Everything in side-scrolling shooter Heckpoint can be destroyed, especially you

Heckpoint is a 2D side-scrolling shoot-'em-up about creating entire worlds just so you can destroy them. Its pretty pixels caught our eye last November so we featured it in our Indie GIF Showcase, and after a few months in Early Access, it recently launched on Steam for $10. 

Here's the rub: Some shady corporation tried to invent nega-energy and accidentally shattered our dimension in the process, creating holes to other realities that all manner of nasties are using as footholds for an interdimensional invasion. In other words, we've got some holes to plug, and to do that we've got to activate the obelisks located at the heart of Heckpoint's seven worlds. 

You play as one of 12 operatives, each with their own unique skill set which can be further customized using up to eight different weapons and perks. You can also improve your stats and upgrade your gear with the resources you find out in the field, and by find I mean harvest from everything that isn't nailed down and also the stuff that is. 

Combat is split between ranged and melee, but it's all explosions, all the time. Virtually every inch of Heckpoint's procedurally generated levels is destructible, so gratuitous violence is the way forward no matter which mode you're playing in. Onslaught mode, for example, features more elite enemies and mini-bosses, where Warpath mode pushes you forward with an ever-encroaching 'glitch wall' that consumes the level behind you. Endless mode challenges you to get as far as possible in a never-ending level, and then there's normal mode, which is a normal mode. 

Austin Wood
Staff writer, GamesRadar

Austin freelanced for PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and has been a full-time writer at PC Gamer's sister publication GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a staff writer is just a cover-up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news, the occasional feature, and as much Genshin Impact as he can get away with.

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