Roguelike fatigue is actual, however I could make an exception for this upcoming mission that remixes a few of my favourite stealth video games at 90 mph

I prefer it when a recreation has a starting, center, and finish⁠—I am quaint like that⁠—so I are inclined to keep away from a roguelike except it appears to be like actually, actually particular. Upcoming stealth-immersive-platform-brawler-prank sim DreadBound matches the invoice.

From its first trailer, DreadBound appears to be like to be taking a web page from the likes of Darkish Messiah of May & Magic or 2025’s greatest immersive sim, Pores and skin Deep, by embracing the slapstick and improvisational facet of the style, relatively than cerebral exploration.

In DreadBound’s first trailer, I clocked immediately deploying spike traps, oil slicks to journey enemies (or set them on fireplace), Ravenholm-style round noticed projectiles that you could embed in partitions and use as platforms to achieve excessive locations, and an homage to my favourite fast melee in all of gaming, the Darkish Messiah kick.

Associated articles

Quite than the handcrafted ranges typical of immersive sims, DreadBound will characteristic “a cursed metropolis that modifications each time you die.” That gave this Roguelikephobic gamer some pause, however roguelike and immsim, when tried previously, have typically confirmed to be a chocolate and peanut butter style combo.

Amnesia: The Bunker boasts randomized codes and merchandise placements after your first playthrough, which helps the horror sim preserve its chunk on repeat outings, whereas I’ve heard good issues about Prey’s roguelike Mooncrash DLC. Greater than something, I just like the potential for pressured improvisation to override complacent gaming: Even all-time greats like Dishonored can allow you to get right into a groove that retains you from exploring all of its gameplay prospects⁠—teleporting and nonlethal takedowns, in my case.

The total supply of DreadBound’s promise might end in a recreation the place you are all the time off-balance, all the time having to adapt your playstyle⁠—a full ghost sneaky run right here, a loud and proud trapmaster there⁠—based mostly on what alternatives the randomized map affords you. That is what I am hoping for, anyway. DreadBound presently has no particular launch window, however you possibly can wishlist it on Steam and there is a demo coming “quickly.”