Remember STRAFE, the rogue-lite first person shooter that called back to Quake and Doom? The game faced its fair amount of criticism at launch but developer Pixel Titans has been working on fixes.

In fact, it released STRAFE Millennium Edition today which brings changes based on community feedback. If you own the game, it’s free and new players can purchase the game for 50 percent off on Steam.

The Millennium Edition has a lot more in store with new modes like StrafeZone – a daily challenge mode – and SpeedZone – a weekly speedrunning challenge. There are also 20 new mutators added to the experience like Rocket Arena, Game of Guns, Big Head Mode and much more to mix up the experience.

Other changes include the ability to save your runs (which helps if you suddenly quit and want to resume a run). There’s also a new traveling merchant, enemies, bug fixes, balance changes and much more.

You can check out the most recent trailer for the Millennium Edition below. PS4 players will also receive the update later but a release date has yet to be announced.

Prey

Arkane Studios didn’t exactly have a great 2016. Despite Dishonored 2 launching to great critical praise, much of it was over-shadowed by PC issues. It’s since reassured players that Prey won’t suffer the same problems. As a re-imagining of sorts for the classic franchise, Prey takes place on-board the Talos I space station with protagonist Morgan Yu. Morgan is trying to figure out why he’s there while also battling the mysterious Typhon. The game presents a System Shock 2-like vibe (which is understandable since it was inspired by the same) and promises a strong narrative. Dishonored players can expect the same open level design but with more guns, shape-shifting and weirdness. Prey releases on May 5^th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Strafe

Fancy some old-school, 16-bit Quake-style shooting? Pixel Titans’ Strafe may be just what you need. Delayed to May for additional polish, Strafe mixes the bloody mayhem of Quake with a rogue-lite approach. Upgrades are to be had among four unique zones with randomly generated levels on each play-through There are more than 30 guns to be had and +20 enemies to slaughter and the game is incredibly generous about leaving the fruits of your slaughter all over the walls. Strafe will release on May 9^th for PC and will head to PS4 later this year.

Injustice 2

Get ready to choose a side as NetherRealms’ Injustice 2 arrives on May 16^th for Xbox One and PS4. Taking place directly after the first game with the despotic Superman’s regime in shambles, Injustice 2 features several new heroes and villains this time around. Gorilla Grodd, Atrocitus, Braniac, Captain Cold and Poison Ivy will tussle with the likes of Supergirl, Robin, Firestorm and Cheetah. There’s also a pretty complex gear system, allowing players to increase their overall base stats, learn new moves and even utilize powerful set bonuses. How this will be balanced in multiplayer remains to be seen but for the most part, there’s tons of possibility for customizing one’s fighting style.

The Surge

Deck13 Interactive already tried its hand at a Dark Souls-style action RPG with Lords of the Fallen. The Surge goes back to the same well but has a dystopian future as its setting. You play as an average worker with a mega-corporation that happens to be having a bad day. Robots go rogue, exo-suit wearing employees vie for your blood and things are generally just terrible. Fortunately, you also have an exo-suit and it can be upgraded by dismembering foes and taking their limbs. This helps encourage a somewhat different play-style from Dark Souls but we’ll see how it pans out when The Surge releases on May 16^th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia 

A remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia will feature the contemporary battle system that’s defined titles like Fire Emblem Awakening. Otherwise, many of the strange (at the time) elements of Fire Emblem Gaiden are intact including an overworld and towns that can be navigated. The romance options are fairly limited (read: not included at all) but this is Fire Emblem. There will be plenty of tactical RPG goodness to embrace when it arrives on May 19th for the Nintendo 3DS.

Friday The 13th: The Game

Jason’s coming to town and he’s more than a little bloodthirsty. Based on the revered horror movie franchise, Friday the 13^th: The Game will be an asymmetrical multiplayer title pitting seven Crystal Lake counselors against one Jason Vorhees. The goal of the counselors is to survive while Jason must eliminate them. Brutal execution moves can be used to dispose of the counselors but if escape isn’t an option, the latter can use a special “victory condition” of sorts to beat Jason. Friday the 13^th: The Game has made waves for its unrelenting brutality and quite frankly, we can’t wait to see how its multiplayer handles when it’s out on May 26^th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Get Even

