Underrail - Arcanum meets Metro 2033 - is available to alpha-buy now

Underrail is an isometric, post-apocalyptic roleplaying game inspired by Fallout, Arcanum and even System Shock 2, which is almost the perfect sentence until you add the part that it's set in a series of underground train tunnels, which pretty much makes it Metro 2033: the isometric RPG. Now it's the perfect sentence, and - to my tastes - probably the most enticing game summary I've come across lately, so I'm just going to let that sink in while I download the alpha demo of the game.

Aaaand we're back. The headline news here is that Underrail (not the most evocative of names) has just been released on Desura , for the dukely sum of £6.49. And by released, I of course mean 'you can fund continued development by buying the alpha version' - there's no such thing as 'released' anymore. If you prefer to try before you buy, there's a couple-of-months-old demo available here . Developers Stygian Software have handily summarised what's been added to the main release since then:

• Huge new urban zone consisting of 8 areas
• Big new 'dungeon' consisting of 6 areas (twice as much as the last one)
• A couple of 'mini-dungeons'
• New quests
• New feats
• Traps skill
• Some updated game mechanics
• Re-balanced economy
• Food
• More weapons and armors
• Updated crossbows (feats, special bolts, damage boost)
• Various other smaller stuff

I'm particularly excited about "various other smaller stuff", although that "huge new urban zone" sounds pretty appealing too. I'm mightily enjoying what I've played of the demo so far - it's reminiscent of Spiderweb Software's stuff, but with a bigger focus on usability, and with a soundtrack. It's also far more polished than its alpha status would lead you to believe, though admittedly I'm not very far in.

Underrail, once again, is available here . Long-ish gameplay video below.

[Ta, IndieGames ]