Sinner Sacrifice for Redemption is medieval mayhem

Jason Savio

Games with a twist are the best.

Dark Star Game Studios’ Sinner: Sacrifice for Redemption is a perfect example.

Taking place in a post-apocalyptic, quasi-medieval world, you play as a knight named Adam, who is on a journey of redemption. Adam’s apparently done some pretty terrible things, and the only way to make up for them is to battle seven nightmarish bosses that are based on the seven deadly sins. 

One, for instance, is a giant, gluttonous monster (yes, you guessed it, this one represents the sin of gluttony), whose stomach opens up to reveal a mouth and razor-sharp teeth. Believe it or not, you actually earn a trophy if it devours you.

The kicker – and the real challenge of Sinner – is that you have to make a sacrifice (give up either some of your health or your weapons) and choose “atonement” to be granted access to each different foe. Each enemy is the embodiment of one of Adam’s past sins, so he’s fighting his past to save his future and redeem himself.

That’s basically all you do in Sinner – you fight one boss after the other in whatever order you choose in a boss extravaganza without any pesky buggers trying to get at you in between.

And watch out because these bosses pack a punch.

Being at a disadvantage after having to pay up health and weaponry certainly doesn’t help, but one gets the feeling that no matter what, it would still be extremely difficult to walk away victorious from a fight with one of these ginormous monsters. They’re all big, nasty and fast. The controls don’t necessarily help either. In fact, they’re pretty frustrating. At your disposal are swords and a rotation of extra weapons like fire bombs and magic. The extra weapons and magic rotate, but it is impossible to smoothly change between them without having to stop swinging your sword, ultimately leaving you defenseless. The control configuration and button assignment are to blame for this. As if the bosses weren’t already hard to enough to defeat, you have to deal with wonky controls, which is a shame.

But, overall, Sinner is a fun game that takes a universal theme and applies it to imaginative beasts in a made-up world, and what else can you really ask for? It’s cartoonish and dark and serious, making for some medieval badassery that moves along at a quick pace with strong storytelling.

For more information, visit anotherindie.com/sinner.