Danger Scavenger – PAX East Preview
Danger Scavenger is a new rogue-like twin stick shooter from lone Polish developer Piotr Wolk. Set in a futuristic cyberpunk themed world where corporations have infested humanity’s way of life, players will have to battle across randomly generated themed rooftops to victory. We had a chance to sit down with Piotr to try out the game at PAX East 2020.
On the surface, Danger Scavenger does not stray far from the generally accepted twin stick shooter formula. Playing on a game pad, the left stick moves your character while the right stick controls your aim. You can easily shoot in any and all directions and utilize a dodge roll to quickly evade enemy fire.
Where the game separates itself from the rest of the pack is in the use of a unique risk and reward system. Before entering a new rooftop run, players will have to choose from two options in a skill tree. However, rather than this choice solely dictating what abilities you wish to focus on, it also dictates how both enemies and loot in the game are generated.
Players who opt for the explosive tree will have at their disposal an arsenal made up of primarily explosive weapons like grenades or bazookas. This also means that enemies in the game will have equally punishing explosive attacks. Conversely players can choose a ranged option. This will grant access to weapons like assault or sniper rifles, but also give enemies similar abilities. Your choice also affects the type of drops that appear in runs. As you clear levels, you’ll get to choose from different perks that unlock skills pertinent to the tree that you selected when you started. This system expertly allows players to tailor the rogue-like experience to their own strengths.
In addition to your standard weapons, each character has their own active ability. The ability available in our demo was an area of effect attack that could be set off in a specific spot on the map. Further to this, upgrades can be purchased throughout the game world by spending Scrap. These include both passive and active abilities. One example from the active category was a drone follows you around and attacks when you do. A passive ability that we came across granted the chance for a double shot when attacking enemies.
Danger Scavenger is shaping up to be an impressive and accessible twin stick shooter that’s easy to jump in and out of. We are looking forward to the full release of the game on PC in Q2 2020, and home consoles in Q4.
