Iratus: Lord of the Dead tells the story of a dark necromancer on a quest for vengeance. After many years dead, he has risen from the grave to reign terror on a world that has grown too comfortable for his liking. Finally ready to strike, gamers will take up his grisly (if sardonic) mantle and rebuild an army to defeat the pesky heroes that have taken residence underground. 

Iratus adds plenty of challenge to the classic turn-based combat system. Each fight is highly strategic, making every action in a battle matter. Debuffs, minion types, even movement will impact a fight for better or worse. Failure results in permanently destroyed minions, so players will need to think through every fight to hold onto valuable resources. The combat system is designed to avoid repetitive battles that are common to the genre and instead focus on unique strategic experiences and tactical situations that differ as your progress.

Because Iratus's minions are undead, players now possess the means to affect morale meters that burdened them in other games. Depending on the monster and their abilities, they can lower the morale of the heroes they fight. If their morale is past the breaking point, enemies might flee the fight or even die from fear.

While heroes are renowned for the loot they'd collect in other RPGs, Iratus is only interested in their corpses. Collecting body parts from fallen enemies allows him to create various undead minions to fight in his name, such as Skeletons, Zombies, Vampires, and Banshees. This morbid crafting, along with Iratus's other necromantic powers in Alchemy, Magic, and Tactics, will level up as Iratus re-remembers his powers and reestablishes his domain over death itself.

"As you can tell, we were heavily inspired by our love for turn-based strategy games, we love dark humor and so set out to create a Darkest Dungeon meets Dungeon Keeper experience," Said Denis Fedorov, lead developer at Unfrozen Studios. "We wanted to create something that was unique but familiar at the same time and so we created a combat system that on the surface players will be right at home with but once in, you'll see things you were expecting and unique twists thoughout the mechanics."

Key Features

• Develop and improve your below ground lair with necromantic powers.
• Craft undead minions with the body parts of dead enemies.
• Advanced fighting system: Know your enemies’ strong points and weak spots to achieve victory.
• Turn-based battle system with up to 50 original minion’s talents.
• Intelligent enemy AI, challenging even experienced RPG-strategists.
• Three types of necromancer talents for gameplay: alchemy, magic talents, or tactical skills.
• Raid into enemy territory full of danger and surprises.
• Irreversible consequences. Classic roguelike features including character permadeath.
• Detailed stylized 2D graphics in the spirit of dark fantasy.
• Detailed skeletal animation made with Spine.
• Designed by Oles Ivanchenko: Well-known videoblogger, RPG mechanics specialist, and the author of one of the most influential manuals for Darkest Dungeons.

Iratus: Lord of the Dead will come to Steam on Early Access in Q2 2018.