Dead Cells developer Motion Twin revealed its new game during a surprise announcement at The Game Awards tonight, a high-speed roguelike battler called Windblown that sets players off on a quest to protect their home of floating islands from the invading forces of the Vortex.
As Leapers, players will move through the open, ever-changing world known as The Ark, a place "teeming with secrets" and, unfortunately, overrun by deadly Sentinels, the minions of the Vortex. Leapers will have multiple weapons at hand and can shift their builds on the fly, and also have the ability to absorb the memories of their fallen predecessors, enabling the use of stronger and more complex weaponry and allowing players to push deeper into the game with each new run.
"Windblown's combat is tough but always fair," Motion Twin said. "Every run is a lesson, so learn from your countless deaths, memorize enemy movements and leap back into action stronger than ever."
Very broadly, Windblown's roguelike gameplay bears some similarities to the outstanding Dead Cells: The memory unlocking mechanic, for instance, sounds similar to the "cells" players collect from fallen enemies in Dead Cells that can be used on character upgrades and item blueprints.
But there are some significant differences, too. The most obvious is Windblown's visual style: Where Dead Cells is a pixel-art 2D sidescroller, Windblown is played from an isometric perspective and bears a much sharper, more detailed look. On the gameplay side, Dead Cells is strictly singleplayer but Windblown supports online co-op play for up to three players, although you're welcome to roll solo if you prefer.
I have to admit, the trailer was a little more violent than I expected—you don't often see cute animated animals handled quite so viscerally—but Dead Cells isn't exactly sunshine and lollipops either, and I take comfort knowing that Windblown's roguelike structure means death is really just a temporary state of being. And the little bit of gameplay seen in the trailer does look promising at this early point, particularly in co-op mode. Motion Twin hasn't said yet whether any sort of local co-op will be supported, but we can hope.
Windblown is currently slated to launch into early access on Steam sometime in 2024. Playtests will be held ahead of launch—if you want to get in on that, you can wishlist the game on Steam and follow along with development updates at windblown.game.
