I love roguelikes (and roguelites) more than any other genre. I also think Cyberpunk 2077 has one of the best worlds in recent games. So what happens when you mash these two things up into a top-down 3D hack-and-slash action game? You get the upcoming Meta-Ghost: The Breaking Show, and it has a free demo, served as a Steam prologue, available right now.
Meta-Ghost: The Breaking Show is set for a full release later this year, but for now the roguelike game – which is centered around a cyberpunk TV show – has a free demo, with online co-op to boot. You’re smashing robots, collecting upgrades, and darting around the arenas as much as possible. Kind of like if Hades and Borderlands had a baby, at a glance.
You’ll find drops from less successful contestants on the field as you play, with sponsors offering ‘Drivers’ of different colors in your downtime that give you bonuses in each run.
Building around a single color then helps with ‘Fusion Drivers,’ each of which offers up extra stacking effects. Just like how each of the gun manufacturers in Borderlands offers another way to shoot, like Torgue’s explosives or Tediore’s fast reloads, Meta-Ghost’s sponsors all look to focus on different ways of building your character in each run.
You can also permanently upgrade yourself between runs, and while each character only has one weapon, the new prologue adds weapon customization, meaning you can further build out your play style as you go.
There are even traps, like drainage grates and manhole covers, strewn about akin to Hades and Enter the Gungeon, so you’ll also be able to use them to your advantage if you’re smart enough.
Your progress from the Prologue will also be carried over to the full game’s release, with the new three-player online PvE tower-climbing co-op challenge also available in the free sampling of the game.
You’ll find Meta-Ghost Prologue on Steam right here as a free download, while the full Meta-Ghost is expected to launch into Steam Early Access in mid-2024.
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