This sci-fi FPS looks like Borderlands, but its robot is cool instead of annoying

YouTube

Roboquest sounds like the title of a mid-'90s children's show about robots struggling to save humanity from a climate-change-induced apocalypse. It's actually a new FPS roguelite that's now available in Early Access on Steam—about a robot struggling to save humanity from a climate-change-induced apocalypse.

The year is 2700 and humanity is on the brink (as usual), but things start to look up when a scavenger named Max discovers and reactivates an old Guardian robot, who then helps her scavenge the surrounding canyons and caves—and by "helps her," I mean, does all the work while she waits back at the van.

It looks quite a bit like Borderlands, but the randomly-generated levels are smaller and more linear: Your job is simply to battle from one end of a level to another (although there are branching paths in some), collecting all the guns and upgrades you can as you go. When you get to the end, you return to the van to repair and recharge, and then it's back into the fight against more, tougher enemies. Despite the Borderlands look it actually reminds me of Devolver's Heavy Bullets, but much more action-oriented and with unlimited ammo.

The Early Access release "features most of the final core systems of the game, with a few cinematic and story-elements," and developer RyseUp Studios expect it will remain in EA for 8-10 months, although it could run longer depending on how it all goes.

titleRoboquest is a fast FPS roguelite about a young woman and a robot in the year 2700quest is a fast FPS roguelite about a young woman and a robot in the year 2700quest is a fast FPS roguelite about a young woman and a robot in the year 2700hat preliminary state, though, it's quite a lot of fun. I expected to take a quick look last night, and ended up putting a couple hours into it, just rattling around in canyons and the occasional techno-cave, blasting away with dual Uzis, crossbows, electro-shotguns, and more. I didn't get very far with it (this sort of shooter isn't really my forte) but it's the sort of thing that's very easy to pick up and put down as time allows. It supports co-op play as well, if you're in the mood for grouping up.

Roboquest is available for $18 on Steam in Early Access, and is expected to go up to $20 at full launch. You can take a look at the development roadmap down below, and find out more about the game at roboquest.com.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.