Title: Cogmind Developer: Grid Sage Games Platforms: PC Price: $30+ (various alpha tiers) ---
From more traditional games like Dungeons of Dredmor and ToME to rhythm hybrids, first person shooters, and everything in between, saying that the roguelike genre has exploded in recent years would be an understatement. An expanded version of the 2012 7DRL entry, Cogmind goes back to the genre's roots, shaping its sci-fi world of drones and machines with dynamic ASCII visuals.
Cogmind's narrative is simple. You are a drone in a procedural environment, a living place where enemies roam and engineers, workers, and others maintain and rebuild. Terminals through the levels gradually reveal the overarching story, but the gameplay is where Cogmind shines. Killing enemies allows you to collect and recycle their parts, customizing your loadout and movement to your liking. The array of parts at your disposal is vast: treads, legs, wheel, various armor types, everything from rocket lauchers and lasers to flame throwers and EMP cannons, hacking modules, and more. Blow through enemies with powerful energy beams. Cloak and sneak past foes, hack into defense systems, or manufacture allies of your own,
The game's dynamic ASCII aesthetic brings the tactical action to life, as EMP bursts distort the environments, explosions radiate red-orange pixels, rockets leave dull smoke trails in their wake. And if ASCII aren't your style, Cogmind also features a pixel tileset to give the game a different look.
Cogmind is currently in alpha, and already offers a hefty amount of depth and content to explore and master. You can purchase the game from the developer's site, as well as follow its progress on the game's TIGForum thread and development blog.
Thanks for the review! For the record, unlike most traditional roguelikes Cogmind has an epic sci-fi story, but right now it's mostly limited to a backstory uncovered through terminal hacking. Later in alpha we'll be adding the full range of NPCs and interactive parts of the story where you can meet all the key players as well as access multiple endings based on your actions.
Thanks for the review! For the record, unlike most traditional roguelikes Cogmind has an epic sci-fi story, but right now it's mostly limited to a backstory uncovered through terminal hacking. Later in alpha we'll be adding the full range of NPCs and interactive parts of the story where you can meet all the key players as well as access multiple endings based on your actions.
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