Part psychological journey, part stylish shooter, Get Even comes from the minds at The Farm 51, who also developed Painkiller: Hell & Damnation. The game itself has you rescuing someone but not everything is so cut and dry. The limits of reality and perception are tested throughout. If you’re not in the mood for philosophy, Get Even’s gameplay revolves around bending bullets and decimating your foes. It’s out on May 26^th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Rime

Long in development, controversial and pretty abstract in its own right, Tequila Works’ Rime will finally be out in May for Xbox One, PS4 and PC (the Nintendo Switch version arrives in Q3 2017). There’s not a whole lot we know about the game aside from it centering on a boy who must escape a curse and the island he’s inhabiting. That means lots of puzzle solving and exploring the open world among a wordless narrative. Interestingly, light have some role in the gameplay. We’ll find out how that works when Rime releases on May 26^th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Farpoint

Virtual reality games may have somewhat cooled off since PlayStation VR launched last year but Farpoint still looks awfully compelling. As a first-person shooter, Farpoint has traversing an alien environment and battling swarms of ugly aliens. Perhaps the most significant factor that differentiates Farpoint from other VR shooters is your ability to move within the game. With sleek visuals and high octane action, Farpoint looks to deliver the goods when it launches on May 16^th for PlayStation VR.

Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2

Though not quite a sequel to Revelator, Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 is a pretty meaty update. Along with the customary balance changes, each of the previous 23 characters will be receiving new moves. Two new characters – Baiken from previous games and the brand new Answer – are also being added while Jam, Raven, Dizzy and Haehyun get new episode story scenes. There will also be a new After Story that takes place after the main story. Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 is out for PS3, PS4 and PC on May 26^th in North America and Europe so if you haven’t had a chance to play the original, it’ll be worth picking up.

Pixel Titans’ Strafe has been in development for a while but finally nears release. To celebrate, publisher Devolver Digital has released a launch trailer that’s very 90s-esque in tone while showcasing the games violence.

Along with a variety of weapons – like ricocheting bullets, shotgun pellets and so on – we get a look at mechanics like using enemy corpses to slide with, bopping on enemy heads and so on. The best part about the whole offering is how all the blood, gore and disembodied corpses remains in the levels no matter what.

The Quake and Doom inspired combat is further expanded upon with randomly generated levels themed across four zones. That doesn’t include a heaping helping of secrets and Easter Eggs to discover (along with what appears to be an homage to old-school Doom).

Strafe is out on May 9th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. What are your thoughts on the gameplay? Let us know below.

Devolver Digital will be putting out their old school first person shooter, STRAFE, on PS4 and PC next week- and ahead of that launch, they have gone ahead and shared a brand new launch trailer for the game, showcasing its extremely speedy gameplay.

STRAFE is an FPS roguelike, meaning that its levels and enemies are procedurally generated each time, and the game relies on the player’s mastery of the mechanics, rather than their memorization of the level layouts, for them to do well. A side effect of this procedural generation is that there are almost no load times whatsoever.

The game has four zones, each with four levels (and each zone is supposed to be unique); there are also more than 30 weapons, further customizable by loads of upgrades. All in all, it seems to be a great game. You can check out the trailer below, and be sure to stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage.

Pixel Titans’ Strafe, a roguelite first person shooter that takes inspiration from Doom and Quake, has been delayed. Originally slated for release on March 28th, Strafe will now be out on May 9th for PS4 and PC.

Game director Thom Glunt issued a humorous statement on the same, saying that, “Strafe requires over 150,000 meticulously placed polygons to create its bleeding-edge graphics. Through an unexpected legal entanglement and a series of clerical errors, nearly 25,000 of those polygons arrived late to Pixel Titans world headquarters thus delaying the game by a few weeks.”

Strafe mixes the fast action and violence of Quake and Doom with roguelite elements such as randomly generated level lay-outs, enemy placements and so on. Even the corpses that you create don’t disappear. There’s plenty to look forward to if you’re a fan of retro first person shooters, especially the granddaddy of them all, so stay tuned for more information.

Super Bomberman R

Your first thought is probably, “Konami is making a game that people actually want?!” Yes but it’s surprising to see it be Super Bomberman R and that too exclusive (currently at least) to the Nintendo Switch. Regardless, our favourite bomb-thrower is back in his 2D grid-based domain with a 50 stage story campaign. Multiplayer is the main appeal of the series though. Super Bomberman R features eight player competitive play for the old-school masses who simply want to blow up their friends. Look out for it launching with the Switch on March 3^rd.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Arguably the most hotly anticipated Zelda title of all time, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is Nintendo Switch’s flagship launch game. Link returns in a Hyrule far larger than anything seen till now and will once again face the forces of evil. How is everything connected to the Ocarina of Time, if they’re indeed connected at all? Dynamic weather, wide-ranging landscapes, looting mechanics and a new Zelda are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Breath of the Wild which releases on March 3^rd for the Switch and Wii U.

Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey

The Atelier story may be unfamiliar to most at this point and Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey won’t really change that. However, if you’re looking for a solid JRPG series with enough alchemy to make Edward Elric’s head spin, you’ve come to the right place. Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey will feature a time limit like the previous game and you’ll be gathering items and synthesizing them together with Catalysts changing up their bonuses. Those interested in combat can take four party members into battles and see abilities and tactics change depending on the weather and time of day. Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey will arrive for on PC, PS4 and PS Vita on March 7^th.

Lego Worlds

The sandbox exploration title featuring the lovable Lego art-style is finally out in March for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Lego Worlds has actually been in Steam Early Access for a while and impressed us with its sheer variety of worlds, vehicles, NPCs and more. Plus you can ride dragons, encounter Bigfoot (and incinerate him accordingly) or just cross the sea in a grand pirate adventure. It releases on March 7^th with a Nintendo Switch release also coming in the future.

Nier: Automata

Break-neck hack and slash action, open exploration, side-scrolling platforming, overhead bullet-hell battles – Platinum’s Nier: Automata nearly has it all. The explosive action RPG turned heads with its demo in December and the awesome combo-ridden combat and expansive locales have us salivating. You can even venture out into the world to find your previous corpse and animate it to fight for you. Don’t even get us started on the boss battles. It’s out on March 7^th for PS4 in North America.

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands

The recent open beta presented a new region and challenges but the consensus is clear – this isn’t your average Ghost Recon. Set in Bolivia, Ghost Recon: Wildlands features an open world to explore with vehicles and multiple tactical approaches to completing objectives. Go it alone with AI teammates or rope in three friends to bungle missions together. Partake in higher difficulties and prove your mettle as a Ghost, ideally after the open beta when Ubisoft tweaks the AI some more. The possibilities are endless when Ghost Recon: Wildlands arrives on March 7^th.

Star Trek: Bridge Crew

The oft-delayed virtual reality title from Ubisoft sees you (and your friends) occupying the eyes and ears of the USS Aegis. A story campaign is included, taking place after Star Trek (2009) but players can also engage in randomly generated missions as well. The main hook of Star Trek: Bridge Crew is that each player of a total four can take on a different role. You could occupy the Captain’s chair while someone else serves as engineer. Star Trek: Bridge Crew finally arrives on March 14^th for PS4.

Styx: Shards of Darkness

Cyanide’s fantasy stealth sequel sees the return of Styx as he infiltrates Körangar to find out more about the alliance between Dark Elves and Dwarves. Cloning, traps and invisibility return along with ropes and grappling hooks for traversing to higher areas. Co-op support has also been added, allowing you and a friend to sneak together. With a new engine and higher production values, Styx: Shards of Darkness could a decent time-waster for stealth fans when it arrives on March 14^th for Xbox One, PC and PS4.

Mass Effect: Andromeda

Shepard is gone but the intergalactic journey of exploration continues. Mass Effect: Andromeda follows a new crew helmed by Pathfinder Alec Ryder with the player assuming control over either Scott or Sarah Ryder. Conflicts with new enemies called the Ket, an improved Mako, larger levels and open world activities to partake in, improved movement, revamped combat mechanics for switching classes and load-outs on the fly – the only real criticism at this stage is how long we have to wait. Mass Effect: Andromeda releases on March 21^st for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Toukiden 2

There’s a new Toukiden out in March and no, it’s not Age of Demons. Taking place two years after the events of Toukiden Kiwami, the Slayers return to do battle against the demons. With a focus on open world exploration, you’ll now engage in battles seamlessly, identifying which regions to assault based on their hazard levels. Hunting Grounds also make a return along with a new day and night system, customization options. Those suffering from a Monster Hunter hangover take note – Toukiden 2 arrives on March 24^th for PS3, PS4, PS Vita and PC.

