One of the best roguelikes on PC is getting a farewell of sorts this week. Twitchy slashfest Dead Cells received its final major update, introducing new enemies, fresh weapons, and a few mutations. Unfortunately, all this new stuff is very cursed. In other words, it all toys with the game's "curse" status effect, a hex that causes you to be killed if you take even a single hit. You'll probably die a few times as a result of this update, which in some ways is a fitting finalé for this fast-paced jar smasher of a game. You can see the new features in the trailer below.
]]>Chaos and comedy. Death and rebirth. Luck and, uh, running out of luck. A good roguelike doesn't treat the player like other games do. Roguelikes won't guide you helpfully along a path, or let you cinematically snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. They're more likely to dangle you deep between the jaws of defeat and fumble the rope until you go sliding down defeat's hungry gullet. This is their beauty, and it's a part of why we keep coming back for another go. Next time everything will go right. Next time you'll find the right pair of poison-proof loafers, the perfect co-pilot for your spaceship, a stash of stronger, better ropes. Next time.
Here's our list of the 19 best roguelikes on PC you can play in 2024.
]]>Dead Cells was blessed with several excellent animated trailers, each one produced by French animation studio Bobbypills. Now the slick metroidvania is getting a full animated television series from the same folks, and the first trailer is below.
]]>Evil Empire, the studio responsible for the previous five or so years of updates to Motion Twin’s roguelite metroidvania game Dead Cells, are set to release a new roguelite set in the Prince of Persia universe “later this year.”
That’s according to Insider Gaming, who were told by sources that ‘The Rogue Prince of Persia’, as the game is rumoured to be named, will first release in Steam early access. It’s reckoned to have been in development for the last four years or so, and supposedly came about after a talk between Evil Empire and Ubisoft at GDC 2019.
]]>Former Dead Cells lead designer Sébastien Benard is none too chuffed about publisher Motion Twin's decision to end development of the well-regarded roguelike Metroidvania. A few days ago, Motion Twin announced that the 35th major Dead Cells update, aptly titled The End Is Near, would be its last. Benard feels this is a betrayal of both the game's community and its current development team, Evil Empire, a spin-off studio who took the reins in 2019.
]]>Dead Cells developers Motion Twin have announced their roguelike Metroidvania will receive its final update with the launch of the appropriately titled Update 35: 'The End Is Near'. It's been a pretty great run as these things go: over the course of seven years, Dead Cells has received four major DLC expanions, a mobile release and, of course, 35 of those big title updates. However, current custodians Evil Empire are now moving on to greener, "secret projects"-flavoured pastures - the emphasis being on pastures plural there, if their Xweet about it is anything to go by, too.
]]>Dead Cells is a snappy, 2D metroidvania that was our favourite game of 2017, even while still in early access. It's now getting a 10-episode animated series from the studio already responsible for its several, wonderfully animated trailers. It'll arrive next year and there's an extremely brief trailer below.
]]>As a PC player, watching Nintendo Directs can be finicky business. Everything simply has a Switch logo, so how do you know what to be excited for? We hear your (very important) woes, so we’ve compiled every PC game featured in last night’s direct. There were plenty of goodies coming to PC including paranormal detectives, retro throwbacks, a new game from Don’t Nod, and more. So let’s get started.
]]>Looks like Dead Cellsis honoring its gaming ancestors in its next DLC titled Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania. Hell yeah, it's a Castlevania crossover. Announced at The Game Awards this evening, developers Motion Twin announced the DLC with a lavishly animated trailer in which our flame-headed Dead Cells protagonist finds a gateway to a mysterious castle where they meet Castlevania's Alucard, Richter Belmont, and of course the big bad boy himself, Dracula. Check out the trailer below.
]]>Fantasy roguelike Dead Cells is being invaded by indies again. Weapons and outfits from six games are making their way into the game with today's free Everone Is Here 2 update: Terraria, Hotline Miami, Shovel Knight, Slay The Spire, Risk Of Rain 2, and Katana Zero. There’s also new lore rooms based on locations from these games, which is where you’ll find the weapons stored. You can watch some of the costumes and weapons in action in the trailer below.
