Hands of Necromancy II Review

Hands of Necromancy II, developed by the HON Team, is a follow-up to the popular Hands of Necromancy. This first-person shooter looks like it came straight out of the ‘90s, reminding me of boomer shooter titles like DOOM or Hexen, which I used to play on my old PC. The difference is that instead of shooting a gun, you're blasting the enemy with fireballs and other types of magic; and in this title, you have the ability to save your game at any time!

Before jumping into Hands of Necromancy II, you have to select which of the two characters you want to play as: Acheron, the protagonist from the first game in the series, is a Crimson Mage. Acheron carries a Magical Sword in addition to a Fire Staff that shoots fireballs. Besides fire, he can pick up a Frost Ring to use freeze and stop the enemy, and it can also rail through all enemies. Phaedra is a recent addition to the series; she is a Dark Witch with powerful magic. For weapons, she has a Fire Bracelet (which is similar to Acheron’s Fire Staff but costs more ammo to use), although it deals higher damage and has a wider range attack. For her melee weapon, she has a magical dagger, and for the ice weapon (that you acquire later), or the Hell Grenade that splits into smaller grenades and hits everything around it.

If you hate making decisions, select “random” to make the game decide for you. Once that is all sorted out, you will select which of the three available episodes you want to play from, (along with a tutorial I recommend trying out — it doesn’t take long and will teach you everything you need to know). Episode 1: A New Day for Hunting; Episode 2: In the Shadow of Evil; and finally Episode 3: Facing the Hordes of Death. There are 27 different stages between all of the episodes, so there is a lot to explore here. The final step is to select the difficulty from Apprentice, Experienced, or Master. Since I’ve never had a chance to play the original game, Hands of Necromancy, in the series, I will go with the easiest option: Apprentice.

You can play Hands of Necromancy II with either a keyboard and mouse or with a controller. I usually opt to use a controller, but this time I figured I would also give the keyboard and mouse a try, since this is how I used to play first-person shooters when I was young. Use the WASD keys to control the character, and click the left or right mouse button to attack. With the controller, you will use the trigger buttons to shoot, and swapping between your weapons is done with the right and left shoulder buttons. No matter which control scheme you use, you pick up items by walking over them. Even if one of the weapons you are carrying is a melee type, you still need to collect ammo to use it. If you happen to run out of ammunition, your equipped weapon will automatically be swapped to the other that still has some. Your fireball has good range and you can attack from a long distance, though since it is weaker, you will have to hit the foe multiple times before they are defeated. The sword and daggers are quite strong, but keep in mind that to attack, you will need to be in close proximity to the enemy, putting you in striking distance.

The stages in Hands of Necromancy II are quite large, so you will need to do a lot of exploration to find all the secrets, items, and ultimately, the stage exit. There are areas that require special keys to open the door, like the Skull or Snake Key, and these usually require you to transform to acquire them. You will gain the ability to change your form into different creatures, each with their own special power. Swamp Serpent changes you into a snake that can get through small corridors and shoot acid at enemies; Hell Burner makes you immune to lava and acid, so you can walk over it without taking damage; and Stone Breaker gives you the strength to break through cracked walls. The transformations that you can acquire will change depending on which of the protagonists you decide to play as. This really adds to the game's replayability, as I want to discover all the different forms that I can take on while playing.

Swapping between the different transformations and items you pick up is very easy to do, especially if you play with a controller. Using the D-pad, move to the one you want and press down. If you want to switch back to normal form, hit down again. To access the map, press up, and you can see the full map. You can’t see where you have already been, which would be handy if you came across an area you couldn’t access at the time since you didn’t have the transformation you needed. Trying to backtrack and figure out where exactly that was can be tricky.

You will be battling against many types of enemies like sorcerers (who launch fireballs at you that you need to avoid), snakes, and foes like spiders that shoot webs at you. Each stage adds new enemies to fight against, though you will not be totally alone in your battle. There is an item that you acquire called the Hand of Necromancy; each one you pick up lets you revive one fallen enemy that will fight alongside you. I'm not a huge spider fan, but if I bring them back to life and they fight along with me, it's not so bad! Once you find the exit and the level is complete, you will see your stats for the amount of kills you had, how many items and secrets you found, along with how much time it took to complete and your total time so far.

The soundtrack for Hands of Necromancy II is awesome. It’s moody and atmospheric, fitting this fantastical world full of dark creatures very well. I didn’t expect something so epic sounding out of a game that looks like it’s from the era of other classic FPS games! Speaking of the look, Hands of Necromancy II is very nostalgic and blocky, but it is full of beautiful landscapes, a dry desert, damp and dreary caves, and a classic castle. Each of the stages has a unique feel and look to experience.

I’ve been having a great time playing Hands of Necromancy II; it reminds me of games I played when I was younger, but polished and improved. I appreciate how fast the protagonist moves and how fluid it is. It’s frustrating when your character moves painfully slow and doesn’t feel like they are in a rush for anything; especially when you are surrounded by enemies who are trying to attack you from every side. I enjoyed how all the stages were unique and felt new and exciting to explore, not just the same level over and over again. If you have played the original title, or even if you are a fan of classic FPS titles, Hands of Necromancy II is a game that should be on your radar!