Vikings: Wolves of Midgard

Gauntlet meets Norse mythology in Vikings: Wolves of Midgard. Travel the world as a hulking male warrior or a nimble shield maiden, battling ice demons and growing your Viking village with rescued survivors. Combat is complex with different abilities like projectiles, charging attacks and much more. Each character has their own unique attacks and the sheer beauty of this frozen wasteland makes it worth a look for its co-op. Vikings: Wolves of Midgard is out on March 24^th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix/Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix

Okay, so Final Chapter Prologue may have been a venerable mixed bag of sorts for the Kingdom Hearts faithful on PS4. But with the release of Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5/2.5 Remix this March, you get a lot more Kingdom Hearts goodness for your buck. Along with Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix, Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts 2: Final Mix and Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep Final Mix as playable games, you get 358/2 Days and        Re:coded as cinematic retellings. Will they help you understand the whole convoluted mess of a story? Probably not but both HD remaster collections arrive on March 28^th for PS4.

MLB The Show 17

Have you seen those hair textures? You must have seen those hair textures but regardless, there are plenty of other reasons to check out SCE San Diego’s MLB The Show 17. There’s the Retro Mode which throws the action back to the two-button controls of yore and Road to Show, a branching storyline mode packed with excitement. Want a team of Legends and All-Stars? Diamond Dynasty’s got you covered and we can’t wait to see how this all looks when MLB The Show 17 releases on March 28^th for PS4.

Strafe

Old-school Doom/Quake action meets rogue-like mechanics in Strafe. This pixelated first person shooter from Pixel Titans pays homage to the granddaddy of all shooters while featuring randomly generated levels, gore that constantly remains in your surroundings and tons of replay value. Strafe also supports Oculus Rift for those who want to frag out in virtual reality – it’s out on March 28^th for PC, Mac OS X and PlayStation 4. Now if only Glory Kills could be patched in post-launch…

Has-Been Heroes

Frozenbyte’s rogue-like RTS/turn-based strategy hybrid is something different. It follows a team of heroes as they escort some princesses to school. Baddies lie in the way and along with collecting tons of epic loot to vanquish them; you’ll need to think on your toes amidst the constantly approaching enemies. It’s an interesting mix of strategy and action, one that we didn’t expect given the studio’s last major release Shadwen. Has-Been Heroes releases on March 28^th Xbox One, PS4, PC and Nintendo Switch.

With Strafe out for PC on March 28th (PS4 gets it in Winter), GamingBolt spoke to Pixel Titans co-founder and director Thom Glunt about development. Will this whet your appetite for first person destruction? Let’s find out.

"I still think focusing on single player, focusing on rogue like spy items, upgrading yourself. Even dominating Doom and loving it, I still feel like we’re very different."

Strafe has had quite the journey from its crowd funding campaign till now. What inspired the desire to pay homage to games like Doom and Quake, especially since the former has had its nostalgia revisited in this year’s Doom?

When we started development in April 2014 – since 2004 there was no new Doom. I don’t think there was any new announcement for a new Quake at that point, Quake Champions. So I had a really deep hunger. At the time – it comes down to a really simple solution: I was playing through Quake again, I was playing through Doom; and when I got to Quake I said, “f**k this is so good.” It was just a matter of, “I wish games still felt like this. “But I remember where everything is at, even though it’s been five or 10 years. I wish that could change. I was also into Spelunky at the time,  and I was digging and spending a lot of time in that.

How come I hadn’t found a really good procedurally generated FPS? So the focus on the things that makes Quake great: The speed, the snappiness, the verticality of level design, like all that stuff. So I pretty much asked a friend if he wanted to start development. We kind of filled an itch that we wanted to play. There was no sense of business at the time we, just thought this was cool and we should pursue it. Doom wasn’t even revealed at that time. Doom I think was revealed in 2015, and it came out 2016. It’s awesome and I was psyched about it. But I still think focusing on single player, focusing on rogue like spy items, upgrading yourself. Even dominating Doom and loving it, I still feel like we’re very different.

How tough was it to nail the proper 32-bit look in Strafe? How did the Unity Engine assist in making this possible?

For us there was a lot of testing to figure out what felt good. When we initially started we were a lot lower res. We have a few rules we stick to internally that we think looks great for models to interact with the have a certain pixel unit. We had to do a lot of testing and feel for that because I really like the low poly, retro aesthetic. As far as Unity is concerned – I come from film. I was a video director – my experience with game development was in modding levels for the original Half-Life, making Doom mods, trying to make multiplayer games for my friends.