]]>Fantasy roguelike Dead Cells has brought out the big guns for its latest update, adding a promised boss rush mode. You can now go head to head in a sequence of four stages, pitting you against familiar bosses and their enhanced versions. Oh, and there’s a humongous fancy statue to decorate for some reason. Get your dander up by watching the trailer below.
]]>The Disney animated classic Tangled proved that humankind’s deadliest and most readily accessible weapon is the frying pan. Now, Dead Cells has taken that to the logical conclusion with its newly released Enter The Panchaku update: nunchuk pans. Channel your inner qi and behold the fury of panchaku in the trailer below.
]]>Roguelike Metroidvania Dead Cells isn’t dead, so get ready for three more updates over the course of this year. That’s the message from publisher Motion Twin in a new roadmap update on the game’s future, which promises 2023 will be the “most exciting year” for the game so far. The next fresh content update lands sometime this summer, though none of the roadmap’s release windows are concrete yet.
]]>PAX East 2022 may be over, but we’ve still got plenty of things to talk about from our time in Boston. We have a bunch of videos in the pipeline that I can’t wait to share with you (including a fun piece exploring PAX staple collectible Pinny Arcade) but for now I think it’s about time we spoke about one of the best bits of in-person shows: the booths.
Now, we already highlighted most of the booths at PAX East in our show floor tour that we published during the event itself, but we wanted to focus on some of our favourites in a little more detail. Come and see them (and their carpets) in all their glory below. I'm not kidding about the carpets. They were astounding.
]]>I have a strange relationship with Dead Cells. I picked it up in 2019 and played it for a while, by which point I'd clearly had my fill. No DLCs to my name, nothing. I'd done a big run and put the game down.
Fast forward to now. Suddenly I own the latest expansion The Queen And The Sea, plus all the DLCs that came before it. I'm nonchalant, thinking that I dropped the game for a reason. Surely I can't be won almost three years later? Well, nope. I was wrong. The DLCs have opened my eyes to the game in ways I hadn’t anticipated. The combat is crunchy, the challenge is thrilling, and Dead Cells more than holds its own next to more modern darlings of the genre like Hades.
]]>If you’ve been hankering for more Dead Cells, then you’re in luck. The game’s next paid expansion is out now and has you dive into some nautical newness. It's called The Queen And The Sea and is home to shipwrecks and lighthouses infested with monsters, mainly. And a throwable shark. That’s me sold.
]]>The new trailer for Dead Cells' next DLC The Queen And The Sea features a shark being both swung like a sword and launched like an arrow. It's almost enough to trick me into thinking I should play it, when deep down I know I'm not good enough to get anywhere with it. For those of you more skilled than me, the trailer comes alongside the news that the DLC will launch January 6th.
]]>If you weren’t satisfied with only three DLC packs to play with in the hybrid metroidvania roguelike Dead Cells, don’t worry. The teams over at Motion Twin and Evil Empire have got your back. The latest DLC, The Queen And The Sea, has been teased with a tiny new trailer.
The Queen And The Sea is currently planned for a release early next year. It's described as the largest update to Dead Cells yet, and is designed as an ending to the route started by the two previous DLCs (The Bad Seed and Fatal Falls). I think it’s going for more of a The Lighthouse vibe, and not so much The Little Mermaid. You can take a look at the new teaser trailer below.
]]>If you're a fan of roguelikes and metroidvanias (hello), then you might be pleased to know Dead Cells added a bunch of weapons, skins and skills from loads of good'uns. The Everyone Is Here update went live yesterday, bringing new challenges to Motion Twin's soulslike that will let you unlock characters from Blasphemous, Hyper Light Drifter, Guacamelee, Skul: The Hero Slayer, Curse Of The Dead Gods, and, most importantly (for me), Hollow Knight. Hooray for Hollow Knight content!
]]>Dead Cells has received yet another update, named Practice Makes Perfect, which adds a training area, powerful buffs called Aspects, and other more. The devs say the patch is focused "on improving the ease-of-use and learning curve for everyone (paticularly newcomers & occasional players), without altering the overall difficulty of the game." To facilitate this goal, all the new features are optional – allowing players to execute their sweet dodge rolls with the challenge they prefer.
