Badass Hero gamescom Preview

Every game can make you feel like a hero; you combat the forces of evil and battle it out for good and in doing so you could feel more than just a hero, you become a badass hero and that's exactly what Awesome games studio is doing with its appropriately named Badass Hero.

At first glance, Badass Hero could be considered just an another 2D roguelite shooter with a cool title, but as my time at the Polish games booth at gamescom came to an end, this was the last game I had the chance to play and it left me with a positive feeling.

Unlike other roguelite shooters, whether they'd be in a gritty realistic world or drenched in fantasy tropes, Badass Hero plays out like a comic book. When you jump into the world, each stage is laid out just like a comic book. Levels are structured like issues and the each area is essentially the panels of the comic within each page. Same goes for the story, when not in a blaze of gunfire, your character will interact with others and speak in comic bubbles. It's unique and I admired the thought put into the design.

You are the hero after all, and this is your story. As the badass that you are you can customise your character to your liking and the game features multiple options varying from your clothing, gender, hair etc. You can, if you're feeling lucky, randomise your look as well.

Since Badass Hero is a roguelite shooter, the game is challenging, but not overwhelming. Your hero is given a variety of weapons and gear to wipe out waves of enemies. Your main objective is to progress through the pages of the comic panels, defeating enemies all while avoiding their projectiles and the dangers that lurk like traps. The game rewards risk-taking and aggressive movement. If you play too cautiously the less chance of being more rewarded as you'll gain a higher score and more XP when chaining combos.

With enough XP, which in-game is Ink, you can upgrade and improve your character to stay alive longer, tackle more enemies and discover new items to pursue your comic book adventure further. This does involve a fair amount of repetition, especially when it comes to level up your character, but with a procedurally generated level design, each instance can feel fresh and with the constant fast paced action, my short-time with the game didn't feel dull and even after a couple of deaths, I wanted to stay on and play more.

The team at Awesome games have been developing Badass Hero for almost two years and plan to release in 2017. Upon the game's release, players will be able to enjoy some badassery with different unique comic styled settings, combat and defeat forty different bosses and collect variety of customisable items and weapons to become an even bigger, better badass.

The roguelite genre is certainly popular among developers these days, but with Badass Hero’s unique design and style, it’s one that stands out.