Analysis of the Sker Ritual – Hordes and hordes of monsters

Wales Interactive surprises us with a Maid of Sker spin-off that is very reminiscent of Call of Duty’s zombie mode

Back in 2021, Interactive Wales surprised us with an interesting horror adventure called Maid of Sker. This was received more or less decently by both the public and the press. For this reason, its developers were encouraged to expand the experience with a challenge mode that transformed this slow-paced horror game into something of an action title. It is thanks to this idea that Sker of Ritual was designed. Taking advantage of the story and the enemies of the world of this universe, we find ourselves facing a first-person action title that is unabashedly inspired by the zombie mode of Call of Duty. Will he be a worthy competitor? In the Xbox community, you’ll know everything.

Four levels full of frenzy

Sker Ritual immerses us in four levels, each with its own different characteristics, locations and stories. Unlike the previous part, the story or the plot is conspicuous by its absence. We only encounter a few lines of dialogue that give us context of each location and a few collection documents that give us more information. The plot is therefore something completely anecdotal, which only serves to expand the universe of the first title. This is not a bad thing in itself, since no user will buy this video game for its story mode, if not for its frenetic action.

A CoD Zombies transfer

The similarities between Sker Ritual and the zombie mode of the Activision saga are obvious. We are faced with quite extensive levels, which we will have to open using the points that we will obtain by killing the hordes of monsters. In the first round, we will only have one pistol, but as the rounds progress, we will be able to acquire different weapons (rifles, shotguns, etc.) and learn different powers, both passive and active, which will allow us to will make them extremely powerful. The problem is that the monsters we face also become more powerful as the game progresses. Sker Ritual is a fairly difficult game, especially if played alone, it is an option that is not recommended.. One negative aspect of the title is that during this analysis I didn’t find any online games, so if we don’t have friends to play with, it can get a bit boring.

In each level we will have different objectives to achieve, to invite the player to explore the map and advance, and not to stay slaughtering enemies at a specific point. The level design is okay, but it’s a bit confusing and chaotic.. Many times we will find ourselves wandering from here to there, because we cannot find the right door or the right path. Add to that huge waves of enemies and it will often be very difficult to position yourself correctly. Maybe an improvement in mission indicators would be great for the game.

How many hordes can you resist?

Sker Ritual responds very well to commands. The controls are very simple but work wonderfully. The gunplay and control of our character is super basic, but it doesn’t have to be complex to be fun, and this game is an example of that.. We can only aim, shoot, jump, melee strike and throw a grenade. With these actions alone we will have fun slaughtering all the enemies on the map. The variety of enemies is quite wide, including various bosses and mini-bosses that appear randomly during the game and which will make things quite difficult for us.

Replayability is a fundamental part of Sker Ritual. Here miracles come into play, a kind of skills that appear randomly each turn, which can change the course of the game and our character.. A game where we can focus on melee combat, trying to improve those specific attributes, another game where we can buy a shotgun and improve it to the maximum, crushing the skulls of our enemies. The possibilities are very high, and it will not be easy to quickly tire of the title, especially if you play it with friends.

A nightmare setting

Sker Ritual is up to par in the graphics section, although it looks more like a last generation game. The enemies look very good, as do the backgrounds, which give off a very gritty vibe. The lighting effects are also of a good standard, although sometimes they became too dark, making it very difficult to know where we are. In short, we are not facing a graphic marvel, but it plays perfectly, even while sometimes being attractive to the eye.. In terms of performance, in Series X the title suffers from some issues, such as sudden frame drops and some small graphical bugs.

The sound and soundtrack are in harmony with the graphics. They comply without much fanfare, which is completely normal when dealing with an AA. The melodies that accompany the action can fall into repetition very prematurely and the other sound elements help to recreate a terrifying atmosphere, but nothing more. It should be remembered that the voices of the different characters are in English, but subtitled in Spanish..

Conclusions of the Sker ritual

And we come to the most anticipated part of the analysis. Is Sker Ritual worth it as an alternative to Call of Duty’s zombies mode? The answer is a half yes. The title is very fun and playing it with friends is a pleasure. In addition, thanks to the random nature of its games and all the options it has, Wales Interactive has created a very replayable video game, in which you can spend hours and hours playing without getting tired or bored. On the other hand, the graphics section does not reach the quality levels of the Activision franchise, which is completely normal for a minor title. But that’s not the biggest problem. And at the moment, the game has no community support, making it almost impossible to find a game online. so if you don’t have any friends to play with, the single player mode seems a bit boring as the hours go by.