]]>The dark gods of survival horror smile on you this day, child. Resident Evil Village is out now, beckoning you into its township like a big church bell. But wait, before you go tip-toeing through the disturbing cabbage patches of these zombievamp wolfpeople, or whatever they are, please come this way. I have a map for you. An itinerary of other small settlements. Here are the 8 creepiest villages in PC games.
]]>What's better than playing two dark and punishing indie roguelikes separately? Mixing them together and being punished by both at the same time! Last night, the temple-roaming hack and slash Curse Of The Dead Gods added a load of Dead Cells-themed stuff. It's an update rather appropriately named Curse Of The Dead Cells, and it brings over a handful of weapons, as well as a new Dead Cells-inspired room type and curse.
]]>More Dead Cells isn’t exactly a hard sell (aha!), but that didn’t stop developers from going all out with a new animated trailer for the Fatal Falls DLC. It’s even relevant to the game, introducing a clingy but incredibly vicious sentient sword who just loves to stab.
]]>It's not long now until Dead Cells takes a deadly descent into its next paid expansion. Motion Twin and Evil Empire just announced the hack 'n' slash roguelite's Fatal Fall DLC will launch on January 26th, bringing with it new biomes, new enemies and new weapons with which to whack 'em.
One of those weapons is a lantern, which I thought maybe you'd just shine at enemies, but judging from the trailer below it seems you'll be using that to clobber baddies to death too.
]]>You know what old Father Christmas is missing in all those festive films and games we know and love? A katana with which to sleigh (sorry) his enemies. But that's ok, because Dead Cells' latest update will let you don Santa's jolly red coat and unleash some holiday murder onto loads of monsters - including a new crossbow-wielding beastie. You could also dress up as a snowman, if you prefer.
]]>Run 'n' dash 'n' slash 'em up roguelike Dead Cells is about to stumble straight into another piece of paid DLC. Today, Motion Twin's Dead Cells-centric subsidiary Evil Empire released a teaser for Fatal Falls, an expansion that's adding two new regions and all the baddies you'd need to fill 'em up when it drops early next year.
]]>Everyone loves a good distillery tour, right? Gawk at the big barrels, sample the products and all. Not so much in the latest update to Dead Cells, which adds an area called the Derelict Distillery. In this house of horrors the barrels explode and the products are death—your death specifically. The new update is out now, adding new enemies, weapons, and mimics—oh my!
]]>We don't really post about big numbers, but sometimes a game lots of us really like boasts about a really really big one. Three million people have bought Dead Cells since it came out on early access in 2017, which is frankly ridiculous. That's three times this many dots, except every dot is a human who chose to sacrifice precious money* so they could enjoy a videogame. And they were right to.
It's an excellent platforming roguelike that keeps getting more so. The "Update Of Plenty" update landed on Wednesday, bringing a big balance overhaul while reworking weapons and the economy with an eye to "open up a wider range of builds, while not sacrificing what made meta builds fun". Crossbows are two-handed now! Makes sense.
]]>Please don't touch the exhibits. Stab 'em, shoot 'em, or trap 'em with poisoned arrows? Sure, but please do not touch them. They're riled up enough as is. This week's free Bestiary Update brings nasty new foes to roguelite slash 'em up Dead Cells, alongside new tools to face them with and an overhaul to The Bad Seed's botanical wing. But once again, please. No touching.
]]>Slick is such a brilliant word for describing Dead Cells, Motion Twin's marvellous roguelite Metroidvania. It immediately gets across that we're dealing with a clever, fast-paced, and relentlessly satisfying game. But there's also a wetness to the word that perfectly matches the oozing pixel effects, the bioluminescent lighting, the squish of a heavy broadsword through dungeon-dwelling flesh.
So, quite definitively: Dead Cells is one slick goddamn game.
]]>Splendid 'n' deadly roguelikelike platformer Dead Cells today launches its first paid add-on, Bad Seed. Rather than increasing the length of the game, Bad Seed increases its breadth, adding two new levels as alternatives to two early-game murderzones. The verdant Arboretum and sour Swamp have their own new monsters too. The DLC also adds weapons like a honking great scythe and... is that a lute which makes TWONG! noises when you twat baddies? I'm in.
