Instant Dungeon - Roguelike Maze game for PC

Instant Dungeon is a cute little maze game available on both PC and the PlayStation Vita (via the PlayStation mobile section on the store) which features roguelike elements to keep things interesting. Created by lone developer Scott Mattot, Instant Dungeon keeps things incredibly simple by tasking you with little more than moving around a succession of randomly generated, top down mazes, avoiding the skeletons, vampires, zombies and other monstrosities, nabbing any treasures along the way and finding the key to open the exit door. As you progress deeper into the dungeons the light get more scarce, meaning danger could lurk around every corner.

Review - Nuclear Throne (PC)

Hail to the King!

It's great to be king. At least that's what the mutated denizens of the irradiated wasteland - the setting for Vlambeer's latest shoot-em-up roguelike - believe. To lay claim to the royal seating apparatus they must navigate a set of arena-like stages, filled with a plethora of other radioactive beasties who will stop at nothing to see the heroes fail. The ever-familiar roguelike genre is unleashed again, only this time with the hyperactive, balls-to-the-wall action of a twin stick shooter attached. This is not a new concept, Teknopants' excellent game Shoot First dished up a winning combination of randomly generated stages, levelling up and Robotron 2048 style blasting back in 2010. But this is the first time the genre mashup has met the boombastic style of Vlambeer and the wonderful pixel art of Paul Veer, who also created the visuals for popular platformer, Super Crate Box.

REVIEW - Teleglitch (PC) In space, no one can hear you scream!

Teleglitch is a brand new top down roguelike that blends action and horror to great effect. In this nightmarish vision of the future you assume the role of a scientist who is the only survivor of an experiment gone wrong in a military research centre on Medusa C-1. Upon arrival you find that the previous occupants have been performing dangerous experiments, with predictably disastrous results. The complex is overrun with hideous genetic experiments, zombies, robots, and all sorts of crazed monsters out to tear you asunder.

The first thing you will notice are the incredibly lo-fi graphics, grainy and distorted, they are small and extremely pixelated, but rather than detract from the game, it actually adds a grimy, sinister feel. Indeed the visual style brings to mind Id software's Doom and its follow up Quake; the abandoned military installation filled with demonic hordes is pure Doom, and the gritty colours, and eerie sounds instantly reminded me of the first Quake game. Add in the sci-fi horror storyline of System Shock, and the frantic, claustrophobic fire fights and switch pressing of Alien Breed and you are some way to describing Teleglitch. The music is non existent, but the constant space like hums and drones, as well as the hissing of opening doors, and shrieks of creatures give the game an atmosphere reminiscent of Ridley Scott's Alien movies. The aesthetics give the game a great atmosphere and sense of immersion, which will soon have you absorbed into its terrifying world.

REVIEW - Hotline Miami (PC)

The elevator stops at your floor and the doors open, acting quickly you hurl your empty shotgun at the guard, knocking him to the floor. In a second you are on him, smashing his head against the floor in a shower of blood, another guard enters the room and you dash at him, flooring him with a right hook. Taking his pistol you grab him by the neck and pull him to his feet, and using him as a human shield you enter the next room, firing at the guards seated on a sofa. Another catches you by surprise and unloads a shogun at you, killing your hostage, his body slumping to the ground as you dash for cover. Bursting into a bathroom you quickly slit the throat of a urinating hostile, before being set upon by a vicious guard dog who tears out your throat, decorating the walls and floor with fountains of crimson. You are dead. Again!

If you thought that GTA was the pinnacle of video game violence then you ain't seen nothing yet. Hotline Miami is a new indie game that fuses together elements of the original top-down GTA games with the sickening ultra violence of games like Carmageddon, and Man Hunt. With a sleazy Neon 80's vibe that brings to mind movies such as Scarface and, more recently, Drive, and the hazy psychedelic insanity of Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, this game is a brutal and twisted adrenalin rush from the very beginning.

REVIEW - Retro City Rampage (PC)

Retro City Rampage has been in development for a nearly a decade, but now it is finally here! Back in 2002, Brian Provinciano originally set out to produce a Nintendo Entertainment System homebrew game, a remake of the original Grand Theft Auto. It was originally entitled Grand Theftendo, but once he had developed software to get around the limitations of the NES he moved the game to PC. At some stage during development the game morphed into its own title, rather than a remake, and the idea to fill it with references to many of the games and movies that Provinciano had grown up was born.

It would be an understatement to say that this game has been eagerly awaited. Once screenshots and video clips of the game started surfacing online, the retro community went ballistic, and the barrage of 'when is this coming out?' messages on forums started.

Well it is finally here, on PSN and PC, with XBLA and wiiware versions to follow shortly. I have been very excited about the release game since I heard of it a couple of years ago and, while I was wanting the XBLA version, I wanted to get my hands on the game straight away, so bought the PC version.