Deadlink
Did you like DOOM Eternal? ULTRAKILL? Any other game where you move fast, shoot bad guys, and basically just feel like death itself? If you’re a fan of the boomer shooter genre, then you need to play Deadlink. Each combat arena is a wild dance of dashes, dodges, double jumps, and many, many bullets. Your survival is dependent on your own skill, keeping yourself from getting shot while also clearing out each room. Your health isn’t easily recoverable, but it’s protected by armor which can be regained by defeating enemies that get marked by your abilities. Upgrades you find in your runs can be linked to whichever ability you choose, making them feel active and noticeable. Every weapon has unique upgrades and utility that will have you constantly switching up your playstyle. The game has four different combat shells to select and three difficulty levels to blast through, so Deadlink is an incredibly replayable challenge even for experienced FPS players.
Backpack Hero
Do you guys remember organizing your attache case in Resident Evil? Maybe a game like Tetris rings a bell? If you get down with packing shapes into tight spaces, maybe give Backpack Hero a shot! In this turn based roguelike, your backpack is everything. It holds your weapons, your armor, your healing, all of it. Naturally, there’s only so much space available, so what you make of it is entirely up to you. Frequently, the most powerful items will be excessively large, strangely shaped, or even both! The game gives you space (hehe) to choose your build and how you want to defeat opponents while also being very limited in what you can bring with you. It’s a very strange balance, but it works very well. If you want to practice your packing skills while storming a dungeon, check out Backpack Hero!
BPM: Bullets Per Minute
Feel that rhythm? Hear that tune? Good, because you’re gonna need it to beat your way through BPM: Bullets Per Minute. From shooting to reloading to dodging, everything you do is based on the beat of the level’s music. Every weapon feels like a different instrument, some able to fire on half beats, while others need to be prepped to shoot again. You’ll find yourself making up beats and patterns to shoot and reload in time with the absolutely banging soundtrack. I know, it’s shocking. The rhythm shooter with a Norse mythology theme where every room looks like a heavy metal album cover has wicked music for you to nod along with as you dodge, shoot, and loot. I can hear some of you already telling me that even experienced shooter players won’t be able to handle doing all the normal shooter things and keep time. How can you possibly line up a shot while dodging fireballs and counting beats? Well don’t worry. Your crosshair also has a visual indicator for the beat, and some autoaim built in. That’s right, anything within your crosshair will be targeted by your shots, allowing you to spread your attention further from just aiming without impacting gameplay. From easy to nightmare, there’s plenty of challenge in difficulty levels alone, and that’s before you start unlocking the more difficult characters. If you’re looking for a jam session while blasting through Svartalfheim, then go grab BPM and lay down some beats!
Dungeon of the Endless
Take your time, plan ahead, and make your moves. Dungeon of the Endless is a unique roguelike in which you have to adapt to having limited resources and rapidly increasing enemies while trying to make it to the next floor. Each door you open acts as a turn, and each room you enter can hold treasure or terror. Your most important resource is Dust, which powers different rooms in the floor, preventing enemy spawns and letting you build modules to produce other resources. Food to level up your party, science to level up your tech, and industry to actually build some stuff. The core gameplay is super simple, you open doors, you kill bad guys, you run to the elevator once you find it. However, if that’s your only plan you’ll find yourself back to the main menu rather fast. The game allows you to pause all actions at any time, but still have some control. You can activate abilities, heal your characters, or even tell them to run away during stopped time. This freedom allows you to adjust to holes in your defense, make last second saves, and strategize more effectively than just rushing into (or away from) a fight. If you enjoy trying to have a plan for every possibility, Dungeon of the Endless is for you. While it’s not my favorite style of game I still enjoy it thanks to some… familiar faces in the character select screen.
One Step From Eden
Does the title Megaman Battle Network mean anything to you? If it does, you’ve probably already heard of One Step From Eden. A spiritual successor in the form of a roguelike deckbuilder, this game forces you to think quick, be quick, and build smart. Combats take place in a four by eight area, with you playing on the left 16 spaces and your opponents on the right. Most enemies attack in fairly simple patterns, but that doesn’t make them any less difficult to avoid. They frequently come in combinations that limit your space to move without taking damage. However, you have many options for dealing with bad guys. Knives, ice, guns, sometimes even throwing money at them until they die, almost anything works. In a similar way, all of these options can be built up to become incredibly powerful and strategic to use. Everything hinges on how you position yourself to dodge and attack, so be careful where you step. There are a ton of characters to unlock and play as, and anyone you don’t select may show up in your run as a boss enemy at the end of a region. There is one secret character to unlock through an optional boss fight. It’s difficult to beat, but the playable character doesn’t suffer from the typical “enemy to ally” weakness that other games have. She’s powerful and just as effective as other options, provided you’re good enough to stay alive. If you’re not ready to try to unlock the secret, don’t piss off the shopkeeper… If you’re an old fan of the MMBN series, or interested in a unique roguelike with a beautiful artstyle and charming music, take a step into One Step From Eden.
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