Cult Of The Lamb - PS5 Review

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It’s a great time for British developers and publishers. Developer Massive Monster based in Southampton, bring us Cult Of The Lamb a roguelite action-adventure.

Will you free ‘The One Who Waits’ from his prison below?

Accidents wool happen

Give your flock a sermon and raise their loyalty

Gameplay

You play as a cult leader recently resurrected by The One Who Waits, a deity imprisoned for his crimes. Your master must now be freed, your role is recruiting new followers to the flock. Building a base for them to live in and head off on crusades against the otherworldly creatures that captured him. With an intriguing art style and expressive animations, the routine of gathering supplies, tending to your worshipers, upgrading both your character and your homestead, and then going out to do it again is completely satisfying.

Everything you do, benefits your flock…yes even collecting the poop! It never feels like you are forced away from progressing. As you increase the amount of followers you can unlock a new crusade. There are 4, each of them hosting its own final boss, these bosses are only available once you have passed the crusade several times. The crusades allow some exploration, it is here where you meet friends on your journey. Pick a tarot card to give yourself a boost, or unlock a new area on the map. Several paths exist on-route to the boss, it is here you can choose to pick up some much needed resources or head back into battle.

Crusades

It is to their credit that Massive Monster have perfectly balanced the Crusades and building up your flock. Its worth noting here that your followers do not live forever, they will die, whether that is from old age, getting sick or because you’ve chosen to sacrifice one!

Whatever happens you are tasked with keeping your followers happy and, maybe even more importantly, keeping ‘The One Who Waits” on your side.

Crusades reward you with gold and much needed resources that you are free to spend as you wish.
Make your followers happy by keeping them fed and rested, you can read their minds to figure out what they want. You cook healthier meals deeper into the wilderness and build beds that are somewhat protected from the elements as you go along.

So you’ve been on your crusade but despite the weapons and the powers you have been killed. You don’t get to see the pearly white gates, but you are given a choice. You can choose to sacrifice one of your followers, thus returning to the game at the same minute you were killed, or you can die and go back to your flock.

On paper the choice is obvious; Sacrifice a follower and continue right?? Wrong! ~ You will need to obtain another follower and it puts you further away from your goal. There is also likely going to be some backlash to you slaughtering their friend!

OK OK….I will just go back back to the cult that must be the right choice??? Wrong! ~ This will lower your flocks faith in you as a leader, which may have wider repercussions if faith is already low.

So what is the right choice?? That is where Cult Of The Lamb is deviously wonderful, it will depend on how you have played so far. If you thought running a cult was going to be all rainbows and kittens you were sadly mistaken.

Sacrifice a follower or return to your flock a beaten lamb??

Graphics & Audio

It is easy to get lost in the cuteness of the lambs. Well that is until you start bludgeoning someone to death or sacrificing one of your flock. My best description is like Animal Crossing has visited the upside down from Stranger Things!

Keeping the dark yet playful tone of the game in balance is the art direction. Cult of the Lamb‘s woodland creatures look plucked from morning cartoons, although they bear ritualistic markings that add some depth to their cute and cuddly appearances. Throughout the game, specific palettes are assigned to different areas, but remain vibrant and rich throughout. For example, your flock and the neighbouring regions tend to use more natural colours, while occult locations tend to favour deep reds and purples.

There is a striking contrast between the cute visuals and the upbeat yet unnerving music the perfect vibe for a cult. While these tracks are memorable and suit the overall tone perfectly, they also blend into the background–which is crucial for games with repetitive gameplay, such as these.

Longevity

Cult Of The Lamb provides around 14 hours of really enjoyable story. Gamers who prefer that 100% completion can see this easily jump up to 20 hours. With an enjoyable title, such as this, I never got tired of playing, my daughter who is under 3 months old was often the cause of my game time ending!!

Final Thoughts

My time with Cult of The Lamb was a delight. I have recommended it to a lot of my friends already. Massive Monster and Devolver Digital are likely to grab a stack of awards for this “Cult” hit. I award Cult Of The Lamb the Thumb Culture Gold Award