December’s Game Pass lineup is stacked with first-class experiences, from industry-shattering games like Among Us, to indie darlings like Stardew Valley, and not to mention one of the most anticipated games of the year, Halo Infinite, players have a lot to sink their teeth into this month. But that doesn’t mean that Xbox Game Pass subscribers should forget about promising games like ANVIL, a co-op sci-fi top-down shooter.
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ANVIL’s Roguelike Shooter Gameplay
Taking just one look at ANVIL’s screenshots, it seems as though the game will give roguelike fans some fast-paced top-down gameplay, sending players battling through a series of sci-fi arenas. The environments and visual style look fairly similar to Halo, with metallic grey structures with bright beams of light emanating from them being littered around the stage. The general aesthetic of the game seems to imitate that that clean Halo look with shiny armor and sleek environmental objects.
But ANVIL’s gameplay couldn’t be further from Halo’s (besides those Spartan Ops spinoffs), with a top-down perspective being used and an emphasis on roguelike gameplay. Players control a Vault Breaker, tasked with looting a series of Vaults across the galaxy, like an armored, sci-fi Indiana Jones. During the course of a run, players will find new abilities called Artifacts and weapons that should make the increasing challenge a little more manageable. However, as is the roguelike tradition, upon death all of these weapons and abilities are taken away from the player, but experience points are retained, so players are constantly working towards upgrading their characters, giving players a constant sense of progression.
The real hook of ANVIL is its co-op nature, allowing up to three players at once. This addition of cross-platform and cross-generation multiplayer allows friends to blast their way through the galaxy together regardless of which platform they’re on.
ANVIL is in Early Access
The term “Early Access” can have a bit of a negative connotation nowadays, meaning games are being released to the public but aren’t quite finished or polished. And while ANVIL is technically in Early Access (being part of Xbox Preview), the game is in much more of a finished state than other games that are also part of the program. The game’s store page claims that it’s “around 80 percent complete,” with the developer planning on updating the game three times over the course of a year until it’s finished.
While the core gameplay of ANVIL is complete and playable, the developer has stated that it wants to listen closely to player feedback and add or adapt the gameplay experience based on it. On the Steam store page, the developer has stated that it will add more “Breakers and boss monsters” among some other gameplay and multiplayer improvements and quality of life upgrades. Once the game has reached its full potential in the eyes of the developer, the plan is to raise the price, so Game Pass subscribers might want to get in and try the title before that eventual price hike.
ANVIL is currently available on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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