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. Read the rest of this entry »
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.
RPS Feature Gotta catch 'em all
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.
RPS Feature Et tu, brutal update?
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. Read the rest of this entry »
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.
RPS Feature Games are hard to make
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. Read the rest of this entry »
RPS Feature Listen now or fall behind
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 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.
Read the rest of this entry »
RPS Feature Best celler
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.
Read the rest of this entry »
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
Read the rest of this entry »
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. Read the rest of this entry »
I have to say, guys. Badass Inc. [official site] is the cat’s meow. And not just because the protagonist for this free point-and-click adventure is “a sleek, stylish, feline predator that trades in scalps and briefcases full of cash.” A Ludum Dare entry crafted by the inimitable Sébastien ‘deepnight’ Bénard, Badass Inc will have you taking on an assignment for Ludum-Tek. (hehe). Your goal? To murder a target in an inventive way.
