Danger Gazers
I have had my first glance on the game and will continue to update the review as I progress.
So far with less than an hour in a game - I love the style.
Style of everything: environment and enemy visuals (with tons of their variety), game progression on the campaign map, looting system, art of special characters' “rooms”.
And the audio - pure awesomness.
Everyone’s comparing this game to some other games that I haven’t yet played, but I personally find it a bit simillar to Edmund McMillen’s classic - Binding of Isaac. Maybe the color scheme of the graphics and randomly generated levels does the trick, but I love the similar feeling these two share.
– Real player with 34.5 hrs in game
Read More: Best Action Roguelike Roguelite Games.
EDITED 1/6/20
About five hours in as of writing this, and I’m very happy to see a good indie roguelike start off well in 2020. Danger Gazers has a lot going for it, as I’ll (somewhat) briefly detail. It’s addictive, has great replayability, and is a welcome addition to any roguelike fan’s library.
Quickly I’ll just pay the “Game It’s Like” toll - it’s close to Nuclear Throne, with some twists. Also, gotta name-drop NL for giving this game a go and piquing my interest.
The gameplay is responsive and controls well with KB/M. I don’t play roguelikes like these with a controller, so I can’t give you my input there (pun intended). The curve of starting out a new run and adding items/tarot cards to your character works beautifully. At first you start out slow in a small arena, gradually getting stronger as you progress through each location as you fight stronger and faster enemies. You’ll find companions to help you along the way (think “followers” in Binding of Isaac or guon stones in Enter the Gungeon - ack! I paid the toll thrice!) and many of the items come with trade-offs.
– Real player with 15.9 hrs in game
RAD
Disclaimer: I have played this game for more than 100 hours during the closed beta. I’m unaffiliated with the developers and did not receive anything for free.
RAD is a roguelite heavily influenced by The Binding of Isaac and to a smaller degree by other similar games. It contains many elements that are the same as in BoI: More and more things will unlock as you play. Shops are upgradable (persistently). Pairs of procedurally generated levels for each biome which contain their own set of enemies, with alternative possibilities for boss fights. Mutations (which provide attack options and other effects), when paired, can have synergies, just like Isaac’s tear upgrades. There are keys (floppy disks) which open doors and chests. There are different types of hitpoints. Multiple ending cutscenes. There is even a timed daily challenge mode reminiscent of Dead Cells.
– Real player with 35.5 hrs in game
Read More: Best Action Roguelike Roguelite Games.
In short - Worth a look.
In long? …
It’s kind of strange to see some of the anti-80s backlash against this in the face of so much nostalgia for that time, but everything wears out its welcome, and everyone’s tolerance and memory will be unique. Not everyone loved the 80s, I guess, and personal tastes are a wholly legitimate entitlement.
That said, if you haven’t OD’ed on 80s, this little rogue-like will be a fun distraction. While post apocalyptic settings, and even specifically alternate Cold War history settings are nothing new, the big kid on the block with that is of course Fallout, with a completely different aesthetic. This changes out 50s corn for 80s cheese, and that changes everything, other than the whole, post-post apocalypse bit.
– Real player with 31.0 hrs in game
ReversEstory
After playing the mobile version (which is great by the way), this definitely feels easier but also more fun with some added movement options. It’s a fast paced shooter/platformer with some replay-ability and different characters each with their own playstyles and bosses. Overall, not too heavy on the bullet hell aspect.
The translations to English isn’t perfect, but still understandable and the UI was clearly designed with mobile in mind and could use some adaptation to PC/controller/mouse.
– Real player with 6.8 hrs in game
Coming from the free mobile release, I’m gonna say it right here: the PC version did not meet my expectation. I do recommend the game still if you can go past the issues, or at least play the mobile version.
The controls just hardly translate well from touch screen to controller (or keyboard). Also, since the game got no way to change your controller deadzone, it’s very easy to have the experience messed up by a very slight drift of your joystick, making your character jump in a direction even doe you want him to jump without moving.
– Real player with 0.6 hrs in game
SKYHILL
I’m generally a little bit dubious about the whole “rogue-like” phenomenon, but occasionally you encounter a game where it’s handled exceptionally well. Monstrum and Darkest Dungeon both come to my mind, and now I can very safely add Skyhill. Why am I so dubious of the rogue-like phenomenon you ask? Because I’m a firm believer that 98% of the time, what makes great art great art - whether the art form in question is music, movies, books, or, yes, even video games - is careful and meticulous DESIGN. Because rogue-likes, by their very nature, add in highly randomised elements to determine the mapping and what-not of the game in question, the likelihood of such games being “well-designed” becomes greatly compromised. Having said all that, it is my relief to announce that SKYHILL IS A STAGGERINGLY WELL-DESIGNED GAME.
– Real player with 39.6 hrs in game
I was a bit suspicious at first, judging by the looks I thought this would be another typical “play 20 minutes and be disappointed” indie title.
Boy, was I wrong… you can see from my stats how many hours I’ve actually played this game. :)
The concept of the game is fairly easily outlined.
You move between floors and rooms, fight monsters, consume food to balance your energy level, consume medical supplies to balance your health level, craft meals and weapons and occasionally find trivia pieces that help describe the circumstances surrounding the game; call it a story, if you will.
– Real player with 22.6 hrs in game
HighFleet
Great game that combines strategic gameplay similar to submarine simulations with tactical air battles between flying tanks.
You command a fleet with the aim of capturing the enemy capital city, while fighting off enemy fleets searching for you. Fleet movement is a game of cat and mouse using a very well realised radar system, aircraft carriers, cruise missiles, intercepting enemy radio signals and much more. When two fleets meet, the game switches to tactical battle in which you directly pilot a ship and fight against the enemy. You can design individual ships in your fleet from the groundup and then use them.
