Earlier today, a team developing a game called Codex Mortis circulated PR materials for the first playable demo of this ‘necromantic survival bullet hell’. Those PR materials proudly declared the game ‘the world’s first fully playable game created 100% through AI’, which is an interesting way to promote a title to journalists, but here we go.
In the documentation provided, you can learn how Codex Mortis has been created ‘entirely through AI algorithms and tools’.
This will be a fun one.
Unapologetically, 100% AI
The PR materials circulated by one ‘Darek Crunchfest’, confirmed that a playable demo for Codex Mortis can be explored now on Steam. The game, assembled by a developer called GROLAF, doesn’t try to paint a pretty picture – this is a 100% AI-driven title, and it’s proud of that fact.
The game’s bio on Steam reflects that:
Death is your weapon. Mix five schools of dark magic, unleash devastating spell synergies, and raise undead armies in this necromantic bullet hell. Infinite builds, solo or co-op – embrace the forbidden and dominate. 100% AI-driven development.
Crunchfest noted in the PR email: ‘Oh, and one more thing: it’s probably the world’s first fully playable game created 100% through AI.’
It’s easy to see that the trailer on Steam is AI. It’s by no means disguised and is probably the most blatant representation of AI imaginable. It even boasts plenty of classic AI tells and artefacts.
In Codex Mortis, players must assemble a ‘death squad’ and go toe-to-toe with all kinds of demonic enemies while wielding powerful magical abilities and weapons. The goal is to collect ‘ancient pages’ before an immortal boss hunts the player down and eliminates them, which is a similar concept to Vampire Survivors, with which this game has been aligned.
The email even mentioned that:
‘Vampire Survivors meets Guild Wars-style builds.’
If you’re a fan of Vampire Survivors, you might even say that Codex Mortis doesn’t look that bad, but it depends on how troubled you are about the use of AI to fully create a game. For some, it’s not an argument, as artificial intelligence is enabling small developers to make their games much more efficiently, so that’s another side of the argument.
Let us know on the Insider Gaming Discord server what you think about Codex Mortis.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that GTA Online has a new feature that took 12 years to come
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
More from Grant Taylor-Hill
Wow, what utter slop.
I don’t know at what point developers are going to learn that games are ART. It needs soul, life, virtue. Something that AI won’t ever capture.
I can’t wait to vote with my wallet and not by this garbage.
I kinda want to spend an afternoon having chatgpt make snake or something just so they can’t claim to be the first.
Soulless clanker garbage. Nope.
It looks like it’s AI generated…
Can’t wait for it to flop
Wow, the first 100% AI game AND the first game I selected the ignore option on in Steam. Thanks for the heads up on the soulless slop!
This shit sucks ass