Reavers of New Rome

This is one of the best games that I played in 2024. Extremely tight level design that would make a FROM developer proud, and a strong sense of what makes for a fun experience in a 3D shmup. Absolute top-tier game.

Like all Renegade Sector games, Reavers of New Rome evokes the feeling of downloading a random PS1/Saturn iso and accidentally discovering something effortlessly cool. Great poppy low poly visuals, tight action & level design, & a fun pulpy atmosphere.

This is a completely new genre for me, but the game's mechanics are so fine-tuned that learning its rhythms and rules felt effortless. The last time I felt so naturally tutorialized was New Vegas, and the last time I litcherally laughed out loud at random NPC dialogue was Disco Elysium. Most important of all: I never felt the need to turn down the SFX slider. This is HIGH PRAISE, beLIEVE ME. Also I lied; the most important part for me is that I love the cool af helmet, the way they rolled up to town languidly manspreading in a boat, and their swaggy lil walk. I never think about the Roman Empire but I will think about this New Roman every single day of mY LIFE

>manspreads on a boat into New Rome alone >chad walks into the city >literally does not run even once >kills the Emperor's entire squad >incites a massive riot >kills like a whole army of soldiers >mic drops on the Emperor in his own throne room >kills the emperor >refuses to elaborate >manspreads away in same boat The tale of the biggest chad in the universe. I beat the game in under 2 hours, I'm NOT refunding it. This was worth every penny.

Your character walks like he took a big dumpy and is trying to keep any from spilling out of his techno suit. As you march from place to place and the frustration of the movement speed settles in everything eases up. The combat which felt clunky with one or two enemies becomes thoughtful, the music becomes hypnotic, the text in this game goes extremely hard. Essentially 3 small dungeons and some light exploration, if you loved any of the Megaman Legends games, you'll immediately grok what's going on here.

I feel bad leaving this negative review because I didn't really dislike this game, it just really doesn't justify the price tag. I got it on discount and it still felt like too much. The aesthetic was what drew me in, and I did enjoy that the whole way through, I just couldn't stomach paying as much for this as I have for 30 hour AA titles when it has less going on than some indie game demos do.

another renegade sector banger. this one's got a lot of visual flourish to it. great if you think what dark souls really needed was bullet patterns.

Really fun little game. If you want to have fun for a hour go for it

I've never had a game go from "idk, vibes are on point but its a lil clunky" to "holy **** i have to play EVERYTHING this dev has made dont i" quite this fast over the course of an hour or two, but here we are. also valis mentioned

Good old throwback game, really nice artstyle too!