Developer: Terri Vellmann
Publisher: Devolver Digital
Platform: PC – Steam

Roguelikes have been in vogue for a few years now and yet developers are still finding new ways to iterate on them. Heavy Bullets appeared out of nowhere on Steam Early Access some time ago and quickly forged a following. Since it’s finally out of Early Access I decided to give it a look and see what exactly hooked so many players. Now I understand. Well, sorta.

Heavy Bullets is most easily described as a first person shooter. Players begin with a revolver, six bullets, and (hopefully) a masochistic personality. Unlike most games, bullets count a lot. After shooting an enemy the bullet will lay around waiting for you to pick it back up. Actually, the bullets sort of bounce around toward you but that’s beside the point. Taking care of ammo is integral because you’ve got to kill to succeed. As per most roguelikes, the challenge is rather steep and you’ll spend a lot of time dying yourself.

There’s this interesting item purchase system which is split into persistent and non-persistent goods. Everything is available via vending machines scattered about stages. Weirdly, each vending machine holds specific goods. This means you might really need health, come upon a vending machine, and find it stocked full but useless to your current situation. This whole aspect didn’t jive with me much, nor did a lack of in-game description for what certain oddball goods effects are. I know you’re supposed to buy them and find out but at this point in my gaming life convenience is a blessing.

The thing that stands out most about Heavy Bullets is the art style. Hot damn, it is gorgeous. The 80s Miami-esque color palette is just so good. The choice to keep everything polygonal also fits. Unfortunately, the colors and jagged lines sometimes screw me up. Case in point, I can rarely see snakes in bushes because the colors are too similar. My “fix” is to simply shoot any bush I need to walk by.

As a fan of modern roguelikes, there is definitely a lot to like about Heavy Bullets. However, for some reason it failed to truly capture me like other titles have. It might be my frustration with seeing enemies, or simply the fact that no matter how much I play it doesn’t seem to equate to increasing skills. Ah well, there will most certainly be a new roguelike (or hundred) down the road!

3 out of 5 alpacas

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