I found out that a PA from one of my sets was this amazing programmer, so I said let’s make a game together. Unity was for sure we could figure it out. We know many great games were made with it, it’s kind of user-friendly in the regard that he was a C-sharp programmer not a C++. So we started with that and we were really happy.

"When you start the game you choose between a shotgun, Machine gun, or a rail gun. Then that’s your gun for the game. That’s your gun that you own."

The story is usually not paid much he two in Doom but we are curious – is there something to Strafe’s plot that players won’t expect?

We hope so. Just a general layout of the game is we like the idea that if you want to go into it, turn your mind off, you can just play the game. There are no audio logs, there are no text logs, and it’s not something that you’re going to have to sit through this. When you start the tutorial it’s an FMV tutorial that sets up the world.

It’s like a training video for your character and game, you understand who you are, who you’re playing in the context of what you’re playing in. Now each sound gives you aspect of the story through the enemies we put in through, the art, through the things you interact with. It’s going to be more lore driven like a game that’s really rich in, like, Dark Souls, where you can put it together through the art and not have to be told it constantly.

What kind of weapons can we look forward to in the game? Can players purchase altogether different weapons from vendors or will there be a loot shooter aspect with lots of different steps involved?

So there’s over 20 weapons in the game, but the way were handling is when you start the game you choose between a shotgun, Machine gun, or a rail gun. Then that’s your gun for the game. That’s your gun that you own. Your statistics as you play, trying to make it stronger, giving it a better rate of fire, but you can also give it to these robots in vending machines that look like Zordon on from Tom Hanks’ Big. You had it over to them and they’ll change the firing modes, dumb they could do weird stuff. So the shotgun can become a grenade launcher that shoots a volley of grenades out.

Or like a flat blaster that shoots out, and ricochets off things. So you’re getting for different variants for the secondary and primary for each gun. But also we have these guns is power ups, where if you find a heavy pistol and pick it up it only has 10 shots in it. When I play these old cheaters I would hold onto all of the guns for a boss battle that never came. I have all these guns that were awesome that I never used. So the way we do that is, you can’t keep getting ammo for the big powerful guns. You have to use the weapon in its completion, you can’t reload it, but then use the gun as a weapon itself. For example is: if I pick up the pistol, shoot it I can then throw the pistol like a ninja star in an anime.

So we wanted to make the game really fast, you’ll see a plethora of weapons as you play, you won’t be able to buy any from the shops. The shops are based on the – merchant items are more mobility, offense of, weird things. So you can get turds that will fight for you, you can get double jump boots, shotguns on the heels so you can kill enemies while your double jumping over them. Stuff like that.

"We have about 50 to 60 rooms per zone. Since they’re all made by hand each zone has very drastically different aesthetics and gameplay gimmicks."

What can you tell us about the upgrade system? Is it a way to promote enhanced movement and different ways to kill with the guns or simply the means to increase damage/health?

There are two types: there’s the perks you collect through crates, those are the status. Where is the machine to run to that will actually take your gun, and change its firing mode?

How much variety is there in the procedurally generated levels? Do they constantly changing rooms at a certain rogue – like element to the entire experience?

I hope so. I hope they have a changing experience. The point of the game when we started out to make it was to create a game where you never knew what exactly was going to happen. I didn’t want you to – it should never be a timing memorization. It should never be about understanding the Systems that are involved. We are generating the rooms by hand.

We did a lot of experimenting early on, I wasn’t able to find a way to procedurally generated good shooter levels from code. You could do good voxel-based stuff – the visuals weren’t there. I really liked the verticality; I think having a bunch of walkways, tiers for enemies to fall off of for you to use – rocket jumping is very important. We have about 50 to 60 rooms per zone. Since they’re all made by hand each zone has very drastically different aesthetics and gameplay gimmicks.

Pixel Titans’ Strafe, a loving tribute to the Doom and Quake series, has a release date. It will be heading to PC on March 28th.

The game possesses quite a lot of the distinguishing qualities of a Quake title – pixelated retro-style visuals, fast action with plenty of enemies to blow away and persistent gore which ensures the walls stay splattered with the blood of your enemies.

Strafe does go a lot further though, implementing roguelike features like randomly generated levels. If you die, you start from the beginning but there will always be upgrades and merchants to up your game all the more.

You can check out more about Strafe on Steam with information about pricing most likely to come soon. Strafe will also be coming to PS4 as well though a release date hasn’t been provided. What are your thoughts on the game? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned for more information.