Escaping From The Devil With A Car And A Dream Is Wicked Fun In Scaravan 66
If you haven't been paying attention to Lithic Entertainment's Scaravan 66, you ought to. The car combat-focused roguelike is a fast and frenetic ride through a version of hell informed by 1950s greaser aesthetics and 1980s British punk rock, and it feels fantastic. I've only played a demo of the game, but the explosive and high-octane combat already has its hooks in me and I'm eager to jump into the full experience. Admittedly, the narrative elements of the game haven't quite wowed me yet, but what's there potentially sets up something that could be interesting in the context of the full game.In Scaravan 66, you play as Lucky D, a leather jacket-wearing, pompadour-rocking Road Reaper condemned to harvest mortal souls for the Devil. But you're tired of it, and so you've opted to escape the seemingly endless highway of the underworld. The Devil sends her minions to stop you, ranging from explosive barrel-throwing zombies to gun-wielding lycanthropes. During her escape, Lucky D can pull off at exits to speak to other Road Reapers and denizens of Hell, each of which has unique perks to purchase and a personal story to tell. As a roguelike, Lucky D is forced to start over after each failed escape attempt, learning more about Hell and her fellow Road Reapers, as well as permanently upgrading her weapons and car with each subsequent loop. "Scaravan 66 features the classic roguelike gameplay loop, complemented by the thematic drudgery of cycles," Lithic Entertainment co-founders Al Bellemare and Andy Wood emailed me in a joint response. "Cycles we feel trapped in, cycles we want to break free from. Life circumstances that we did not choose, but must continuously face every day."Continue Reading at GameSpot
If you haven't been paying attention to Lithic Entertainment's Scaravan 66, you ought to. The car combat-focused roguelike is a fast and frenetic ride through a version of hell informed by 1950s greaser aesthetics and 1980s British punk rock, and it feels fantastic. I've only played a demo of the game, but the explosive and high-octane combat already has its hooks in me and I'm eager to jump into the full experience. Admittedly, the narrative elements of the game haven't quite wowed me yet, but what's there potentially sets up something that could be interesting in the context of the full game.
In Scaravan 66, you play as Lucky D, a leather jacket-wearing, pompadour-rocking Road Reaper condemned to harvest mortal souls for the Devil. But you're tired of it, and so you've opted to escape the seemingly endless highway of the underworld. The Devil sends her minions to stop you, ranging from explosive barrel-throwing zombies to gun-wielding lycanthropes. During her escape, Lucky D can pull off at exits to speak to other Road Reapers and denizens of Hell, each of which has unique perks to purchase and a personal story to tell. As a roguelike, Lucky D is forced to start over after each failed escape attempt, learning more about Hell and her fellow Road Reapers, as well as permanently upgrading her weapons and car with each subsequent loop.
"Scaravan 66 features the classic roguelike gameplay loop, complemented by the thematic drudgery of cycles," Lithic Entertainment co-founders Al Bellemare and Andy Wood emailed me in a joint response. "Cycles we feel trapped in, cycles we want to break free from. Life circumstances that we did not choose, but must continuously face every day."Continue Reading at GameSpot
