overall, the humour of the game will be hit or miss for most, but it's a fine time if you don't expect to take the story seriously.

In terms of a narrative itself, there's not much going on in the demo. Thalya marches with an army against her step-brother in the first mission, gets captured in the second, and isn't saved until the 4th, at which point the demo ends. It's clear that this slice of the game is more geared towards showcasing the mechanics rather than the story.

No, No, No, The Treasury Goes to the Left of the Graveyard

In terms of genre, the Dungeons series is a hybrid game, mashing together a real-time strategy with the core gameplay of Dungeon Keeper. The main gameplay loop sees you building up your underground dungeon alongside your army, before sending them forth in the overworld to conquer the enemy. The two genres mesh together quite well, and the game is not really a challenge on the easiest difficulty, which I decided to stay on since I'm not an RTS player.

The demo is split into 4 missions. The first one is dedicated exclusively to the overworld gameplay, getting you used to the real-time controls. The dungeon building comes into play in missions 2-4, with each mission dedicated to a faction you can research during dungeon building: Horde, who specialize in building traps; Demons, who give the player access to castable spells; and Undead, who can resurrect fallen allies and are more numerous.


You, too, can have a dungeon as crammed as this one.

The three factions are kept separate during the demo, but one would expect the ability to mix and match them in later missions during the full game. The gameplay loop comes together nicely, though it's worth noting that each mission takes quite a while. The full demo clocked in at around 2.5 hours. If we assume the first mission is shorter and only took 30 minutes, then each mission would be about 40 minutes.

One highlight from the demo was the soundtrack. The music is fittingly atmospheric when digging into the dungeon or traversing the overworld, but it turns into an upbeat rock track whenever you engage in combat with enemies.

In terms of negatives, the camera is way too close to the player, not letting you zoom out to see the full map. There's apparently a way to fix it in III, but I couldn't find it here at a glance. There were also a few stutters near the start of the game, but either they went away or I didn't notice them anymore. Other than that, the game is a good time for casual strategy fans and those who want to play a modern version of Dungeon Keeper.

Dungeons 4 is expected to release on November 9, 2023. In the meantime, you can get the previous games on Steam, though it might be a good idea to skip the first, as it wasn't received as well as its successors and those improve on it greatly.

What do you think of Dungeons 4? Are you excited for it come out? Let us know in the comments below!