Cult of the Lamb - Review

When I first heard of Cult of the Lamb it sold me on the fact that not only did it look different and cool it was made by the team at Massive Monster, a team that is spread across Melbourne and Malaysia. Anything with that much Aussie flavour injected into it is going to have a weird and very different personality. Add to the mix it was picked up by Devolver Digital and who knows where we will end up.

Cult of the Lamb puts you in the hoofs of the cutest ever heretic, yes a lamb. The last of its kind and doomed to face the executioner’s axe as all their fellow lambs have done before in the hopes that they cannot fulfil the prophecy and awaken an imprisoned entity known as The One Who Waits. The One Who Waits has another option in store for you. Serve them as their herald and they will return your lambness to the world of the living. Your resurrection is granted so that you can begin to build a cult to honour The One Who Waits. Rescue your cult members from the lands by any means necessary, build your following, keep them happy and ultimately work towards destroying the Old Faith and releasing your new master.

Cult of the Lamb is a 2d rogue-like RPG hack and slasher. You take on the titular role of the reincarnated lamb that must set out to build your cult by travelling through the Lands of the Old Faith, fighting rival cult members who are loyal to the four heads of the Old Faith. Throughout each run through the lands you have the chance to pick up different weapons or curses to use against your enemies. Tarot cards can be found to give you certain abilities or boosts and when you come across a fellow creature that needs to be saved, you can induct them into your cult sometimes you may have to fight them to make sure they know the correct cult to join and to follow you willingly.

This is the core mechanic of Cult of Lamb. Running through each of the lands, each time the you enter the path is different, and each time you enter you have a choice of path to choose. Do you want to fight straight to the end or go the longer way and collect some much-needed supplies for your cult to continue to flourish and grow? The choice is yours and yours alone to make.

With beautiful cheerful characters brightening up the screen you would be forgiven to miss the cult side of Cult of the Lamb and let’s be honest, we have always been told cults are a bad thing and not to drink the koolaid. Cult of the Lamb plays on the stereotypes we have been fed over the years to create a charismatic and visually pleasing adventure set in front of you. But it doesn’t stop there.

Like any cult leader worth their salt, you need to make sure your followers are well looked after at your compound and there is this easy flowing game within a game as you build your shrine and temple, make sure all your followers have a place to sleep, food to eat and a nicely kept area to live in. You get teach them the value of hard work, give them gifts, give them praise, hold your daily sermons all in an effort to grow their dedication to you and take their worshiping energy helping you to grow stronger and unlock more that you can do for your followers.

While I have genuinely enjoyed my time with Cult of the Lamb there are some things that need to be addressed. The story is the same as many that have come before. Hack and slash your way to this boss and start again for the next, rinse and repeat. Combat while intuitive and easy to use lacks depth and can turn into a slash and roll saga, enemies are not overly varied and can become predictable. I am terrible at these types of games usually so was happy to have this fresh and easier take on them in front of me.   

Cult of the Lamb takes what can sometimes be a frustrating genre and throws a different spin on things and a difficulty setting. With a gorgeous visual pallet, some endearing characters and gameplay that is easy to pick up and use I have already rolled credits once and am going back to have another run through this time with more of a challenge to the combat. 

Cult of the Lamb is available now on PC (reviewed) Playstation Xbox and the Nintendo Switch.