Twin-stick shooting with Ren & Stimpy style
While visiting Headup Games’ booth at PAX East this weekend, the first thing about their new title Dead End Job was its very iconic art style. If a game looks like The Ren & Stimpy Show, then it already has my attention.
To be completely honest I think part of me mentally groans every time I think about playing yet another roguelike game, but fortunately Dead End Job has enough style and humor to pique my interest.
Dead End Job sees you playing as an employee of a ghost extermination service tasked with saving people from paranormal attacks. You’ll move through procedurally generated levels blasting ghosts to weaken them, before sucking them up with your vacuum. Once you’ve caught enough, you’ll receive a promotion and an upgrade. The upgrades are random, but you always get your pick of three. Passive abilities like cash and power-ups being magnetized to you as well as upgrades for your weapon.
Every ghost you catch means more money, but the real goal is rescuing citizens. Once that’s taken care of you can leave the way you came in and cash out. The story takes place over 30 in-game days. That means 30 job attempts in hopes to get as much money as possible. Failing a mission won’t lose you any of the loot you’ve picked up, but you will lose and promotions you’ve already gained.
Dead End Job has promise, but the two missions I played did seem a bit too easy. The developers noted that this build was a bit easier than the final game would be. Apparently, my character even had more health than he would under normal circumstances. Here’s to hoping that, when the game launches, that the ghosts can stomp me into nothing.
Dead End Job is coming to PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Switch later this year.