]]>Everyone loves a good action game. It's the driving force behind so many of our favourite PC games, but only a few can lay claim to being the best action games of all time. That's why we've compiled this list - to sort the pulled punches from the bestest biffs that PC has to offer. Whether it's the joy of pulling off a perfect combo, riding the wave of an explosive set-piece or the hair-raising thrill of dodging enemy attacks in slow-motion that gets you going, there's an action game here for you.
]]>You can be killed by many things in run 'n' stab roguelike Dead Cells. There are pirate captains, football-sized assassins and horrible worms. There are robots that summon corpse flies, and skeletons in hats that turn into knife tornadoes. If you spend $5 on Dead Cells' first whack of paid DLC this January, you can also be chucked at spiky walls by mushroom men.
They're part of the Bad Seeds DLC, which adds another route through the game filled with plants and pricks with blow pipes. I'm lucky enough to have already spent an afternoon being chucked at spiky walls, as well as the chance to ask new split-off studio Evil Empire why they're charging for the privilege.
]]>Motion Twin could probably stop developing side-on pixel slicer Dead Cells and everything would be just fine. It would leave behind an "Overwhelmingly Positive" review tag on Steam and a beautiful corpse. But they’re still fiddling with it, and the 15th update has just gone live. A new biome has been added, along with a new rune, a new meta upgrade, and more.
]]>Sorry, definition nerds. 'Soulslike' is a word now. Disgusting, I know, but this is how genres are made. Along comes a giant like Dark Souls that everybody won't stop bleating about and soon it has copycats. Before you know it, a swarm of games like Dark Souls with sparse checkpoints and lethal attacks are scuttling around, leaving slime trails and biting your ankles for surprisingly massive damage. Ugh, Soulslikes. But stoop low to appreciate these little monsters, and among them you'll find some very good games about dying.
]]>Though 2D combat classic Dead Cells was built to be tough, it could also be frustrating. In particular, a player can have a strong run swiped from them by a boss fight they were never prepared for in the levels leading up to it. That’s what Update 14: Who’s The Boss hopes to address, adding six new mini-bosses that prepare you for the big (oh so big) bads at the end of a run.
]]>If you thought twitchy roguelike platformer Dead Cells was hard before, you're in for a hell of a time when the free Rise Of The Giant expansion launches this Thursday, March 28th. While daring players can opt in to a testing build now, the major, story-focused update to the game will officially roll out soon. It adds more enemies, weapons, zones, boss fights and multiple new endings to the story, although you'll need to play on the highest possible difficulty to access the toughest battles. Below, a cute animated short in the style of the game's launch trailer.
]]>We've known there's free DLC on the way for rogue-ish metroidvania Dead Cells for a while - daring players have been playing a pre-release build for days. This somewhat dulls Red Bull Gaming's boast that their little Dead Cells documentary contains "exclusive footage" from the DLC, but it's still worth a watch because developers Motion Twin seem like lovely people. There's some talk about their challenges making the game, their anarcho-syndicalist company structure, and some debate on what their next game might be. Personally, I'm voting for Yurt Simulator. Watch below.
]]>It is terrifying to be an independent developer right now. Before, small teams might compare themselves to a ‘soulless’ billion dollar industry built on games where Very Large Men shoot other Very Large Men (regardless of the merit of that claim). Now, those same big studios are bringing their absurd levels of manpower and polish to titles that are more empathetic and experimental than ever -- often hiring the very indies that used to compete with them. As remasters, re-releases, and long-awaited ports hit every platform imaginable, the time of a game’s release has lost all meaning. Katamari Damacy, a title originally released in 2004, can finally be played as God intended -- with the power of a NVIDIA Titan RTX. We are lost in a sea of games, and Epic aims to be our new Poseidon.
...I’m supposed to say my five favourite games of the year at some point, right?
]]>I start with only a bow and a sword, fighting against entry-level enemies and depending on my dodging roll for survival. During the next five minutes of Dead Cells, I have doubled my HP. I’ve become stronger, and consequently, I begin to see myself as a walking killing spree that will leave no room hidden or treasure chest untouched, no matter how many enemies are guarding them. My damage is so high that I begin to ignore weaker obstacles. I just rush towards the boss, prepared to show them what I’m capable of. And in that moment of confidence, I lose my balance. And fall prey to my own foolishness.
