Sublevel Zero is a six-degrees-of-freedom "roguelike shooter" with procedurally generated levels, scarce resources, and permadeath. Sounds like fun!
No, really, it does. The setup is simple: Reality is falling apart for reasons unclear, and thus it falls to you to pilot a lone gunship through zero-gravity environments to loot and craft the technology needed to keep your clan alive. That's really about it as far as story goes, but it's adequate; after all, do you remember why you were flying around and blowing up all those robots in Descent?
Sublevel Zero actually debuted in prototype form in Ludum Dare 29. Its heritage is obvious, but it's the roguelike twist that makes it particularly interesting. Levels will be different on every playthrough, and once you die, that's it: Saving and reloading isn't an option.
"Sublevel Zero has been inspired by our favorite games of our formative years like Descent, Forsaken and modern shooters like Teleglitch," designer Luke Thompson said. "We wanted to blend retro and modern elements through the visuals, mechanics and audio, and the awesome music composed by Will Bedford intensifies the gameplay experience. Sublevel Zero is a game we want to play, and we’d love for fellow gamers to share in that experience."
Sublevel Zero is expected to come out sometime this summer. And now, screens!
