Endless Dungeon is Dungeon of the Endless reimagined

Don’t get confused, it’s actually two different games

Amplitude’s Endless universe is home to several excellent turn-based strategy games as well as the charming and fiendishly difficult roguelike tower defense game Dungeon of the Endless. The upcoming Endless Dungeon isn’t so similarly named for nothing – it shares a lot of DNA with its predecessor. Like, really a whole lot. Ptolemaic dynasty levels of DNA-sharing. For reference, here’s their family tree.

Just like Dungeon of the Endless, Endless Dungeon is at its core a tower defense game: You’re stranded on an abandoned space station and need to progress through its levels to escape. On the way, you open lots of rooms that contain enemies, resources, treasure, and lots of building slots for you to build generators and turrets in. To progress to the next level, you’ll need to get your energy crystal to a specific room in one piece, but of course hordes of enemies will try to stop you from achieving that – it’s like an escort mission in a shooter, only you had the chance to prepare for it with a bunch of towers.

The moody lighting of the space station is looking especially beautiful in action / Amplitude

Speaking of shooting, aside from the overhauled visuals – Dungeon of the Endless’ charming pixel art graphics have been replaced by good-looking 3D art – the way your characters fight is the biggest change in comparison to the previous game. Endless Dungeon is a full top-down shooter, so you’re now actively involved in the action instead of simply steering your characters, which are attacking automatically.

Everything else will be familiar to you: You can upgrade your gear, add certain damage types to your repertoire, research brand-new turrets and building types, and either face the dangers of the dungeon all by yourself or call in help from your friends in three player co-op.

Just like the predeccessor, Endless Dungeon features a ton of very unique characters / Amplitude

One thing quickly got clear when I tried the title at gamescom 2023: It’s just as challenging as the first game, so expect to die… a lot. Which is fine, because it’s a roguelike and every death leads to more weapon and character upgrades. If you liked Dungeon of the Endless, then Endless Dungeon will feel like a return home to you – you’ll be familiar with everything despite the visual makeover and some new mechanics. Are these new elements enough to attract a new crowd? Possibly.

It definitely feels a little bit more involved to pull the trigger yourself and it’s nice to experience how all the different weapons behave first hand – and there’s quite some variety here, since every character comes with their own equipment and abilities. Naturally, you'll want to try and not miss all of your shots or get a good position to make use of a weapon with a piercing effect. It adds some fresh challenges into the mix.

Endless Dungeon will be released on October 19, 2023, on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S as well as Nintendo Switch at a later date. For more news and coverage from this year’s gamescom, please visit videogames.si.com.