]]>A 'Custom Mode' letting goofolk choose their gear and mysterious new pretties are among goodies planned for future updates to Dead Cells, the roguelikelike stab-o-platformer which I'd say has a fair chance of scooping our much-coveted "Bestest best game best of the best year best best" award in December. Developers Motion Twin have been taking it easy, sleazy since Dead Cells launched out of early access in August but say they're about ready to crack on again. They've talked before about planning more free stuff (and maybe some not free stuff) for Dead Cells after launch, and now we know more about those plans.
]]>I've been away for a few weeks - NOT THAT YOU NOTICED - and my poison of choice during that time was the release version of Dead Cells. This Metroidvania/roguelike hybrid ticks pretty much every box I've got going, leaving my former flames The Binding of Isaac, Hollow Knight and Slay The Spire suddenly abandoned.
Like all the best 'vanias, Dead Cells doesn't tell you much, content instead to let you dash yourself against its rocks time and again until realisation - or reflex - takes hold. I've learned a lot by now (and I've got even more left to learn), and my runs are very different to my early, faltering ones. Because of the way unlocks work in Dead Cells, there's a few particular things I wish I knew from the off - to the point that I'm even toying with a total restart.
]]>OK! OK! Look, thank you, yes, yes, I know, thank you. Yes, it's very exciting that I'm here with this week's Steam Charts, but come on, please, sit down now, that's really enough. Oh, come on, all of you, you're lovely, but it's only little me. Goodness gracious!
]]>After fourteen months in early access, Dead Cells officially launched today. We declared the roguelikelike platformer our favourite game of 2017 even in its early access state, and our Brendan's Dead Cells review yesterday will tell you it's now even sharper. A good video game. But if you've not been persuaded by our baby-and-a-half of squawking, instead waiting for the full launch, today's your lucky day. Developers Motion Twin aren't done-done with it, mind, already working on new free content.
]]>Dead Cells gets into your nervous system like a wonderful toxin. If it wasn’t so fast-paced, you could almost feel the electro-chemical effects pulsing through your body, from hand to eye to screen to brain, as your panicked flurry of knife strikes eviscerates another sewer worm. The game began as a “roguevania”, and it was strong even in its early days. But the final version has seen every edge of this Castlevania homage sharpened to the point of needing a big cork on top. The verbs “hack” and “slash” have rarely been put to better use.
]]>Then the bus EXPLODED. Hello, this is the RPS podcast, the Electronic Wireless Show, and we are here to talk about the best game openings and intros. Whether they are cold opens or slow burns, we love a good first impression.
]]>RPS have watched platform roguelike Dead Cells like some sort of many-headed nightmare hawk. Excellent even in its first early access release and steadily improved by patches, its deep combat and huge number of viable play-styles making each run feel fresh enough to keep us coming back. We even declared it the best game of 2017 in a fit of communal enthusiasm.
After a great many updates, it's just about time for developers Motion Twin to put a bow on it and declare the game 'complete' (for the time being) - Dead Cells will be leaving early access and launching on August 7th.
]]>Welcome to Soundbyte, an audio mini-series that stimulates your ears and explores topics in the games industry. In our first episode, Pixel Picketers, we're talking about unionisation in the games industry, what some folks are doing to make it happen, and the challenges they face. Let's start by speaking to Doug Cockle, who plays Geralt in The Witcher among other roles, about his negative experiences in the recording booth. It turns out you can't speak like a rough mercenary for hours on end without your voicebox shriveling up. Who knew?
Oh, voice actors did.
]]>With Dead Cells nearing its exit from early access, developers Motion Twin have ticked off a few big boxes on their to-do list for the rad roguelikelike metroidvania. Today brings Mac and Linux versions, "experimental" mod support, and final confirmation that the price will go up by $5 ahead of its August launch. But heck, Dead Cells was our favourite game of 2017 even in its early days on early access, so I'd feel fairly confident buying before it's done-done mega-'done' done - especially as it's going cheap in the Steam summer sale right now.
]]>The old quote is wrong: neither death nor taxes are, it seems to me, as terrifyingly certain as the Steam Summer Sale. Yes, once more we can add to the heap that is our backlog by buying games for, what, five quid, on average? But there are so many to choose from that it's easy to get flustered, so who better than the staff of RPS to hand-pick the best ones for your consideration (rhetorical question; do not answer)?
