Battle Shapers is a frantic roguelite FPS with massive potential | Hands-on preview
On first glance it would be quite easy to dismiss Battle Shapers as just another roguelite FPS following tried, tested, and arguably tired mechanics. Shoot, upgrade, dash, die, restart, right? But it doesn’t take more than a few minutes of action to make you realise that this one is a little bit different.
For a start, the quality is apparent from the off. This is a beautiful, brightly-coloured game, with environments akin to Overwatch and a frantic pace that only lets up when the immediate threat is dealt with. It flows wonderfully, and the gunplay feels tight, precise and responsive, landing in the sweet spot where aim assist and player skill prop each other up as nature intended.
You play as Ada, one of the titular Battle Shapers, cyborgs who can modularise their own bodies to suit different combat and mission parameters. You’ll be introduced to Cores right away, which are essentially Ada’s starting loadouts. Each run will begin with you selecting a core, and spending relevant currencies to unlock secondary weapons, or buffs that can be either permanent or run-based. Once inside the game world, special attacks, new weapons, and boosts to your stats and abilities will be awarded each time you clear a zone.
These will either come in the form of drops you cab swap out, or the option to choose one of three run-based buffs a-la Hades. These buffs are designed to work in tandem with your chosen Core, which altar Ada’s appearance but also fundamentally change the playstyle. For example, the base core is designed for survivability and moderate damage output, making you efficient enough but not allowing you to excel in a given field. Choosing the Strike Core, however, makes Ada far more melee-oriented, boosting your attack power at the cost of some defence and ranged damage.
It’s hard to sell how good Battle Shapers feels in words, but indie developer Metric Empire has captured something that feels immediately special here. For one, it’s balanced well, so even as a roguelite you’re not getting annihilated in moments and clever play or fast reflexes will often save your hide. Coloured loot boxes are dotted around each zone, dishing out money, armour, health, ammo, or the special upgrade currency you spend between runs.
Dealing enough damage to an enemy will cause it to enter a stunned state, wherein a single melee hit will cause it explode, dealing area damage and rewarding you with a shower of goodies. From turrets and drones to mobile robotic enemies, there’s a decent spread of opponents even in the demo. Sadly though, we could only opt to go after one of the three bosses in the demo, the Volt Colossus.
This guy and his buddies have taken over and corrupted the city of New Elysium, and it’s up to Ada to stop them. After the first few zones, you’ll be given the option to choose which one to pursue, locking you in until the boss is defeated or your run ends. Once the run is over or the boss is dead, you can return to the Hub and upgrade or unlock abilities, cores, weapons and various other gear.
It might be anything particularly new, but Battle Shapers is still incredibly likeable. Voice-acting would help, as currently nothing is voiced at all, but even without it, the world is colourful enough to hold your attention. It’s obviously too early to tell you if Battle Shapers is going to set the world alight, but the demo is very strong. There’s already a ton of different gear, weapons, cores, and upgrades to experiment with, and enough content to get a feel for what the full game will present. If nothing else, the demo has me hyped to get hold of the full game later in the year.
Battle Shapers is set to release on Steam in Fall 2023.
