Hellfire Warrior

Also known as: Dunjunquest: Hellfire Warrior

Developer: Automated Simulations

Hellfire Warrior was the fourth game in the Dunjonquest series, and the second "full-length" adventure. Much like the Temple of Aphai, when you begin your quest, you are tasked with creating your character and then buying equipment and items to stock up on before heading into the dungeon. I'm not sure if I just got lucky this time, but haggling with the shop owners seems a bit more effective here, so you can get more bang for your buck than it appears. If you've played the previous Dunjonquest games, then you may notice something shortly after playing for the first time - the difficulty seems to be ramped up quite a bit here. On the positive note, when you die (and you will) there's a decent chance that another adventurer will stumble across your body and bring you back to life at the start of the dungeon. However, there's also a chance that you'll be eaten by whatever killed you, or an undead creature may turn you into a soulless husk with no possibility to be resurrected. Likewise, depending on who finds you, you may lose all of your treasure or magical belongings…or, best case, asked to make a donation whenever you return to the inn to rest. The key to survival in Hellfire Warrior, more than any previous Dunjonquest game, is to frequently exit and re-enter the dungeon. Exiting the dungeon gives you experience points, which allows you to get stronger, eventually making the dungeon transform from an impossible deathtrap into a difficult, but manageable quest…and it also allows the player to save, so they don't have to try to tackle this whole game in a single sitting. Aside from the increased difficulty, though, there are also a lot of new options when exploring. Taking gameplay elements from all previous games in the series, Hellfire Warrior seems to be the total package when it comes to Dunjonquest games. With more creatures to battle, more rooms and levels to explore, and more options to use while exploring, it presented fans of the Dunjonquest games some familiar gameplay with added features and a whole new challenge. I recommend playing some of the "microquest" games to get used to playing this style of game, but once you've got your feet wet, Hellfire Warrior may be the best game of the bunch.

Review added: 12/10/2025