Check out the full list below for a mix of games that should suit all pockets and tastes.
]]>Roguey romp Dead Cells - one of the best games of 2017 - is getting mod support, possibly as soon as this month. It’s been requested frequently, so the announcement still comes as a pleasant surprise, mentioned at the end of a brief update post yesterday. The early access game is also now available on Linux and Mac - just pick those versions in the beta branch.
]]>If only you could have heard the RPS treehouse chat a few months ago, during the great Metroidvania debate of 2017. Battle lines were drawn. On the one side: John, insisting that of course Dead Cells isn't a Metroidvania. On the other side: everyone else, calling John an old fogey for insisting on overly strict and out-dated genre boundaries. On the other other side: the sensible people, who probably didn't get involved because this is a silly discussion that's of no consequence whatsoever.
Still, I was in the second group, and can't help but picture the smug look on John's face as he dropped news of the "Not a Metroidvania" Steam bundle into our Trello this morning. It includes the best game of 2017, the splendid Sundered, the Dark Souls-esque Salt and Sanctuary, and the comparatively essless Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition. John likes all of them, but what does he know.
]]>There are only three colours in Unworthy - black, white and blood. It’s an upcoming minimalist monochrome Metroidvania that isn’t so much “inspired” by Dark Souls as it is a pixel demake of it. In one sense, it's very derivative. The health and stamina bars, the slow and deliberate attacks, the “sin” you collect from kills (and drop on death), the depressed ramblings of NPCs. Even the places you roam have names both intentionally Gothic and unintentionally funny. The Throat of Despair, the Catacombs of Ur, the Cradle of Death. “The human soul is a sponge that soaks up our sins,” it growls in the intro, “until it simply rots away.” But this grimness barely matters, because Unworthy is a competent pastiche of what many people love about Souls games. I still haven’t beaten the first boss.
]]>The splendid roguelikelike metroidvania Dead Cells--our favourite game of 2017, don't you know--has taken a big step towards leaving early access with the launch of the update codenamed 'Baguette'. It's a biggun, overhauling how persistent weapon upgrades work, letting us reroll the modifiers on particular weapons to shoot for something nicer, replacing the UI, adding new Legendary weapons... lots of good stuff.
]]>Progression is so often an illusion. Many games use the idea of permanent progression as a way of tickling our lizard brains with a growing pile of loot or numbers which constantly tick up, so that we feel like we’re achieving something while we sit in front of a computer and repeat the same set of tasks over and over again.
The beauty of permadeath is that it does away with all this. Characters grow and collect things, but then they become permadead, and it’s time for a new explorer to begin their adventure. The only thing that progresses is you, the player, slowly learning a set of systems with each failure. At least, that’s the theory. We spoke to the designers of Spelunky, Into the Breach, Dead Cells and Rogue Legacy to learn more about persistence within a permadeath mould.
]]>Last week, we reported that metroidvania-ish platform roguelike Dead Cells had pushed its sixth major update - The Hand Of The King - to public beta testing. Having identified and smoothed out a few initial issues, developers Motion Twin have officially released the new content for all, along with their plans for the future of the game.
I said that the new Castle zone and the accompanying Hand of the King boss had a distinct endgame feel to them, and it would seem that assertion was on the money. While there may be some minor patches between here and there, Update 7, whenever it comes, will mark the end of core development, and Dead Cells' exit from Early Access.
]]>We've covered Dead Cells a lot over the past year, and with good reason. It might still be in Early Access, but even from its early days, it was clearly shaping up to be one of the slickest, most satisfying platform-roguelikes yet, blending stylish melee combat with Metroid-esque progression.
While developers Motion Twin aren't quite ready to call it done, the sixth major update for the game just rolled out on Steam, adding one more, very dramatic looking environment to the game and a final boss fight to match that have a distinct 'endgame' feel to them.
]]>Hey, remember Dead Cells? You should, because it's not even out of early access and we named it our game of 2017. It’s a combat-focused platformer roguelike that John refuses to call a metroidvania (although it is).
