I'd describe Dreadborne Drifters as a somewhat a hectic and fast-paced, 2D arcade-style looter-shooter where you, being part of the Holy Inquisition, will need to head out into the post-apocalyptic wilderness on missions, slay some heretics and what seems to be mutated creatures, and claim your well-deserved loot. Missions in this game are randomly generated but most of them involve killing something or the other. However, I'd like to point out that I've actually encountered a randomly-spawned Elite enemy while I was running a pretty routine run. This does spice things up quite a bit especially when there are other enemies around as well!

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehom0X5v_qU
- All that nonsense about pressing S+Space while in midair to double jump - just ignore it. Press spacebar twice like you'd normally do to double jump.
Part 2 (because the game froze and I had to restart): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge3Pg3fSi_I
- Tried Hard mode but I didn't do so well. Partly because I keep rushing through the enemies and partly because I didn't make *ahem* any use of my character's abilities :P

Combat here seems smooth enough, besides that one time when I accidentally jumped onto the uppermost platform at the base and couldn't get down even though I've pressed S+Space. After restarting the game just so I can get down from that platform, I realized that I can only use the S+Spacebar control on certain parts of the platform to get down which was a bummer because there wasn't any of these special parts on the platform I was on.

That being said, in this game, you can easily double jump and dash to avoid danger; click and hold your left mouse button to spray (and pray that it hit something), and use up to 3 abilities associated to the character class you've chosen (there are 3 unique ones to choose from when you first start the game).

Progression in this game mainly comes in the form of 1. gear and 2. your character's stats and talents. Now, for gear, although the game's a looter-shooter, it doesn't really give you the loot directly. Most of the time, you'll get them in the form of blueprints which you'll then need to "craft" for a price (gems and materials) at their respective vendors. You can even dismantle items you no longer need for parts too.

As you play and slay enemies, you'll gain XP which will naturally level you up. Every level up in this game rewards you with 5 stat points and 1 talent point. The talents in this game are really fantastic, giving you cool perks like extra ammo and such, but you'll need to accumulate 5 of its points before you can obtain any of the perks; unlike your stat points which you can invest into the stats you want the moment you've got them. It's a pretty nice system to prevent the player from becoming super OP early on in-game, I'd say, since some of the perks can be rather powerful.

So, to sum up:

+ Play at your own difficulty/pace. You can basically grind out the game on Easy or Normal mode with your, at most, uncommon gear, but if you want to get better loot, you might want to give the higher difficulties a try. Plus, there's an insane number of difficulty levels here!
+ Gameplay seems endless
+ Has 3 unique characters to choose from; "unique" because they have different skills.
+ Customize your character's stats and talents as you level up - proper RPG style
+ Cool pixel art. Love the theme and the OST as well
+ Each "dungeon run" is very short and sweet. The game won't let you overstay your welcome either, forcibly sucking you into the portal whenever the objective's complete.
+ Extra (random) challenge - Weather sometimes messes up the map making it super hard to see. You may encounter Elite enemies that will drop better and/or more stuff. In later difficulty levels, you may quickly realize that running out of ammo is becoming a huge concern since there are more, harder-to-kill enemies that will just drink your bullets like beer during Happy Hour.
+ Extra loot to find - keep an eye out for chests that you can open for extra gems.
+ Not a lot of hand-holding but you'll eventually figure out what does what (like the blueprints)... I did :P
+ You'll still retain your equipped items as well as those in your inventory when you die. Doesn't seem to have any death penalty here either.
+ Tons of loot (from blueprints mostly) with sufficient inventory space to store the ones you want to keep. Can even upgrade your weapon at the Gunsmith too... for a price!
+ Considering how many more hours you can get out of this game, the price tag is most definitely right!

- Game still bugs out now and then. During my 1.5 hour playthrough, the game froze once. Right after the freeze, it booted up in a super small windowed screen forcing me to end the game using Task Manager and boot up the game again.
- The semi-transparent interface allows bright neon signs to shine right through making it a bit hard to view. Maybe make the interface a bit more solid?
- There's a platform at very top part of the base that I think shouldn't be used but for some reason, I managed to jump my way onto that platform and had no way to jump down, short of restarting the game that is. Maybe you should block that platform off or at least add a way for the character to jump down.

* Jumping to the other side of the enemy with the shield doesn't work. The trick here is to jump onto a platform above him, or if the guy is on a higher platform, then below him. This will help you circumvent his shield.
* Keep an eye out for chests since they can be sometimes hard to see when you're jumping around shooting at people.
* There are flying mutated creatures that will explode when killed. Make sure you're far away when that happens.
* The numbers below each blueprint doesn't indicate the level you have to be at in order to use the item - it's just the item level. Make sure to "craft" the blueprints with the highest item level for the best gear and sell off all the lower ones for extra gems.
* The original keybinding - the F key to be exact - seems rather oddly-placed, at least for me. I swapped it with E. If this is true for you as well, maybe you'd want to rebind them too.

Going in, I thought Dreadborne Drifters would be an insanely hardcore arcade shooter to play but to my surprise, the game has actually easier levels for me to get used to the controls and just have fun turning all the AIs into pixels, usually via reckless shooting, in short sessions of guts and mayhem. Plus, the game has 3 characters for you to play as and multiple difficulty levels for you to test your mettle. Definitely a game worth its asking price, especially if you're a huge fan of the genre.

