With the exception of the mole in "Spelunky 2," it's been a long time since a game has gotten as much swearing as "Gods Will Fall." It turned the air blue with eulogies for fallen comrades, cursed the pantheon to the heavens, and cursed the islands where gods abound. This is a good thing. Most of the time, anyway.

The main targets of this barrage of F-bombs are the ten gods at the center of the game. They are a cruel and unusual bunch, ruling mankind with an iron fist. Or, more often than not, iron claws and hooves.

But they can only oppress the people for so long before the people rise up against the abominable creatures who have declared themselves their rulers and decide that it is time for humanity to finally enact the title of the game. However, their plan is slightly flawed and involves a fleet sent across the sea to attack the elemental-controlling celestials. Thousands of troops are reduced to eight, and you end up washed up on the shore. A little salty language is probably to be expected. [Luckily, these eight survivors are a bunch of real Celts, each of them adept with the weapon of their choice. Twin maces perfect for striking the first blow, spears with their blessedly long reach, heavy axes that drag on the ground, and murderous upswings. You're likely to like a particular style of play and the warriors who use it, but the game doubles down by giving those warriors randomly generated names, appearances, and implied stories.

Then they begin to die. Walking around the island, one finds ten doors, each leading to a dungeon overseen by a different deity. If you slip up in a fight with one of his minions or in the boss battle that awaits you at the end of the dungeon, your warrior will be in the hands of that god. Cue: much swearing.

Once back on the island, you can either bet another Celt or go see what lies behind another door. It may be wise to choose the latter, since the difficulty varies greatly from god to god, but since the difficulty is randomized with each play, it is impossible to tell which is harder or easier. Besides, if you complete the game to the end and defeat the god boss, you can free the warriors under his control. So there are some crunchy choices to be made and some incredible highs and lows. Let me show you what I mean.

Outside the gates of Morrigan's forge stands a lone Celt. This is Gwen of Little Caeraph, and thanks to a combination of my gross incompetence and the fact that this dungeon involves the occasional jump (not very Gods Will Fall's forte), all seven of her countrymen are trapped inside.

Gwen wields a sword, which is my least favorite weapon, meaning she has never been in combat before. None of her predecessors have even reached the final boss battle, and if we lose Gwen, we will have to start all over again with a new group of warriors.

I loaded her up with all the gear I had gathered from the previous realm (throwing knives, spike traps, healing skewered meat, etc.) and very slowly, my heart beating so hard I couldn't distinguish the vibrations of the controller from my own pulse. I now knew where all the enemies were (this only changed with game overs and restarts) and had developed a hampered amount of cheese strategy. Grab a weapon from a downed enemy and smash it headlong into the next one. Tough enemies would be jump-kicked into the abyss before they could make a move. I kite like Charlie Brown so I don't have to face more than one battle at a time.

And somehow, Gwen makes it to Morrigan, who takes the form of a giant crow. Of course, it helped that she had a backpack full of throwing knives. Its razor-sharp wings harden into stone, which eventually shatters and ...... Gwen staggers into the light with her Celtic troupe in tow.

Obscene words are shouted brightly. I must get up and leave my desk. It was the most exhilarating moment of the match this year.

Everything else I had spent the previous few hours swearing about was washed away. The insta-kill traps that robbed me of my favorite warriors, the strangely maze-like level design, the eternally puzzling decision to include a platforming section in a well-honed combat game. Like "Dark Souls" and "Spelunky," "Gods Will Fall" is a game of frustration, because it's a game of frustration.

It is less punitive than these games and much shorter than the standard "Souls". Although, now that there are no inns or taverns, you may not be able to step out of your room. But that is not really important. Because most of these stories can be summed up in one word. Specifically, they are of the four-letter type.