Roguelike Shooter Heavy Bullets Is More Tense Than You Expect

Terri Vellman’s neon-dressed low-poly randomized shooter Heavy Bullets exits the Early Access phase on September 18th to become a full-fledged released game.

If that previous sentence means nothing to you then it’s time to change that. Heavy Bullets is a first-person shooter with a lot of tension. Rather than running around emptying clips into walls, you stalk its corridors and open spaces with a revolver that you reload a bullet at a time.

Enemies tend to charge at you on sight, hide in long grass and bushes, or are static turrets that shoot more accurately than you. You’re vulnerable and need to make every shot count. Luckily, if you do miss a shot, you can go pick up the bullet to use it again, but that means exposing yourself to whatever is waiting for you.

Heavy Bullets has roguelike features to up the ante, too. This means it has permadeath and a slew of upgrades for you to invest in with the money you collect from fallen enemies. Coin magnets, homing bombs, teleporters, and more are available at a price (or sometimes found lying around).

However, you can also choose to save up your money with life insurance so that it transfers over to your next life. It’s best used when you think you’re going to die in the next room, but perhaps you could spend it on an upgrade that gives you a better chance to survive – it’s a choice you’ll have to juggle.

If you want to grab the full version of Heavy Bullets for Windows, Mac, and Linux, you can do so right now for $9.99 on the game’s website (through the Humble Store) and on Steam.