The game's received another large update since anyone on the site wrote about it, though I’ll save most of what’s in the Foundry Update for another time. This is an article about one little item that solves one very big problem. It’s about how the Hunter’s Grenade gives me something to work towards with every fresh start, and why I was still playing at a point when I’d seen almost everything the game had to offer.
]]>There's no shortage of great Metroidvanias out there these days, so to help narrow your search for what to play next, we've put together this list of the very best Metroidvania games to play on PC right now. Metroidvanias can be a little tricky to define at times. Most have big, knotty worlds to explore that often require the use of specific abilities to access its farthest corners, but while some put a greater emphasis on slow and methodical combat, others stuff every pixel with rock hard platforming challenges to test their players' mettle. We like to keep an open mind when it comes to these things, but that does mean our list of the best Metroidvanias may include the odd controversial choice or two. What's important, though, is that all of these games are brilliant, and come with our seal of approval.
]]>The calendar's doors have been opened and the games inside have been eaten. But fear not, latecomer - we've reconstructed the list in this single post for easy re-consumption. Click on to discover the best games of 2017.
]]>The ruinous ‘roguevania’ Dead Cells remains atop its throne of skulls - the defeated remnants of all other games released this year. If you haven’t enjoyed the electrowhips or bloodied throwing knives of this dice-powered 2D riposte to Bloodborne, go and sort yourself out instead of reading this article. I’d say “I’ll wait for you” but I know you won’t be back.
It also just received its fourth big update, adding new monsters, levels and weapons. But what impresses me most about Motion Twin’s consistent fiddling with the game is not what they change, but what they know to leave alone.
]]>Dead Cells was a tough game to begin with, and apparently the "RogueVania action-platformer" is getting even more brutaler. The Brutal Update adds new levels, abilities, weapons and enemies as well as a re-working of the upgrade system. It's designed to make your choices harder, you see, putting more demand on both your fingers and your decision making skills. The early access update is live for anyone who buys the newly-launched GOG version, though owners of the Steam version will have to wait until Tuesday.
There's a trailer below that shows it all off.
]]>This is The Mechanic, where Alex Wiltshire invites developers to discuss the difficult journeys they underwent to make the best bits of their games. This time, Dead Cells [official site].
When Dead Cells was first released in Steam Early Access in May this year, Sébastien Bénard was shocked to see how people played the game he’d spent the previous three years designing. “It was quickly a disappointment,” he tells me. They were not playing in the way he’d intended at all. They weren’t using the weapons in the game elegantly, shooting with the bow before finishing with a blade, or blocking with the shield and following up with the dagger. They were only using bows, killing everything, even bosses, from a safe range. They never put themselves in danger and they never made different decisions. They were playing Dead Cells efficiently, and completely wrong.
]]>Bring out your ears, it's the RPS podcast, the Electronic Wireless Show. Adam has returned from Gamelab in Barcelona and is ready to tell us all the hot goss about Arkane's president leaving the studio (there's not much) but also all the gamescience he acquired from RiME developer Raúl Rubio and Cyberpunk 2020 creator Mike Pondsmith. In the mean time, Brendan has been falling off airships and getting into disagreements with cloud hobos in floating island MMO Worlds Adrift, and Pip has been too busy to play things. The world is an accursed slum of injustice.
But there's more! We also have a tougher-than-normal edition of our patch notes quiz, Patch Adam, and take some questions from readers. Listen now, your attention is our sustenance. Feed us. Feed us.
]]>Jingle jingle, it's the RPS podcast, the Electronic Wireless Show. This week we discuss the ongoing Steam summer sale and bare our respective piles of shame. Editor-at-arms Graham also joins us to talk about spelunking roguelike Caveblazers, while Pip takes on the free-to-play Orcs Must Die! Unchained and Brendan marches on with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
But wait! There's also an interview with the creators of "roguevania" Dead Cells, and we take some questions from listeners too. But most importantly, we introduce some extra jingles from our music man, Jack. Come and listen, educate yourself.
]]>The Steam summer sale is in full blaze. For a while it even blazed so hot that the servers went on fire and all the price stickers peeled off the games. Either that or the store just got swamped with cheapskates looking for the best bargains. Cheapskates like you! Well, don’t worry. We’ve rounded up some recommendations - both general tips and some newly added staff choices.
