I like challenging games. Now I’m not a masochist who endures the gameplay loop of Dark Souls or Elden Ring but instead, I love a Roguelike. Whether it’s Hades, Deadcells or Darkest Dungeon a game that challenges you all while giving you the chance to learn from your mistakes is something I like to get into. That’s why Roguelite Sci-Fi FPS Battle Shapers will give you a Roguelike fix all while adding something a bit different.
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From its poppy cartoon art style to its breakneck gameplay and solid progression system, Battle Shapers is already shaping up to be a great addition to the genre, even in this preview build. So, let’s get into why shooting and smashing your way through this game is so fun.
I’ll Be Back- What makes Battle Shapers a fun addition to the Roguelike Genre?
So, what is Battle Shapers all about? Well, you take on the role of Ada a recently awakened Battle Shaper who must help reclaim the future of New Elysium from the villainous (and sometimes obnoxious) Overlords. Although the plot isn’t anything revolutionary it still provides some fun flavour as to why you are scrapping your way through waves of enemy robots while climbing up literal towers.
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From the get-go, Battle Shapers isn’t shy in throwing you into the action as after a brief tutorial in the Hideout, the games HUB area, you are given a gun and have to fight some robo bad guys. I think Battle Shapers really excels at wasting no time in getting the player into the gameplay, giving you control of a pistol and a comically large Megan Man-inspired robot fist, that you whack swarms of robots with.
The first-person aspect of Battle Shapers combined with how fast the gameplay is brought to mind the recently released Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun. While not as pixel-gore heavy as the Warhammer Game the speed of gameplay combined with the floaty gunplay made me enjoy mowing down waves of enemies in the best possible way.
Core Strength- How Will Battle Shapers “Core” Mechanic get you Hooked?
The Roguelite element of Battle Shapers comes from a few different aspects that are implemented in the game. First, we have the Hideout which serves as Ada’s Hub where after a successful, or unsuccessful run, she will return to. In the Hideout players are able to customise and swap their cores, which give Ada access to some of her special abilities.
In the preview build of the game, you only have access to one primary and one secondary core. Although this means that you aren’t able to get the most out of the core customisation system, it still gives you a taste of what they will be like in the full game.
Your equipped cores can also unlock enhancements as you play through a tower giving you an extra upgrade to your abilities. The enhancements are rewards given after especially tough rooms and can give Ada a boost in health, extra shields or even additional aspects to her powers.
The cores the preview allows you to test out are all built around giving Ada the fastest movement possible while in combat. With a dash that allows you to dart quickly around the arena and a shield wall that deflects projectiles back at enemies, you feel like a mostly unstoppable wrecking ball.
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Along with customising your cores, the Hideout gives you access to a shop that allows you to purchase permanent upgrades as well as abilities and items that you lose on death. The permanent talents available in the demo build were all about shield buffs or max HP, but there did seem to be a lot that was locked until the game’s full release, which is promising.
One ability that I used consistently in several runs allowed me to create a temporary pillar that when placed pushed back enemies as well as giving me a new piece of cover to hide behind. These purchasable upgrades really help to change up your combat style and even the field of play, giving you the freedom of choice on how to tackle your next run.
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At the end of the demo once you defeat the Volt Colossus, (the previews only challengeable Overlord), Ada will be awarded with his core. Interestingly the core is actually broken with the item’s description reading: “Volt Colossus’ incomplete core. Keep defeating Volt Colossus to unlock its full power”. I can only assume that this means that the more times you fight a boss the more powerful Ada will get, and you’ll unlock access to enhancements to augment your equipped cores’ capabilities.
One of the most interesting aspects of Battle Shapers is the shaper hacks system. At the start of each tower, you are given access to a shaper hack that allows you to deploy your own traps, power-ups, and effects to help even the playing field. These hacks take the form of making surfaces in the level bounce your projectiles and spawn explosive barrels you can use against enemies.
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With a fun cast of robot side characters, an additive gameplay loop and a solid upgrade system Battle Shapers ticks all the boxes to be the next big FPS Roguelite game. As this was a preview build, I did experience the occasional graphical glitch and issue on start-up but with some fine polish, these issues can easily be worked out. I think that Battle Shapers is definitely a game to add to your Steam Wishlist for its upcoming release and is suitable for new players and Roguelike/Roguelite veterans with it’s fun but challenging gameplay.
8/10
Battle Shapers was played and reviewed on a code supplied by Evolve PR.
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