Metroidvania roguelike Dead Cells busts out of early access August 7th
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…
Feature: The 1000 step program
Soundbyte: Why is it so hard to start a union in the games industry?
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…
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…
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…
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.
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Feature: Games are hard to make
The long, hard, journey behind the design of Dead Cells’ player builds
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…
Feature: Listen now or fall behind
Podcast: The Electronic Wireless Show talks Caveblazers, The Witcher 3, and Orcs Must Die
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…
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…
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…
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…
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:…
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.
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…