Here are the things you should consider owning in your endless consumeristic lust for a happiness which always seems beyond reach. You're welcome.
]]>Update: The year is finished, which means you can now read the final list of our favourite games of 2017.
2017 has already been an extraordinary year for PC games, from both big-name AAA successes to no-name surprise indie smashes. Keeping up with so much that's worth playing is a tough job, but we've got your back. Here is a collection of the games that have rocked the RPS Treehouse so far this year.
We've all picked our favourites, and present them here in alphabetical order so as not to start any fights. You're bound to have a game you'd have wanted to see on the list, so please do add it to the comments below.
]]>The Souls-inspired roguelite Dead Cells [official site] is considered smashing by many of us here. You fight through a semi-randomised world of monsters with whatever you can find. Adam swears by his shields but I’m a throwing knife man. But maybe we’ll both switch to fire-based equipment from now on, because it has just received an update that introduces flammable oils and makes burning things quite attractive. The bad news is that it’s only on the beta branch for now, but it will be coming for regular schmucks in a week or so.
]]>For thirty-eight long years, you people have looked to me to inform you which ten games sold best on Steam over the past week. That time is now at an end.
But evil never dies.
]]>'Terrible' only in the sense of their gaming capability. Honestly, I'm sure your laptop is lovely to look at and it was definitely a extremely sensible idea to spend all that money on it instead of buying a holiday or helping to save the pandas. Truth is, though, that playing recently-released games on the vast majority of laptops is about as effective as starting an online petition to uncancel your favourite television show.
A little discretion goes a long way, however. Sure, you may be denied the glossiest of exploding viscera, but it is entirely possible to keep up with the Joneses even on a Terrible Laptop that has no dedicated graphics card. Here are but twelve contemporary games - either recently released or still-evolving going concerns - that will indeed run on your glammed-up toaster. Additional suggestions below are entirely welcome.
]]>The Mac Dad will make you jump jump, for, as always, these are the ten games with the most accumulated sales on Steam over the past week. It's an odd old chart this week: the mainstays continue to stay, but random discounts remix things quite a bit.
]]>Every week we decapitate Brendan and throw him into the early access dungeons, and somehow he always comes back. He must have learned that trick from the promising and punishing Dead Cells [official site]
Life is good when you beat a boss. I’ve been toying with Dead Cells for the past week, relishing its roguelite slashing and crunchy pixel art. It’s a tough game, often punching you in the gut with powerful enemies and sending you slithering all the way back to the start with each death. But every time you die, you get stronger, along with a chance to re-roll the dice of fate to see what vicious weaponry you can gather this time. It styles itself after Dark Souls but, really, you should leave those assumptions at the gate. Just there, next to the pile of beheaded corpses.
]]>The Souls-inspired “roguevania” Dead Cells [official site] has slithered its way to early access today. You play as a disgusting glob of cellular organisms that has taken over a headless corpse and will not rest until it has seen all the levels. It’s got swords and rolling and whips and bear traps and grenades that freeze your enemies so that you can smash them to bits. I’ve only played a bit, so I can’t tell you Wot I Think. But I can tell you Wot I Reckon.
]]>The upcoming slash-and-splore Dead Cells [official site] has been dubbed a “roguevania” by its creators, which is either a creative and welcome blending of genres or an obscene new marketing word that we should refuse to acknowledge lest it catch on. I haven’t decided which yet because it’s still the morning for me and I haven’t even had my daily egg. The good news is: it has a release date and looks nifty enough for a quick post, which you can see in the trailer below. You are an immortal flock of manipulative cells in control of a lifeless yet servile human body. AND IN THE GAME HAHAHAHA KILL ME
]]>Dead Cells [official site] is a game in which dying is sort of the point. Every time you kick the bucket, whether that's because you got booted in the head by an armoured beast or because you fell down a shaft by accident, you get access to new items in a mash-up of my two favourite activities: reincarnation, and shopping.
]]>.png?width=1200&height=630&fit=crop&enable=upscale&auto=webp "The Last Of Us Part II ידרוש חשבון PSN כדי לשחק במחשב, מה שהופך אותו לבלתי ניתן לשחק בלמעלה מ")
