Decent Serious Sam/Hexen Roguelikeish getting no attention

So this was released Thursday for XBONE after being available for PC for awhile, and it seems to be getting absolutely no attention. I saw the Total Biscuit WTF is video and it seemed kind of interesting so when I saw it on XBONE for $15 I decided to give it a shot.

Basically it's yet another FPS roguelikeish game (there is some persistence in terms of unlocking equipment and characters and such) like Tower of Guns or Heavy Bullets, but with a Hexen-like aesthetic (polygonal though) and gameplay that sort of resembles that of Serious Sam (Lots of monsters who all run at you, though not as many or as big as SS, of course)

It's pretty fun in a mindless shoot monsters with wands and spells way. There are treasure rooms and secret rooms and rooms with traps, and each level ends in a boss, all of which are at least mildly challenging. There's a level up mechanic with perks that's kind of like that in Crimsonland, and you can unlock different characters with abilities like specializing in a particular weapon type. The game plays well, with lots of fast paced action and a decent variety of enemy types. At least on the XBONE there's a fair amount of auto-aim to compensate for the slow moving projectiles, but there's usually enough going on to keep things challenging. The XBONE version can also get kind of hitchy in terms of the frame rate, which is disappointing, since the game looks like it could easily run on the 360 (not that it's graphically unappealing, just not super detailed.)

I do hope that Giantbomb does a Quick look of the game, since I think it's pretty fun, but it definitely deserves at least a little bit of attention from the gaming community. I've definitely spent $15 on worse, and if you're looking for an all-action FPS with a little Hexen flavor you could do significantly worse.

@bigsocrates: Actually Jeff and Brad looked at it on an Unprofessional Friday I think it was.
It looks like a cool game, I loved Hexen.

@h0lgr: It's a pity how many games get covered on random UPFs or streams before holiday weekends, then never get a proper Quick Look.

Yeah this game was shown on subscriber video (UPF). I have been spreading the game through word of mouth with friends on steam/pc. I told a friend of mine it was on Xbox One and I presume he picked it up. Even though that game wouldn't be ideal on a console just based on movement speed and its precision shooting. Anyways, the development team was pretty on point with updates and adding new content. Just keep singing its praises to your friends.

Yeah, I remember them saying that they would quick look it later during the UPF, but that never happened. It only got two votes in the community GOTY list. :(

I watch most UPFs, must have missed that one. It's not linked in the game wiki page.

@rickyyo: The console version works okay. It would be better on a PC (the performance is a bummer on XBONE) but the game plays fine. A lot of it is about evading enemy fire, which works just as well on console, and the auto-aim makes it possible to shoot things while you're dodging. They did a decent job with the port except, once again, the performance, which I assume is because they're a small team that's not used to the hardware.

@fisk0 said:

I'm still super mad that Dungeon of the Endless was only looked at on a pre-Thanksgiving or pre-Christmas stream, then never looked at again.

Also, no coverage whatsoever of Endless Legend is a huge bummer. Like, the staff will dip their toe into a management/4X game like Banished or Civ: Beyond Earth or Cities: Skylines, but Endless Legend, arguably the best one from last year, doesn't get a look.

Shoot, yeah. Can we get a link to that UPF? Not sure which one it would be, even.

It wasn't a UPF, it was a freedom stream or something. It was just Jeff on the computer playing a lot of random games. I think maybe Rorie was on the couch, but that was it.

Edit: think it might be this one. Yup, 1:46:00

It was in this monster 4 hour stream.

They start playing it at about 1:46:00.

Pretty much every game in that stream (Ziggurat, Dungeon of the Endless, etc.) never got an actual Quick Look or Unfinished, because then suddenly everybody seemed focused on playing the few big releases of the year that come out in late November, or they wanted to play other stuff that was up for GotY consideration.

I remember Jeff was really into it. Surprised it never got a Quick Look actually. Oddly enough, I also would've liked a Dungeon of the Endless and Endless Legend quick look like others mentioned.

Also Grav and Dex, while we're here mentioned games we'd like quick looks for.

@theht:

Guess I spoke to soon. Jeff mentioned it on the Bombcast today, saying that he'd been playing it and really liked it.

$6 on PSN this weekend. I picked it up on a whim and spent 3 hours with it last night. Pretty fun stuff, give it a go if you're looking for a cool podcast game.