Haunted Lands - Review - PC STEAM

Haunted Lands is exactly the kind of grimy, blood‑slicked retro action platformer that knows precisely what it wants to be and absolutely commits to it. It’s a solo‑dev project with the confidence of something much bigger, and if you enjoy old‑school challenge, monster‑splattering momentum, and the thrill of uncovering secrets in hostile pixel hellscapes, this one’s a proper treat.

Haunted Lands drops you into burial grounds, crypt ruins, and demon‑infested tombs that feel ripped straight out of a forgotten 90s PC classic, but sharper, faster, and nastier. The atmosphere is thick with cultists, infernal minions, and grotesque abominations, all animated with crunchy pixel gore. It’s unapologetically hardcore: enemies swarm, traps punish, and bosses hit like a brick wrapped in barbed wire.

You choose from six unique heroes, each with their own combat identity, from ranged specialists to melee bruisers to magic‑slinging glass cannons. Some excel at demolishing monsters from afar, others thrive in close‑quarters carnage. The variety genuinely changes how you approach each level, and the game encourages experimentation.

Artifacts deepen this further: the strongest ones can completely alter your abilities, letting you build wild, high‑risk loadouts that feel almost roguelite‑adjacent in how they reshape your run.

The Haunted Lands aren’t just combat arenas, they’re labyrinthine, secret‑stuffed spaces. Crypts, tombs, and corrupted landscapes hide breakable walls, tucked‑away loot, elite enemy variants, and optional objectives. The game rewards curiosity with meaningful upgrades, not just collectibles. It’s also big. Levels are multi‑part, sprawling, and designed to be replayed with different characters and builds.

This is a hard game and intentionally so. It leans into old‑school challenge, but recent updates have made it more accessible without compromising its teeth including Update 1.0.9 added a checkpoint system, easing the sting of long levels.

Combat is fast, crunchy, and satisfying. Enemies explode into pixel gore, bosses demand pattern mastery, and every character has a distinct rhythm:

• Ranged heroes juggle positioning and reload timing.

• Magic users charge spells with escalating effects.

• Melee monsters dive into the fray with lunges, executions, and blood‑powered buffs.

It’s a game where every button press matters — and where a single mistake can snowball into a corpse pile.

Pros

• Six genuinely different characters

• Atmospheric, grim pixel art

• Tons of secrets and replay value

• Tight, responsive combat

• Great solo‑dev craftsmanship

• Frequent updates & improvements

• Hardcore challenge that feels fair

Cons

• Difficulty spikes can be brutal

• Some levels feel long without artifacts to support your build

• Checkpoints help, but still not a “casual” experience

• Story is minimal

Haunted Lands is a bloody, stylish, uncompromising retro action platformer that nails its identity. If you love old‑school difficulty, monster‑slaying momentum, and exploring cursed landscapes packed with secrets, it’s absolutely worth the £4.99 price tag. If you prefer gentler platformers or narrative‑driven adventures, this one might feel punishing, but for fans of hardcore pixel carnage, it’s a gem.

XPN Rating: 4 out of 5 (GOLD)

Haunted Lands is available now!