Slain! is a game that’s been a real treat to play so far. Released on March 24, 2016, this is a new offering from Wolf Brew Games. It borrows heavily from the likes of Castlevania and Metroid, giving us a beautifully-gothic 16-bit aesthetic and absolutely rockin’ soundtrack with some pretty hard-as-nails gameplay.

User reviews on Steam are kind of mixed as of this post, but a lot of this is due to a lack of a keybinding menu in the game in version 1.0 as well as a bit of keyboard lag, so the devs currently recommend playing the game with a controller (which not everyone wants to do). However, I think it’s worth pointing out that the game is receiving an update soon that should correct these problems.

Personally, I found that the controller does a great job with this game, and while I’m sure it’s very playable with a keyboard, the fast-paced design and the multiple buttons makes me lean me towards using a controller regardless.

As for the difficulty, I find that while it can be frustrating, it’s not impossibly so, and you can easily learn from your mistakes and press on in the game. Ultimately, it’s all very fair, just difficult.

Currently, Slain! is $12.99 on Steam, and in my opinion, if you enjoyed 1990s Castlevania-type platformers, this one is definitely worth picking up for its tough gameplay, unique visuals, and great soundtrack!