There’s a lot of replayability to be had, too. Like any good roguelike, Jupiter Hell manages to juggle keeping every run rewarding and engaging, while not making your death off-putting enough to resist the calling of ‘new game’. I didn’t last long after that countdown hit zero, and I never did see the end of the ensuing horde that followed, but there wasn’t a spot of chrome visible underneath the gore by the time that I died.

At the end of my last run, I was ominously warned that ‘the hunt’ would begin soon. Randomized events also do their part in sprucing up levels and making for standout stories. Even better, Jupiter Hell typically makes sure to reward the player for exploring each level, with life-saving goodies like upgraded weapons, health packs and armour dotted across each floor. While Doomfans will be most familiar with maps of fire and bubbling lava, plenty of levels reminisce the eerie, sterile station halls of Alien. The zones across Jupiter Hell are all engaging, with set designs taken straight from the sci-fi classics handbook. They’ll hit hard, and scarce healing supplies mean that one bad fight can keep you on the back foot for the rest of your run. That’s not to say that the enemies – from reanimated soldiers to fireball-spewing demons and combat drones – don’t have powerful weapons of their own. Further in, there are plenty of weapons (including classics like the chain gun) to snatch up and fire at will. Shotguns will annihilate entire crowds of close-up enemies, while pistols whittle down individual baddies and are fairly versatile for long and short ranges. Every weapon is powerfully satisfying to use, and each delivers gore in its own special way. Speaking of rampaging, Jupiter Hell hands you all the tools to do so gleefully. The strategic roguelike is quite similar to Into The Breach in the sense that you’ll want to give thought to every action before committing to them, however Jupiter Hell is much faster paced and lacks any way to rewind your rampage. This means that Jupiter Hell lets you examine every single choice you make in a way few games in the genre offer. Do you run for cover, or fire a shot at the combat drone and remain exposed? Retreat under fire, or stand and stay fighting? It’s a very cerebral process, and the result is a game that manages to flow between turns smoothly – which is why it’s so easy to slip up and play for the kill.įiring your gun – and other actions like moving, reloading and using items – uses up your turn and allows others to make their move.

You need to quell the bloodlust and think about your moves. That’s the thing – despite this being the fastest-paced turn based game I’ve ever played, it’s still a turn based strategy.

Jupiter hell nintendo switch