Over the last few years, the bullet hell genre has gifted the PC gaming world with gems like Cuphead, Enter the Gungeon, and Vampire Survivors. These games are not just about dodging bullets but offer an exhilarating and intense experience, sharing similarities with classic roguelikes. If you’re someone who enjoys strategically solving puzzles while navigating a barrage of challenges, titles like Dead Cells and Cult of the Lamb might already be on your radar. Now, imagine these influences combined with the expertise behind the celebrated Steam cult sensation, Helltaker, all wrapped in a fun, no-cost package. This is exactly what Awaria delivers, and it has already captured the hearts of gamers, earning nearly flawless reviews.
Awaria is the brainchild of Łukasz Piskorz, also known in the gaming community as vanripper. This cleverly crafted bullet hell game is available for free on Steam and offers a unique semi-roguelike twist. You find yourself playing as the chief engineer in charge of keeping a crumbling sci-fi prison operational. Your main tasks are ensuring that shield generators, ventilation systems, and other crucial devices remain functional. As you enter a level, you’ll find a broken machine alongside two smaller ones that spit out needed components. Your mission is straightforward—grab the parts, fix the bigger machine, and move on. Of course, there’s a catch—or several.
Firstly, these component dispensers take time to print out the required parts. As you make your way through Awaria, repairs grow increasingly intricate, with more malfunctioning machinery demanding more components that require longer to produce. To add another layer of challenge, the place is infested with ghostly girls hell-bent on disrupting your efforts, whether by swinging a pipe wrench at you, coming at you with pliers, or otherwise making your life difficult.
You can’t fight these apparitions. As you dart between various machines, your best defense is to avoid their wrath, with the hope that your trusty support droid can revive you if things go south. Keep in mind, though, respawns are limited and the game’s levels are known for their tight spaces. Much like other beloved bullet hell games, success depends on your ability to move quickly and anticipate the ghosts’ moves.
Successfully completing the repairs without being knocked out might reveal that these ghostly attackers can be charmed with some affection and perhaps a box of cupcakes—reminiscent of Helltaker’s goal of romancing demon girls. Awaria offers a similar opportunity for a touch of romance.
Released on December 16, Awaria has impressed the gaming community, boasting a stellar 96% positive score on Steam from its 2,400 user reviews. Given Helltaker’s own achievement of a 97% rating from over 122,000 reviews, it’s evident vanripper knows how to create a hit. And if a top-rated new game isn’t tempting enough, Awaria is entirely free to play. You can download it right here.
If Awaria isn’t for you, perhaps explore some of the best indie games or check out the latest PC gaming releases. And for regular updates on PC games, reviews, and guides, follow us on Google News or join our community on Discord to stay connected.