Cult of the Lamb – Review

Our Score: 9/10

Players take on the role of a possessed lamb who has been spared from oblivion by a menacing stranger in Cult of the Lamb, and they are required to pay back their debt by gaining a devoted following in his honour. Establish your own cult in a nation full of fake prophets by travelling to exotic and enigmatic locales to assemble a devoted group of forest Followers and disseminate your Word in order to emerge as the sole genuine cult.

Wake Up Sheeple

In Cult of the Lamb, you assume control of a lamb. Who is led to slaughter by four Eldritch entities known as Bishops. While your fate seems dire, you’re ultimately spared from death by The One Who Waits, an incomprehensible, all-powerful deity. In exchange for deliverance from sacrifice, the lamb must build a cult in their honour. And work to free them from their chains. Bestowed with new power and a crown, you set to work converting followers. And also building your base, all while venturing into unique dungeons to defeat heretics and build your influence

It is immediately apparent how distinctive Cult of the Lamb is. Although its dungeon-crawling gameplay is clearly influenced by titles like Hades and The Binding of Isaac, the game’s concept, graphics, and sound design come together to give it a distinct identity. At first look, it would seem strange that cute animals would participate in a ceremonial sacrifice. But in this gothic, well-crafted story, the juxtaposition of the two diametrically opposed notions works flawlessly.

Sacrificial Lamb

The game has rouge-like characteristics. Dying in Cult of the Lamb’s randomly created dungeons sends you back to the beginning where you are revived by The One Who Waits. Even so, you do keep a portion of the items gathered. Your cult’s faith is badly impacted by death, which has a domino effect. If you pass away too frequently, your flock can begin to doubt you and consider you weak. This is how the game’s hybrid nature works so well, rather than coming off as haphazard. The blending of the management and roguelike genres is done successfully. As each aspect has a positive effect on the others.

With an ever-changing armoury offered to you at the start of each dungeon crawl and extra options periodically presented to you throughout the dungeons themselves, the fighting mechanics are easy to understand. Your combat style and weaponry are often altered, which forces you to adopt new strategies every time you run.

Back at the cult, your devotees obediently venerate you and assist in collecting funds to maintain your expanding base. Making sure they’re content and healthy is crucial since dejected supporters will resort to deception in an effort to alienate new ones. If you wish to adopt a more austere approach, murder and sacrifice aren’t off limits. You can choose to “re-educate” them and bring them back into the fold. As you attempt to maintain ever-shifting degrees of faith in addition to other elements, managing your followers and their sometimes incompatible requirements maintains this component of the game satisfyingly challenging.

The Cult of Personality

The world depicted in Cult of the Lamb is unsettling because it is both familiar and unusual in an outrageous and menacing sense. The landscapes are vibrant and eye-catching, while the supporting cast and antagonists are brilliantly created in the paper-cutout manner. Even the most horrifying creatures have an oddly endearing quality at first appearance.

The game’s adorable and spooky atmosphere is greatly influenced by the excellent audio design. For instance, the cult headquarters is brought to life by syrupy marimba songs with menacing overtones, as though evil powers lurk in every corner. The One Who Waits has a resonant, otherworldly echo to the incomprehensible sounds it produces, while cult members speak in sugary, high-pitched warbling tones. The speaking “voices” of the characters are carefully chosen.

Final Verdict

Cult of the Lamb is an incredibly unique game that’s choke-full of character. It has stunning visuals and audio, and the gameplay loop is interesting, gratifying, and thoroughly fun from beginning to end. With such a unique premise being mixed with a very interesting gameplay loop, Cult of the Lamb keeps you hooked. From start to the end.