Alpha Beta Gamer

Barony is a 3D first-person RPG, featuring cooperative multiplayer, dungeon-crawling mechanics, rogue-like elements and real-time action all wrapped up in a glorious retro shell. It’s a rogue-like romp inspired by Ultima Underworld, System Shock and Dagerfall, which you travel through the vast subterranean complex known as the Devil’s Bastion, on a mission to kill the evil Litch, Baron Helix.

You’ll make your way through procedurally generated levels filled with a diverse array of friends, foes and challenges. Creatures are driven by needs (food, sleep, water, etc.) and all have their own personalities. Some creatures would beat you to death for their own amusement, while others prefer only to be left alone.

You have a choice of 10 character classes, from Barbarian to Joker, each with their own skills and bonuses, yet are still able to master any skill with enough practice. Don’t get too attached to your character though, the permadeath system means that when you’re dead, you’re dead, although there’s plenty of loot and equipment to collect that will give you a fighting chance.

The procedurally generated dungeons of Barony mean every game will offer something new, but it’s also highly moddable and comes with it’s own level editor for those that want to customise their experience.

It’s a nice blend of retro visuals, RPG and Roguelike gameplay that’s good fun on your own and great fun with friends.

Download the Alpha, Free

Rubble N Strafe is an addictive side-scrolling helicopter game with some wonderful pixel art and fast paced arcade gameplay inspired by Harrier Attack.

After you’ve chosen your helicopter (Rubble or Strafe), you set forth into a 2D procedurally generated pixellated battlezone, blowing up things to an excellent soundtrack reminiscent of John Carpenter scores. As in the old classic Chopper (NOT Flapppy bird - this is definitely NOT a Flappy Bird clone), you constantly travel forward, using the left mouse button to fly higher, while the right muse button drops bombs.

You then machine gun, bomb and rocket your way through an infinite horde of enemy troops, completing missions, blowing up buildings, terrain, aircraft and boats, all the while collecting ammo and fuel so you don’t run out. Complete missions and keep your chopper in the air for as long as possible and you’ll earn a place on the online leader board.

It's an addictive, action packed piece of retro arcade action, full of destruction and pixellated carnage.

Download the Beta, Free (Windows & Android)

PRISM is an old school top down arcade shoot-em-up with one game changing difference - you don’t shoot directly at the enemies, instead you shoot through a prism in the centre of the screen, which then spreads your shot out the other side. You can choose whether the shots go straight through the prism, or bounce off them like a mirror. This works well once you get used to it, as switching between normal fire and mirrored mode to dispose of enemies becomes second nature.

PRISM features clever enemy design, big bosses, retro visuals and a great soundtrack. It’s also hard, very hard in-fact, you’ll need quick thinking, quick reflexes and a bit of luck if you’re going to succeed in PRISM. It’s a game aimed squarely at hardcore shoot-em-up fans, and all the better for it.

Download the Beta Demo, Free

Dead Pixels 2 is a bigger and better follow-up to Dead Pixels, a fun retro side-scrolling action game, with zombies. The Devs compare Dead Pixels 2 to the Evil Dead 2 - improving upon the flaws of the original Dead Pixels and use an actual budget to make sure the whole thing is polished, not a remake, but not a sequel and superior to the original in every way.

Dead Pixels 2 features some wonderful pixel art graphics, branching paths, loot, lots of weaponry and a variety of RPG elements - such as cash, XP, shops, abilities and Skills to level up. It’s great fun to play and has a distinctive 80’s style to it, full of garish colours, plenty of neon, retro graphics and even a VHS-style screen filter complete with scan lines and tracking issues. It also features an AI director which assesses how well the player was doing and adjusts the game to suit, allowing for consistently challenging gameplay.

While Dead Pixels 2 may look like a simple retro side scrolling brawler with guns, there’s a remarkable amount of depth to the gameplay. It’s reminiscent of the recent Scot Pilgrim Vs The World game, but with zombies, shotguns and a dash of 80’s awesome.

Play the Beta Demo, Free

The Hero Trap is a fun, fast paced and colourful roguelike dungeon-crawler, where you can use the souls of great warriors past to aid your perilous journey.

It looks wonderful, with randomly generated maps, nice animation and colourful cartoony character and enemy design. The gameplay is similar to Gauntlet, with characters roaming dungeons, vanquishing hordes of enemies and earning gold.

Gold can be used in shops to purchase various upgrades - or more intriguingly - the souls of fallen warriors. These warriors, each feature their own signature attacks and follow you around the levels, you’re then able switch control to them instantly by pressing their attack button. In the finished game you’ll also be able to use these characters in multiplayer co-op.

Even in these early stages of development The Hero Trap is great fun. With charming cartoon visuals a unique hero switching mechanic and challenging gameplay, there’s certainly a lot to like about this roguelike.

