The Chaos Engine

This game initially has everything going for it: Art style that fits in with modern indie titles, unique steampunk premise, local coop, brutal indie-esqu difficulty, interesting rpg-lite system of developing your character.

These differences are more than cosmetic; they meaningfully affect how the game plays, creating variety and replayability with each run.

Graphics are fairly simple but contain subtle elements of detail that make you believe you're making your way through a truly disturbing place; this coupled with a dark and menacing colour palette is incredibly effective in creating the chaos-themed world that the title is set in.

In retrospect, The Chaos Engine remains one of the defining works of The Bitmap Brothers, encapsulating their signature blend of style, substance, and difficulty.

This fills the game with an incredibly intense atmosphere that is built up in equal measure by the bleak graphical style and the outstanding industrial-tinged techno soundtrack.

The story is easy to understand and plays well through the campaign.