Monothetic, an independent developer formed in 2013 and based in San Francisco, has announced Beacon, a sci-fi action roguelike based on Unity 5 for Xbox One, PC, and Mac (and “may expand to other platforms at a later date”).
Beacon follows players after crash-landing on the surface of an alien planet. Armed with your gun, you’ll need to explore the planet, find equipment, and build a beacon in order to escape. It’s played as a top-down shooter, and the world is randomly generated. When you “inevitably die,” you can combine the DNA collected from the enemies you’ve defeated to your own and return with different stats and “gameplay-altering physical mutations.”
Visit the game’s official website here.
Get the trailer and fact sheet below. View the first screenshots at the gallery.
Storyline
You step out of the confined pod, disorientated and blinking. As your vision clears, a desolate view forms to greet you. The burning wreckage of your ship – your home – lies scattered cruelly across the surface of an alien landscape.
You must have come down hard. Picking your way through the remains of the ship, you look for answers, a weapon, a radio. Instead, you find a body. Your body.
Well, you think, at least the cloning bay still works.
Unfortunately, it seems like that’s about all that does. If you want to get off this planet, you’re going to have to explore it. You need to find equipment. You need to build a beacon. The forests look hostile, but you’ve got your gun.
And if the worst comes to pass, well, at least the cloning bay still works.
Gameplay
Beacon is a sci-fi themed Action Roguelike. Played as a top-down shooter, you must fight your way through a randomly generated hostile world, all the while trying to locate your emergency distress beacon and escape the planet into which your ship has crashed.
While you’re making your way through these areas you’ll not only find weapons and items to help you; You’ll also be collecting DNA from the enemies you defeat. Then, when you inevitably die, you’re given the opportunity to combine the DNA you’ve collected to your own, granting you different stats and potentially gameplay-altering physical mutations for your next run.
Beacon aims to create a bridge between fast, frenetic action and long-term strategy, where your actions can be felt and built upon hours down the line.
Thanks, NeoGAF.
