Bombslinger

I've played enough arcade-adjacent roguelites to know when the genre graft is lazy and when it genuinely clicks. Bombslinger clicks. Mode4 took the grid-based bomb-placement loop that Bomberman perfected and wrapped a proper roguelite structure around it: procedurally generated levels, permadeath, an XP system, shops, item builds, and a vengeance story that at least gives the runs a narrative spine. You play as McMean, a retired outlaw whose ranch gets torched and whose wife gets killed by his former posse. The motivation is thin on paper but it lands well enough in the standoff cutscenes before each boss fight. The Adventure mode is the meat of the game. Each run has you clearing connected single-screen grids of enemies before pushing into the next zone and eventually hitting a boss. Early enemies are slow farmers and goats that practically walk into your blasts. It does not stay that way. By the third zone you are dealing with gun-toting cowboys who can shoot from across the screen, teleporting enemy types that ignore your cover positions, and boars that dodge your bombs entirely. The difficulty ramps hard and the roguelite's permadeath bites accordingly. When you die, everything goes. No carrying your shotgun or your stacked bomb-range upgrades into the next run. What you do unlock are perk slots: there are 32 item perks in total, up to five equippable per run, earned through a challenge-based achievement system. That meta-progression layer is the reason runs number five and six feel different from run one, and it gives the replayability enough grip to matter. Enemy drops also add mid-run flex: handguns, shotguns, and throwable tomahawks all show up in later stages, and knowing when to grab a gun over another bomb upgrade is a real decision. The multiplayer situation is where my patience runs thin. Local-only, up to four players, two modes (Deathmatch and Last Man Standing), 12 maps. It is fine. The local chaos is genuinely fun and bot support means you can fill empty slots without needing bodies on the couch. But there is no online play at all, which in 2025 is a genuine limitation, not a quirk. If you want to play this with a friend who is not physically in the room, you are out of luck. The concurrent player count on Steam reflects this: the game is quiet, nearly a ghost town, and anyone hoping to find a random match is going to be disappointed because the match simply does not exist in this game. Visually, Mode4 used a smart trick: 2D pixel sprites on 3D geometry. The top-down look reads like a chunky Zelda: A Link to the Past, but the camera zooms and pivots when you enter shops or boss rooms, revealing the 3D construction underneath. It holds up. The spaghetti-western soundtrack is limited and will loop on you during long sessions, but the boss themes carry real weight. The pixel art has genuine character, with flame trails and explosion chaining reading clearly even in busy multiplayer rounds. Bottom line on the solo side: this is a tight, mean, rewarding roguelite for players who enjoy positioning puzzles under pressure and do not mind getting sent to the start screen. The build variety through perks and enemy weapon drops gives each run enough texture to sustain the repetition. The no-online problem is real and it keeps this from being a go-to couch co-op recommendation for anyone without regular local company. But as a solo time investment at its price point, the loop holds.

Fred · Scout Team

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