Mad King Redemption Preview. A Beat ’Em Up With Roguelike Ambitions

When the developers at Secret Mission Games talked about Mad King Redemption, they pointed to two very different sources of inspiration: classic arcade beat 'em ups like Golden Axe and modern roguelikes with deep progression systems, like Hades. On paper, that sounds very appealing. In practice, though, the game only really delivers on the first promise — it's still a long way from the progression depth of modern roguelikes.

The plot here is set dressing, not a driving force. The king tried to resurrect his dead queen using forbidden magic, lost control over the forces of life and death, and lost his mind in the process. Now he rules his fallen kingdom from a forbidden monastery, while four heroes with dark pasts set out to stop him. Short and simple.

Beating a boss immediately sends you back to camp — no dialogue, no cutscene. The atmosphere, at least, is handled well: the grim tone runs through everything, from enemy design to the death animation, which can see your hero decapitated right on the game-over screen. No fake lightheartedness here. If that kind of aesthetic is your thing, be sure to check out our list of the most brutal and bloody games.

Each of the four heroes has their own special attack and unique ability. Early on, the Warlock tends to lead the pack — his special ability restores health, letting you start every fight at full HP. But once you buy the regeneration passive skill, that edge disappears.

The clear standout of the four is the Swordmaster. His special ability — a block — stops any incoming damage and, more importantly, prevents knockback. That means no falling off the arena, and it can even block boss attacks. His special attack also covers a wide area and lets him keep moving while using it. None of the other heroes have anything like it.

The combat system is well made. Enemies force you to stay alert and react quickly — mindless button-mashing won't get you far. Each character has three combat tools: a basic attack, a special move, and a unique ability that defines their playstyle. Together, these three set the pace of a fight: the basic attack keeps up the pressure, the special move lets you land a big hit or heal up, and the unique ability is the key "hook" that makes you pick that particular hero.

At the start of every run, and again after clearing a room, you're offered a choice of one of the Mad King's corruption spells. Using one of these spells gradually fills the Corruption meter; once it's full, your character briefly becomes stronger, but is then stunned and loses defense. It's a genuinely risky mechanic that keeps you on edge early on. And if you're into games that go out of their way to make you suffer and put up a real fight, don't miss our list of the hardest games.

Some rooms have a dozing mount monster you can stumble upon. Jump on it, and you can ride around the arena biting enemies. It's a small touch, but it unexpectedly freshens up the pace and gives you a breather.

There are two bosses in Early Access, one per dungeon. The Necromancer, for example, is completely invulnerable during his attack strings, and the lower his health gets, the longer those strings run. A simple mechanic, but an effective one — it stops you from just holding down one button and waiting it out.

That said, the combat has a systemic balance problem. Early on, the game is noticeably harsh and you die a lot. Buy the passive HP regeneration skill, though, and everything changes dramatically: your character fully heals up between fights, and deaths from regular damage all but disappear. That also cancels out the Warlock's whole gimmick — his special ability restores health too, but once every hero can do that, the point of it evaporates, and the Warlock ends up the weakest of the four.

Still, in early builds the vast majority of deaths came not from enemies but from falling off the arena. The developers listened to player feedback and, in one of the very first patches, completely reworked that mechanic. Falling into a chasm or acid no longer ends your run. Instead, your character respawns at the nearest checkpoint, losing some health in the process. The game is now noticeably more forgiving of positioning mistakes, and a dash too close to the edge is no longer a death sentence — just a chunk of HP.

Now for Mad King Redemption's weak spots. Between runs, you spend the gold you've found at two vendors: one sells passive skills, and you'll visit them regularly; the other sells armor and throwing weapons, and mostly just sits there unused. Armor is easier to find during a run itself, and throwing weapons are of pretty questionable use.

The Dark King's spells look varied at first glance. But you can't level them up or modify them — the only way to strengthen them is a passive that boosts damage for all spells at once. After a dozen runs, once you've tried them all, you notice several have awkward hitboxes: they hit off to one side, or leave gaps in their coverage. In the end you always end up picking the same two or three spells — the ones that cover the whole area around the character or right in front of them.

In Hades, every run felt unique thanks to the boons, which changed how you played. There's nothing like that here. The dungeon rooms are always identical — the room with the lift, for instance, looks exactly the same every single time, only their order changes. After just a few attempts, you'll have every room memorized.

A full run takes 30–50 minutes depending on how built up you are and how used to the local combat you've become, though of course you'll often die before ever reaching the boss.

The pixel art is neatly done and builds a retro atmosphere without tipping into nostalgic sweetness. The grim tone is consistent throughout — from enemy silhouettes to the color palettes of the locations. The animations are simple but pleasant, and fit a game that's deliberately styled after retro classics. The music works well for the genre: the combat tracks are energetic and set the right pace. Each of the two locations has its own compositions, as does the boss. The soundtrack isn't especially memorable, but it does its job as a solid backdrop.

Bugs are rare but painful: enemies sometimes get stuck in geometry or survive falling off the arena, blocking your progress. The developers are actively working on fixes, and by the time of writing several of the progress-blocking bugs had already been patched. There isn't much content right now — two dungeons, two bosses, around 15 rooms total.

The team at Secret Mission Games has even published a roadmap: planned additions include more heroes and a reworked progression system that ties together goals, items, and abilities into a single structure. If it all comes together as intended, the run-to-run loop should get a lot more substantial.

Mad King Redemption is a likeable debut from a studio that clearly loves the genre and understands what a beat 'em up should feel like. The combat works, the atmosphere is well handled, and the pixel art is easy on the eyes. But there's an emptiness between runs, right where a roguelike needs to have substance (more on the genre: Best Roguelike Games). Right now, the game can be recommended to genre fans and lovers of retro style. Everyone else is better off waiting for the full release, or at least a more fleshed-out version of the game.