– Real player with 233.4 hrs in game
The all-time best ever flying submarines in the sky game ever made. Although I have spent most of my time obsessing over ship design, “submarine airship game” is the best description for this FTL-like rogue-like UNFORGIVINGLY Difficult game I can come up with; in campaign, you spend a lot of your time trying to manage 15 different simple things (signals analysis, threat tracking, resources and fleet management, navigation, combat, landing, and then the global story/factions/political overlay of story driven decisions). The ship editor will drive you on the express train to crazytown; every. single. decision. carries huge implications for your campaigns when you start running custom ships, and this gets into the infinitely complex fleet design (what roles do you want your ships to play is critical, and the game lets you figure out your own ways to fail). This is one of my favorite games of 2021.
– Real player with 84.1 hrs in game
WASTED
Welcome to 1980. Welcome… to the end of the world. All of the inteligent people died. The stupid lives.
WASTED is… many things. That being a Fallout-esque Borderlands-looking Rogue Legacy-progressing Teleglitch-randomising Spelunky-paced and overall unique rogue-like game. WOW THAT’S A LOT OF WORDS
And now, for an actual review:
- The intro probably left you bonkers, so let me explain that for you: oh, uhm… I actually don’t know where to start. How about the premise.* The whole thing the game’s got running for it is that by the end of the year 1980 a nuclear holocaust happened between the communists and America. To prevent the population from dying, the so called “coolers” were created as a shelter against radiation. Everything is done ala Fallout style so far. However, there’s a twist! All of the people in the cooler ended up drunk! So when the earth became repopulable again, everybody was stupid! They drank all the booze they could find, injected everything that was sharp in them and the currency for trading became TP(short for TOILER PAPER), which I have to agree with TotalBiscuit, it actually makes more sense than the Bottlecap currency in Fallout.
– Real player with 158.9 hrs in game
The short: It’s fun to pick up and play for an hour or two, then put it down again, though it lacks any kind of depth at all. It parodies many elements from the Fallout series and has great dumb humour. Play it like you were going to play an arcade FPS like Doom and not expecting it to be much like a roguelike at all beyond perma-death, procedurally generated levels and permanent bonuses/maluses. The weapon selection and equipment in general is kind of lackluster, with a handful actually looking like the developer really tried to make them function differently from the others in interesting ways. Buy this on sale if you’re tight on cash. If you have the disposable income though, feel free to give it a shot, it’s a decent time waster but nothing spectacular.
– Real player with 55.7 hrs in game
Nukepath
Nukepath is a post-apocaliptic action roguelike, where a survivor must get out of town before a nuclear bomb explodes everything. Dive across tons of enemies trying to kill you and shoot your way to the exit. Collect bolts and spend them on the shop to buy upgrades and get even stronger. Fight against ruthless bosses and discover multiple endings during your adventure.
The Last Stand: Aftermath
Update: after finishing the game.
The story is on par with previous titles, simple, straighforward with a touch of mistery. I liked the way it ended.
Gameplay cicle is ok, and i believe that the game can be completed on an average of 30 hours of gameplay.
If you liked the other TLS games, this one is a refreshing take, and you can really see that it was indeed made by the original author of the previous titles, there are small details that give such a feeling, like the character visuals, gameplay mechanics from all previous games and the related story.
– Real player with 36.7 hrs in game
So, finished the base game and unlocked the essentially Heat system from Hades, haven’t messed with it yet though. Game has its problems, but it’s got a solid foundation and is worth the chance if you’re into zombies and/or roguelikes.
E - The patch actually fixed quite a few of the issues I had, ended up finishing maxed out heat run and unlocking everything.
Pros -
There’s quite a bit to unlock via character progression with knowledge, or item spawns/things to start runs with with Supply points, always feels like you’re making some sort of progression.
– Real player with 31.9 hrs in game
Demon Engines
Over 2.4 million unique weapon combinations and counting
Ancient machine demons prey on the last surviving people. Remaining survivors must build powerful weapons to rival the machine demons might.
Create the ultimate weapon with over 2.4 million possible combinations and counting. Engage enemies far with sniper grenade launcher. Get up-close and personal with automatic shotgun with exploding bolts. Near limitless combinations
Destroy enemy strongholds and fight increasingly difficult waves of enemies for legendary loot. Each level the enemy difficulty increases, but so does the loot quality
Unlock new characters each with their own unique vehicle and skills.
Gripper
In Gripper, androids celebrate “Burning Man” by burning humans. That’s why all inhabitants bear a physical injury of one sort or another. You and your deaf sister are no exceptions. The two of you live peacefully on a farm until someone comes and burns it down. Now, your sister is missing. All you have left is your car with a hook. The time to learn how to kill with it is running out.
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Take on the journey of a hero named None and follow the voice of his sister — a deaf singer.
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Tear your enemies apart with a hook and finish them with their own weapons.
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Discover and rip away the hearts of 11 colossal bosses to gain new abilities.
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Explore 11 bizarre biomes which will form a vast and majestic world right in front of your eyes.
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Fly through 11 nightmarish tunnels to the beat of incredible tracks by KillTheBarber!, VEiiLA, Under This, Yamila, Mezzanine, pqQp.
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Solve puzzles and decipher the codes of Garbage Collector to reconstruct the world history.
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Immerse yourself into the retro-waves and tunes of mini rhythm games.
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Collect all hidden statues to reveal the skeletons and tragedies of each character.
Gripper is our personal story of loss. We turned it into the game to let it go. We hope it will help you too.
