Highlights
- Endless Dungeon offers a unique blend of tower defense and twin-stick shooting gameplay, creating a compelling roguelike experience.
- The game features a squad of three characters that players can control solo or in co-op, with each character having their own skills and abilities to balance.
- The captivating art style and hand-drawn character portraits, along with improved visuals and lighting, enhance the atmospheric dungeon designs and make the in-game action visually appealing.
With so many roguelikes on the market, including several over the last few years that stand as some of the best in the genre, it's important for any new entry to do something novel while also nailing the fundamentals that players expect. Amplitude Studios' latest game in its Endless Universe, Endless Dungeon, looks to do just that through its combination of tower defense and twin-stick shooting gameplay supporting what promises to be a compelling roguelike experience. Endless Dungeon exists as the spiritual successor to Dungeon of the Endless, building on that game's strict tower defense gameplay with the addition of frenetic twin-stick shooting and various class-based character choices.
In Endless Dungeon, players control a squad of three characters whether playing in solo or co-op, with solo players only directly controlling one character and issuing commands to the other two. The title promises to have eight playable characters at launch, with more planned to arrive later down the line according to the game's development roadmap. Having just successfully completed a closed beta test ahead of its launch in the next two weeks, initial impressions of Endless Dungeon indicate that it ticks a lot of the boxes for fans of both roguelikes and twin-stick shooters.
All Endless Dungeon Official Screenshots So Far
Out of the screenshots revealed so far for Endless Dungeon, most show off the title's unique blend of gameplay styles. Interestingly, between the pre-alpha build screenshots and the official photos from the game's Steam product page, there are some similar scenes depicted that highlight just how improved the game's visuals and lighting are as the game nears its 1.0 launch in just a few weeks. Amplitude Studios previously acknowledged how player feedback was driving Endless Dungeon's development, and it's clear from looking at these screenshots how much the game has improved visually throughout the process.
Endless Dungeon features an enigmatic cast of characters, each with their own skills, abilities, and loadouts, and it's clear from looking at these screenshots that every one of them has their own unique identity and appearance within the game's world. Additionally, each character aligns with one of the archetypes found in most dungeon crawlers or co-op shooters, indicating that players will need to balance their squad composition and think carefully about balancing the twin-stick shooting and tower defense halves of Endless Dungeon's gameplay. Tying the whole package together is the game's captivating art style and hand-drawn character portraits. It calls to mind other greats in the genre like Hades and helps the in-game action jump off the screen, with dark and foreboding dungeon designs contrasted with bright neon abilities and explosions.
Endless Dungeon Announcement Trailer
After initially being revealed to be in development in 2020, the first official announcement trailer for Endless Dungeon arrived in 2021. This first trailer for the game is a moody short that highlights Endless Dungeon's hub area, The Saloon, as well as the in-house band performing a captivating song from the game's soundtrack. Following this initial animated cinematic, brief snippets of gameplay are shown before the reveal of the game's title and website.
Endless Dungeon Gameplay Trailer
The next trailer for Endless Dungeon provides players with a deep dive on the title's gameplay, showcasing the importance of using both real-time action and tower defense mechanics to push back enemies while defending the squad's crystal. Interspersing more animated sections with in-game footage, this trailer also happens to highlight the general flow of gameplay by framing it as a series of rules for players to follow.
Endless Dungeon 'First Run' OpenDev Trailer
The first of two trailers that Amplitude Studios' released in collaboration with OpenDev, the "First Run" trailer provides players with yet another animated short followed by more new gameplay footage. OpenDev is a unique approach to both player feedback and early access, and it's a platform that Amplitude Studios has used in the past with some of its previous titles such as Humankind.
Endless Dungeon 'Second Chance' OpenDev Trailer
The "Second Chance" trailer for Endless Dungeon, released in collaboration with OpenDev, briefly gives players a rundown of each of the game's available characters and accompanies them with some more gameplay footage. Again players are able to see the game's hand-drawn character models and art assets on display in some animated vignettes, while the gameplay on display continues to show off the unique and frantic mix of shooting and tower defense.
Endless Dungeon – Zed Hero Reveal
The first in a series of character reveals for Endless Dungeon, Zed's hero reveal trailer begins by providing players with some backstory on the character before delving into how she operates in-game. As Endless Dungeon's resident soldier archetype, Zed is able to deal increasing amounts of damage by drawing enemy aggro.
Endless Dungeon – Bunker Hero Reveal
Bunker is the focus of Endless Dungeon's second character reveal, showing her to be the squad's de facto tank. The trailer highlights how the robotic hero's defense and sturdiness make her an invaluable asset to any squad as waves of enemies nearly overwhelm players.
Endless Dungeon – Blaze Hero Reveal
The third hero reveal focuses on Blaze. With his wild west aesthetic and focus on heavy firepower, Blaze's showcase illustrates his ability to be useful in both the twin-stick shooting and tower defense portions of Endless Dungeon's gameplay.
Endless Dungeon – Shroom Hero Reveal
Aside from an entertaining animated short and some backstory for one of the game's most interesting-looking characters, Shroom's hero reveal provides players with some insight into just how invaluable he is as the Endless Dungeon squad's medic.
Endless Dungeon – Comrade Hero Reveal
The fourth hero reveal focuses on Comrade, another heavy weapons expert available in Endless Dungeon's varied roster.
Endless Dungeon – Fassie Hero Reveal
More than just the resident bartender in the game's Saloon hub area, Fassie is another playable character and receives his own hero highlight as the final in the series leading up to Endless Dungeon's release.
Endless Dungeon Closed Beta Trailer
The closed beta for Endless Dungeon (which recently concluded) received its own announcement trailer providing players with what they could expect to experience as well as instructions on how to sign up.
Endless Dungeon Pre-Order Trailer
As expected, the pre-order trailer for Endless Dungeon provides specifics on which platforms the game will be available for as well as a bevy of new gameplay footage and pre-order bonuses.
Endless Dungeon will be available October 19 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, with a Switch release coming later.