Download the Pre-Alpha, Free

Build and Defend is a top-down/3rd person multiplayer rogue-like sandbox game where you have to find resources, build a fortress, set-up defences and discover technologies to aid your survival against the hordes of enemies. As you progress, you’ll upgrade your fortress and defences to fight off the increasingly aggressive and powerful waves of enemies, you’ll get some respite during daylight, but when darkness falls they’ll attack in swarms.

Build and Defend pairs Zelda‘s combat mechanics with Minecraft‘s buildings and crafting, then adds multiplayer, Horde mode and some tower defence elements. This combination of game-styles works well and the distinctive art style which uses 2D pixelated characters in a 3D world gives it a lot of charm. Also, the old-school retro sound-track is amazing!

Download the Free Beta Demo or purchase the full Beta

Spark Rising is a highly customisable build and battle sandbox game where you create fortresses and engage in massive battles. You’ll the ability to create almost anything imaginable in-game, including units such as mechs, aliens, zombies, dinosaurs, monsters and robots, as well as a host of vehicles, artillery and defences.

To demonstrate the variety of creations available to players and to showcase the gameplay options, game developers - Wicked Loot - have released 3 different Alpha Demos, each with a different theme. It’s not possible to fully build and create in the Demos (though the second demo does allow some building functions), but they’re great fun none the less and offer a great demonstration of the gameplay, carnage and voxel based destruction.

The first Demo released was Retro Rising RAMPAGE (RRR), a fast-paced FPS arcadey homage to 8-bit NES era, with you playing as a Mega Man-esque character, fighting off shy guys. The second demo - Gaiden 2: Build Play - allows you access to some of the building mechanics, with you building a fortress and battling in it. Last but not least, there's Titian Rising which has just been released, is by far the most spectacular of the three, with you fighting off a massive Titan which can completely destroy the voxel based terrain.

All three Pre-Alpha Demos offer up unique and entertaining experiences, whether it be retro charm, building fortresses or the spectacle of fending off a massive Titan. Each one’s a great showcase for the vast possibilities that in a game that both nurtures creativity and embraces destruction.

Download all three Pre-Alpha Demos Free

A Dragon Named Coal is a dark fairytale inspired by Castlevania: Symphony of the Night that features branching story mechanics inspired by Dragon Age: Origins. Coming to mobile, desktop, and consoles, it’s still in its early development stages but already it looks like a cool retro pixel art Metroidvania game with some interesting ideas.

Like Dragon Age: Origins, ADNC has NPC characters that evolve over time, with your decisions affecting how they progress, this occurs with various NPCs such as influential leaders, villains, and children that grow up as time progresses. For example, if a little girl is treated kindly, she’ll grow up to start a school for gifted mages. Abuse and torment her, she becomes a femme fatale running a gang of scoundrels.

It will also feature a comprehensive crafting system, allowing you craft legendary swords and armor to hundreds of combinations. You’ll also have a selection of NPC companions with different abilities that fight alongside you, converse with you, lend you abilities, find hidden areas, unlock doors and give various stat boosts. Levels will be packed with hidden areas and treasures, rewarding exploration and exploration.

A Dragon Named Coal is certainly worth keeping an eye on, it’s mixture of retro pixel art graphics belie a deep and complex game where choices matter and dragons wear scarf’s!

Sign-Up for the Beta

Killstorm is a modern day homage to the excellent Strike games of the 90′s (Desert Strike, Jungle Strike, Urban Strike, etc). Like our previously featured Nuclear Storm, Killstorm does a great job of taking the isometric attack helicopter warfare gameplay and updating it for the modern era.

Coming to PC, Mac and touch screen devices, the main difference to the original Strike series is that you control your chopper with the mouse (or by touch on mobile devices), this works surprisingly well, allowing for precision aiming while not affecting the agility and manoeuvrability of the helicopter.

If you want a more authentic Strike-style experience you may prefer Nuclear Storm, but Killstorm certainly has plenty to offer, full of spectacle and action. It’s certainly a lot better than what EA have planned for the Strike series anyway– ignoring it and hoping it will go away.

Play the Alpha demo, Free

Treasure Arena is an online battle-arena that looks and plays like a 4 Player Legend of Zelda deathmatch.

Levels are compact and littered with a variety of weapons, from bows to rocket launchers, and a variety of monsters. When a player kills another player or a monster, they’ll drop coins which the player can then pick up, whoever ends up with the most coins by the end wins the match.

It’s a great game with fast and fun gameplay and a nice retro pixel art visual style. Perfect for a short blast of pixelated multiplayer mayhem.

Play the Treasure Arena Beta, Free

Posts tagged retro game