If you like this review and would like to follow me for more, please feel free to drop by my curator page: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33780629-The-Midcore-Gamer/

I'd describe Dreadborne Drifters as a somewhat a hectic and fast-paced, 2D arcade-style looter-shooter where you, being part of the Holy Inquisition, will need to head out into the post-apocalyptic wilderness on missions, slay some heretics and what seems to be mutated creatures, and claim your well-deserved loot. Missions in this game are randomly generated but most of them involve killing something or the other. However, I'd like to point out that I've actually encountered a randomly-spawned Elite enemy while I was running a pretty routine run. This does spice things up quite a bit especially when there are other enemies around as well! [h1]Watch me play![/h1] Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehom0X5v_qU - All that nonsense about pressing S+Space while in midair to double jump - just ignore it. Press spacebar twice like you'd normally do to double jump. Part 2 (because the game froze and I had to restart): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge3Pg3fSi_I - Tried Hard mode but I didn't do so well. Partly because I keep rushing through the enemies and partly because I didn't make *ahem* any use of my character's abilities :P Combat here seems smooth enough, besides that one time when I accidentally jumped onto the uppermost platform at the base and couldn't get down even though I've pressed S+Space. After restarting the game just so I can get down from that platform, I realized that I can only use the S+Spacebar control on certain parts of the platform to get down which was a bummer because there wasn't any of these special parts on the platform I was on. That being said, in this game, you can easily double jump and dash to avoid danger; click and hold your left mouse button to spray (and pray that it hit something), and use up to 3 abilities associated to the character class you've chosen (there are 3 unique ones to choose from when you first start the game). Progression in this game mainly comes in the form of 1. gear and 2. your character's stats and talents. Now, for gear, although the game's a looter-shooter, it doesn't really give you the loot directly. Most of the time, you'll get them in the form of blueprints which you'll then need to "craft" for a price (gems and materials) at their respective vendors. You can even dismantle items you no longer need for parts too. As you play and slay enemies, you'll gain XP which will naturally level you up. Every level up in this game rewards you with 5 stat points and 1 talent point. The talents in this game are really fantastic, giving you cool perks like extra ammo and such, but you'll need to accumulate 5 of its points before you can obtain any of the perks; unlike your stat points which you can invest into the stats you want the moment you've got them. It's a pretty nice system to prevent the player from becoming super OP early on in-game, I'd say, since some of the perks can be rather powerful. So, to sum up: [h1]Pros[/h1] + Play at your own difficulty/pace. You can basically grind out the game on Easy or Normal mode with your, at most, uncommon gear, but if you want to get better loot, you might want to give the higher difficulties a try. Plus, there's an insane number of difficulty levels here! + Gameplay seems endless + Has 3 unique characters to choose from; "unique" because they have different skills. + Customize your character's stats and talents as you level up - proper RPG style + Cool pixel art. Love the theme and the OST as well + Each "dungeon run" is very short and sweet. The game won't let you overstay your welcome either, forcibly sucking you into the portal whenever the objective's complete. + Extra (random) challenge - Weather sometimes messes up the map making it super hard to see. You may encounter Elite enemies that will drop better and/or more stuff. In later difficulty levels, you may quickly realize that running out of ammo is becoming a huge concern since there are more, harder-to-kill enemies that will just drink your bullets like beer during Happy Hour. + Extra loot to find - keep an eye out for chests that you can open for extra gems. + Not a lot of hand-holding but you'll eventually figure out what does what (like the blueprints)... I did :P + You'll still retain your equipped items as well as those in your inventory when you die. Doesn't seem to have any death penalty here either. + Tons of loot (from blueprints mostly) with sufficient inventory space to store the ones you want to keep. Can even upgrade your weapon at the Gunsmith too... for a price! + Considering how many more hours you can get out of this game, the price tag is most definitely right! [h1]Cons[/h1] - Game still bugs out now and then. During my 1.5 hour playthrough, the game froze once. Right after the freeze, it booted up in a super small windowed screen forcing me to end the game using Task Manager and boot up the game again. - The semi-transparent interface allows bright neon signs to shine right through making it a bit hard to view. Maybe make the interface a bit more solid? - There's a platform at very top part of the base that I think shouldn't be used but for some reason, I managed to jump my way onto that platform and had no way to jump down, short of restarting the game that is. Maybe you should block that platform off or at least add a way for the character to jump down. [h1]Tips for Beginners[/h1] * Jumping to the other side of the enemy with the shield doesn't work. The trick here is to jump onto a platform above him, or if the guy is on a higher platform, then below him. This will help you circumvent his shield. * Keep an eye out for chests since they can be sometimes hard to see when you're jumping around shooting at people. * There are flying mutated creatures that will explode when killed. Make sure you're far away when that happens. * The numbers below each blueprint doesn't indicate the level you have to be at in order to use the item - it's just the item level. Make sure to "craft" the blueprints with the highest item level for the best gear and sell off all the lower ones for extra gems. * The original keybinding - the F key to be exact - seems rather oddly-placed, at least for me. I swapped it with E. If this is true for you as well, maybe you'd want to rebind them too. [h1]Overall[/h1] Going in, I thought Dreadborne Drifters would be an insanely hardcore arcade shooter to play but to my surprise, the game has actually easier levels for me to get used to the controls and just have fun turning all the AIs into pixels, usually via reckless shooting, in short sessions of guts and mayhem. Plus, the game has 3 characters for you to play as and multiple difficulty levels for you to test your mettle. Definitely a game worth its asking price, especially if you're a huge fan of the genre. [h1]Side Note[/h1] [quote]If you like this review and would like to follow me for more, please feel free to drop by my curator page: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33780629-The-Midcore-Gamer/[/quote]