Stylish roguelike shooter Rogue Invader finally has a release date

 Smartly retro-looking shooter Rogue Invader was teased a few years back and we haven't heard much since, but surprise: It's coming out on February 21st, 2021. It's a roguelike action shooter with a silly conceit: There are lots of dudes invading this alien world but they have to share a gun and they only have one drop pod. So, yeah. That's why it's a roguelike, I guess? Anyway, there's a new trailer for it.

The trailer shows off picking out gear, customizing it, and preparing to assault an alien world. The space marines have to move between cover, shoot, and do some dodge-rolling to take down aliens, which looks a bit more dynamic than other side-scrolling shooters. There's also a research and development system for developing new guns and gun add-ons, and you can name your guns. One gun is named "Gunny McNukeface" in case you thought this was a serious people game. It is not a serious people game.

The real selling point here for a lot of us is the old-school Mac black and white graphics. Using the vectors and motions of that kind of art isn't just stylish, it's a conservative move that makes animations look smooth, in their own way. Its also been a while since the last side-scrolling shooter like this, at least that I can remember. There's more than a little appeal in that.

You can find the game on its website and on Steam

Jon Bolding is a games writer and critic with an extensive background in strategy games. When he's not on his PC, he can be found playing every tabletop game under the sun.