Beacon is a gorgeous isometric shooter about military prodigy Freja Akiyama, who's stuck on a mysterious planet called Kovus-18 searching for a beacon she can use to call for help. It enters 'First Access' on Itch.io today, and developer Monothetic marked the occasion with a kick-ass new trailer showcasing Freja's armaments and augmentations, as well as the game's lovely world.
When Freja dies—which she most certainly will thanks to the hostile creatures that inhabit Beacon's procedurally generated levels—she can make a new clone of herself using the DNA she harvested from the creatures she slayed in her previous 'life.' The game's new trailer really gives you a sense of how Freja changes as you progress. We get a look at her ordinary, long-dead clone and immediately jump to a new Freja sporting massive horns, body spikes and even a tail. There are about two dozen enemies in the First Access build, with a dozen more coming in the full game, and I'm curious to see how their DNA affects Freja's appearance and abilities.
A nice range of weapons is shown throughout the trailer, too, from riot shotguns, plasma pistols and tesla rifles to the hailshard condenser, magrail handgun and magrail launcher. Which is all well and good and deadly, but I'm also interested in Beacon's surprisingly vertical world. It looks like you do a lot more jumping and falling than I expected, which makes me wonder if there's some sort of gliding mutation.
Thanks to developer Arran Seaton, who's been busy in the comments section of our story on Beacon's First Access build, we do know that the game has "lots of specific dodge replacement mutations, some replace the roll with an upgraded dash, or leaping." Oh yes, more of that, please.
For more on Beacon, check out our talk with Monothetic about its retro anime inspirations and the factions that make up its violent world.
