Gentrieve 2: a Metroid Prime-inspired FPS with procedurally generated worlds, puzzles and foes

You might know developer phr00t for his science-fiction Minecraft-a-like 3079 but, as the saying goes, why stop at just one ambitious procedurally generated genre mash-up when you can have two on the go at the same time?

The original Gentrieve applied random world generation to a sidescrolling platformer in the vein of Super Metroid, but its sequel introduces the same features to a first-person action game inspired by the towering Metroid Prime. In addition to procedurally generated rooms and worlds, expect random enemies, puzzles and even textures, plus the option to customise the set of abilities you start the game with. With that teetering stack of features, it's going to be tough for the level design to compare to Retro Studios' masterpiece, but it's bound to be an interesting experience nonetheless.

Gentrieve 2 just hit beta status today, with an update that, among other things, adds mushrooms to the game. $9/£6.90 will grant immediate access to the beta and all future updates, or you can download the demo version here . If you need more convincing, there's a slightly outdated (as in, no mushrooms) alpha trailer below. Check out those fancy 3D maps.

Tom loves exploring in games, whether it’s going the wrong way in a platformer or burgling an apartment in Deus Ex. His favourite game worlds—Stalker, Dark Souls, Thief—have an atmosphere you could wallop with a blackjack. He enjoys horror, adventure, puzzle games and RPGs, and played the Japanese version of Final Fantasy VIII with a translated script he printed off from the internet. Tom has been writing about free games for PC Gamer since 2012. If he were packing for a desert island, he’d take his giant Columbo boxset and a laptop stuffed with PuzzleScript games.